Jane Klinger: Analysis of written material from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

In co-operation with Linn Brostoff and Jennifer Wade,  Library of Congress, Preservation Research and Testing Division. 

This paper describes the use of handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) as a tool the initial examination and analysis of inks on three different documents form the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) collections. The work was conducted by the Library of Congress Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) in collaboration with the Conservation Branch of the USHMM.
The USHMM is one of the largest repositories of artifacts and records relating to the Holocaust. Included in the collections are many materials that were produced clandestinely while authors were in concentration camps, ghettos, or in hiding. Of particular interest are cookbooks and personal diaries which reflect events of the Holocaust, every day life during the period, and culture and traditions that victims sought to record. Visual inspection of the artifacts suggests that in some cases the inks appear to undergo changes that may reflect the author's condition, as well as the increasing difficulty of obtaining writing media. Anecdotal evidence indicates that as writing and drawing materials became scarce, commercial products were diluted or mixed to extend their useful life; homemade mixtures were also produced with available materials. The composition of the inks and writing materials is therefore of great interest in terms of both historical and information content. Furthermore, in order to develop sound conservation treatment protocols for the Holocaust documents, it is important to understand the nature of the writing media.