Google Chairman Eric Schmidt
Google Chairman Eric SchmidtReuters

Google launched a new online archive of landmark 20th century events and personalities on Wednesday, highlighting a number of key Jewish themes.

Google’s digital "Cultural Institute," which was created in cooperation with 17 museums and institutes from across the world, focuses on legendary personalities including Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela, and Queen Elizabeth.

Exhibitions also include “Tragic Love at Auschwitz,” which tells the story of Edek and Mala, a couple who unsuccessfully attempted to escape the Holocaust; the story of Jan Karski, a Polish anti-Nazi partisan who brought the Allies early eye-witness testimony of the Holocaust; and color photographs and personal letters detailing the historic “D-Day” landing.

The collection helps to preserve history and make it more accessible for users, Mark Yoshitake, product manager of the Google Cultural Institute, said in a video about the project.

"Many times these things are not accessible because they are either held within vaults or people can't travel thousands of miles to get to them," Yoshitake said.

With an initial collection of 42 online themes, the archive is set to expand significantly in the coming years, he said.

"We want to make sure that this information is available to future generations, to everybody, to anybody," said Dana Porath, director of the Internet department at the Yad Vashem museum.

The millions of photographs, documents, texts and films can be accessed at the Google Cultural Institute at www.google.com/culturalinstitute.