In accordance with the age structure of the generation of people who were formerly imprisoned in German concentration camps, the archival preservation of personal estates in concentration camp memorials and commemorative sites has gained increased significance in recent years. The author develops definitions and practical approaches for the exploration of memorial estates. The considerations are based, among other things, on the results of a survey conducted in 16 concentration camp memorials and commemorative sites, as well as the author's own investigations into the archival preservation of estates at the Ravensbrück memorial. The work offers both fundamental conceptual reflections on the practical exploration of personal collections and extensive approaches to the scholarly processing of the topic of estates in concentration camp memorial and commemorative site archives.