Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., March 27, 2008 Adar2 21, 5768 | | Israel Time: 11:09 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 19:52 25/03/2008 Nazi archive gives digital records to U.S., Israel, Poland museums By The Associated Press Tags: Holocaust, Jewish  BERLIN - Digital copies bearing the names of some 3.5 million people displaced after World War II have been provided to Holocaust memorial groups and museums in the United States, Israel and Poland by a recently opened archive of Nazi-era documents. The International Tracing Service of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that it had handed over a third round of documents to the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and the Warsaw-based National Institute of Remembrance. The archive, based in Bad Arolsen, Germany, said the transfer involved copies of index cards bearing the names of people who were freed from Nazi concentration and labor camps as well as prisoners of war. Advertisement The transfer came after a meeting March 18-19 of representatives of national organizations from the member nations of the International Commission, which oversees the Tracing Service. "It is essential that we can share, thanks to the opening of the archives, our documentation on the fate suffered by the victims of the Nazi regime," said Reto Meister, director of the International Tracing Service. "This will facilitate access to the information that is of such great value to the victims and their families, irrespective of whether they live in Europe, Israel or America." The move is part of a wider process begun by the Tracing Service late last year to make the names it has maintained available to family members, friends and now researchers. For more than 60 years, the information was locked away in the secretive archive, which houses records scooped up by Allied troops from concentration camps, Nazi SS offices and postwar displaced-persons compounds. It will take the International Tracing Service two more years to finish copying onto hard drives the 16 linear miles of papers that fill a half dozen buildings. So far, about 67 million images of documents have been transferred to the memorials and museums. Sharing the files will allow survivors and victims' relatives to see true images of documents - transportation lists, Gestapo orders, camp registers, slave labor booklets, death books - that demonstrate their tortures and that may have determined whether they lived or died. "We aim at providing easier access to the documents available at the Tracing Service for the victims and their families, and researchers alike," Meister said in a statement. "For this it is essential that we create a close cooperation between all the institutes that plan on working with the documentation available at the ITS. This will allow us to share experiences, and what's more, share the tremendous time and effort that will be needed for this indexing and cataloguing work." On the Net: International Tracing Service: http://www.its-arolsen.org Related articles: Copies of Nazi archive to be released to Holocaust institutions Nazi archives help son find long-lost mother - who refuses to see him Nazi archive records arrive at Yad Vashem, U.S. Holocaust Museum More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Best served cold Safed chief rabbi calls on state to exact 'revenge' against Arabs. The Jewish hurdle Obama: I disagree with aide who blamed 'NY, Miami' for failed peace talks.   1.   And it took just 60+ years 20:41  |  Mike 25/03/08   2.   raises more questions than it answers 22:28  |  hollingsworth 25/03/08   3.   mike 1 23:16  |  potobac 25/03/08   4.   I agree Hollingsworth 00:00  |  kiwi girl 26/03/08   5.   Holingsworth 02:11  |  sweis Melbourne 26/03/08   6.   to sweis 22:43  |  hollingsworth 26/03/08   7.   hollingsworth 23:44  |  sweis Melbourne 26/03/08

Today Online Rights group: Deaths in IDF W. Bank raid were apparent executions Responses: 16 Ari Shavit: Olmert doesn't belong in the prime minister's office Send response Shmuel Rosner: Bush is now behaving like a responsible adult Send response Meron Benvenisti: Israel's environmental plans do not include Palestinian needs Send response Rosner's Domain Obama rejects advisor's comments on American Jews and peace process Poll: what percentage Jews will vote McCain? Kurtzer: The pro-Israel lobby, not obstacle for peace How many voters will abandon the Democratic Party? (WTR) Slight preference for Clinton among Jewish Democrats More Headlines 10:34 Rights group: Deaths in IDF Bethlehem raid were apparent executions 08:32 Barak confirms transfer of armored vehicles to PA 08:45 Top rabbis: Harvesting organs of the brain dead is `bloodshed` 05:10 State program to tackle problem of polygamy in Bedouin community 06:24 MKs advance bill calling for new Orthodox-secular school system 10:53 Israel posts clips on YouTube of J'lem yeshiva terror attack 09:42 Netanyahu calls for treasury to cut taxes and state budget 05:19 Bible club founded by Ben-Gurion gets revived with a Peres twist 05:38 Woman bleeds to death after test goes wrong at Ashkelon hospital Previous Editions Select Day 26 mar 25 mar 24 mar 23 mar 21 mar 20 mar 19 mar 18 mar 17 mar 16 mar 14 mar 13 mar

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