
Megan Lewis spent over an hour describing the extensive International Tracing Services (ITS) resources available at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (We also learned that the museum's name is NOT to be abbreviated. So there!)
The ITS was established by the Allies after WWII to help reunite families separated during the war and to trace missing individuals. Located in Bad Arolsen, Germany, the ITS archive contains more than 100 million documents relating to millions of victims of Nazism who were subjected to arrest, deportation, murder, forced labor, slave labor, and displacement. Until recently, the only way to see their records was to correspond with them in Germany (assuming they answer your correspondence). But now there are copies of the archives in 11 countries; the US copy is at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The ITS was established by the Allies after WWII to help reunite families separated during the war and to trace missing individuals. Located in Bad Arolsen, Germany, the ITS archive contains more than 100 million documents relating to millions of victims of Nazism who were subjected to arrest, deportation, murder, forced labor, slave labor, and displacement. Until recently, the only way to see their records was to correspond with them in Germany (assuming they answer your correspondence). But now there are copies of the archives in 11 countries; the US copy is at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The archive can only be viewed at the museum. Visitors can peruse the archive in person, or you can send a request to the museum and they will search the archive for you, but don't expect a quick response because one search by their trained staff can take a week, and they have many, many requests in their queue. If you visit the archive, they will help you get started and be available for follow-up questions.
> Click here to download the handout
> Click here to download the handout