22 August 2007
Israel’s Holocaust memorial institution Yad Vashem and other Holocaust museums, have received a first batch of digitalized copies of files documenting Nazi atrocities. The 12 million documents, containing files from more than 50 concentration camps, include transportation lists, medical reports and ‘death books’ listing the names of those who perished. The transfer to Yad Vashem and other Holocaust museums took place following a decision by the International Tracing Service (ITS), the custodian of the archive, to permit the transfer of material to other archives, so that they can prepare the groundwork for making the material available to the public.
“These documents reflect the most despicable operations of the Nazi era and constitute an essential part of our archive,'' said ITS director Reto Meister. Digital copies of the files were also sent to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. The ITS is managed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and based in Bad Arolsen, Germany. Its huge archive documents the Nazi Holocaust. The transfer is part of an international agreement to open up the files to researchers and the wider public.
The body is governed under a treaty signed in 1955 by Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2006 the countries agreed to make the archive, which includes a total of 30 million documents, available to researchers. However, the files will not be open to the public until Italy, France and Greece have joined the other countries in ratifying that agreement.
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