aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Media Note: Holocaust-era Archives Made Available (fwd)

[Max Pyziur <pyz@brama.com>]

fyi,

MP
pyz@brama.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:07:58 -0500
From: statelists@LISTS.STATE.GOV
Reply-To: statelists@STATE.GOV
To: DOSPRESS@STATELISTS.STATE.GOV
Subject: Media Note: Holocaust-era Archives Made Available

Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
November 28, 2007
 

Holocaust-era Archives Made Available

We welcome the entry into force today of an agreement opening the extensive
Holocaust-era archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) to survivors,
their families and to researchers.

Established at the end of World War II at Bad Arolsen, Germany, the ITS has
drawn on its archive of 50 million documents concerning 17.5 million people to
assist family reunification efforts and to support claims by survivors and
heirs for pensions and other forms of compensation.

On May 16, 2006, the International Commission approved two amendments to the
1955 Bonn Agreements to enable the ITS to make its holdings more readily
available to the public. Each of the member states of the International
Commission will be eligible to receive an electronic copy of the entire
archive. The ITS plans to complete digitization of its holdings in 2011.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. will administer
the U.S. copy of the archive. Once the documents are formatted to the museum&
rsquo;s computer system, the Museum will facilitate access to the documents for
survivors and their families. The copy of the archives will also be a valuable
source of information for researchers. The formatting process is now underway
and is expected to take several months.

2007/1056

Released on November 28, 2007

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