WWII Holocaust Tracing Service

Posted by Maryan Pelland Feb 25, 2007

We've posted an article this week, Tracing Victims - WWII about the International Tracing Service, organized and operated by the Red Cross since the middle 1940's to help connect survivors and families after World War II and to help determine where victims' remains, if any, could be found.

After being hidden for more than 60 years, this tragic collection of records of Holocaust victims, ripped from the offices of the Third Reich by the Allies, has come to light.

There's sadness and grief, of course, as the stories are contemplated, but there's more, too - closure, as they say. The archive contains records of Anne Frank and her family after they were taken from Amsterdam. There are documents that clear up mysteries, answer old questions, identify heroes and point the finger at villains.

This is a boon to history - we are fortunate to have such and incredible collection - many of the documents look as clear and unfaded as they did in their day. The Bonn Agreement, a compendium of nations who govern the International Tracing Service, are amending thier rules to allow that it be open to research. The files are not a complete record of eveyrone who was captured, killed, wounded, or tortured. But consider - it's almost 20 miles of pieces of paper standing upright, not laid flat. That's a lot of information. A lot of history. May we, grandparents, children, grandchildren and generations to come, allow it to teach us to never forget the tragedies of war - any war.