“We share a commitment to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to honour those who stood against it.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen is a center for documentation, information, and research about National Socialist persecution, forced labor, the Holocaust, and Displaced Persons. The archives of the ITS documents the fates of millions of victims, whose names and memory are to be preserved. UNESCO has inscribed the original documents and the Central Name Index of the ITS archives, which is based on an alphabetic-phonetic filing system specifically developed for the ITS and includes 50 million reference cards on the fate of 17.5 million people, into the Memory of the World Register.
The ITS counts among its principal tasks:
ITS Historical Documents
ITS documents stem from the era of National Socialism and the immediate post-war period and include records on concentration camps, ghettos and Gestapo prisons, on forced labor and deportation, on the situation and status of Displaced Persons and on postwar migration. In addition, the archives contain records created in the context of the tracing work, such as the Central Name Index, the archives of the Child Tracing Branch and the correspondence with survivors, family members of the victims and other institutions. The public has access to them by means of digitization, a database and descriptive finding aids to facilitate research.
Information and Clarification of Fates
Some 70 years since the end of the Nazi era, almost a thousand requests per month continue to reach the ITS from victims of the Nazi regime and their next-of-kin. The ITS provides information on the persecution with the help of the documentation in the archives. The ITS also assists people with their search for family members from whom they were separated in consequence either of persecution, deportation or emigration and issues letters of confirmation for the purpose of pension payments and indemnification. Survivors and family members of victims are provided with a report and copies of original documents free of charge and will continue this humanitarian work as long as there is a need for it.
Research and Education
Research and educational activities at the ITS strive to promote scholarly analysis and examination of this era’s crimes thus keeping the memory alive. The ITS assists with research initiatives, initiates collaboration with other institutions and develops its own projects. A database, a scholarly library and reading rooms with PCs are at the users’ disposal. Access to the archives is governed by the regulations for access and fees and tariffs. Scholars may receive copies of documents related to their research.
The ITS has developed an educational concept for cooperation with schools, universities and other educational facilities, part of its mission to convey the significance of the collections kept in its archives to the general public and to succeeding generations.
Legal Basis of the ITS
An International Commission (IC) consisting of representatives of eleven member countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) controls the work of the International Tracing Service. The legal basis is the Berlin Agreement signed on 9 December 2011. While the German Federal Government provides the budget of over 13 million Euros for the ITS, the IC provides the guidelines for the operations of the ITS and supervises it in accordance with the interests of the former victims of persecution. The ITS is supported by an institutional partner, the German Federal Archives, which alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has the status of observer to the International Commission.
"Tunajitolea kushiriki katika kuwakumbuka waathirika wa Holocaust na kuwaheshimu wale waliopinga. "" - Taarifa ya Mkutano wa Kimataifa wa Stockholm juu ya Holocaust Huduma ya Kimataifa ya Ufuatiliaji (ITS) huko Bad Arolsen ni kituo cha nyaraka, habari, na utafiti juu ya mateso ya National Socialist, kazi ya kulazimishwa, Holocaust, na Watu Waliohamishwa." Hifadhi za ITS zinaonyesha hatima ya mamilioni ya waathirika, ambao majina na kumbukumbu zao zinapaswa kuhifadhiwa. UNESCO imeorodhesha hati za awali na orodha ya majina ya kumbukumbu ya ITS, ambayo inategemea mfumo wa faili ya alfabeti na fonetiki iliyoundwa maalum kwa ITS na inajumuisha kadi za kumbukumbu milioni 50 juu ya hatima ya watu milioni 17.5 katika Usajili wa Kumbukumbu ya Dunia. ITS ina hati za kihistoria kutoka enzi ya National Socialism na kipindi cha baada ya vita na inajumuisha rekodi juu ya kambi za mateso, ghettos na magereza ya Gestapo, juu ya kazi ya kulazimishwa na uhamisho, juu ya hali na hali ya watu waliohamishwa na uhamiaji wa baada ya vita. Kwa kuongezea, kumbukumbu hizo zina rekodi zilizotengenezwa katika muktadha wa kazi ya kutafuta, kama vile orodha ya jina la kati, kumbukumbu za Idara ya Kutafuta Watoto na barua na waokokaji, familia za waathirika na taasisi zingine. Umma una upatikanaji wao kwa njia ya digitization, database na descriptive kutafuta misaada ili kuwezesha utafiti. Taarifa na Ufafanuzi wa Hatima: Karibu miaka 70 tangu mwisho wa enzi ya Nazi, karibu maombi elfu moja kwa mwezi yanaendelea kufika kwa ITS kutoka kwa waathirika wa utawala wa Nazi na jamaa zao wa karibu. ITS hutoa habari juu ya mateso kwa msaada wa nyaraka katika kumbukumbu. ITS pia husaidia watu katika kutafuta wanafamilia ambao walitenganishwa nao kutokana na mateso, uhamisho au uhamiaji na hutoa barua za uthibitisho kwa madhumuni ya malipo ya pensheni na fidia. Waokokaji na familia za waathirika wanapewa ripoti na nakala za hati za awali bila malipo na wataendelea na kazi hii ya kibinadamu kwa muda mrefu kama inahitajika. Utafiti na elimu: Utafiti na shughuli za elimu katika ITS hujitahidi kukuza uchambuzi wa kitaaluma na uchunguzi wa uhalifu wa enzi hii na hivyo kuweka kumbukumbu hai. ITS inasaidia na mipango ya utafiti, huanzisha ushirikiano na taasisi nyingine na kuendeleza miradi yake mwenyewe. Hifadhidata, maktaba ya kitaaluma na vyumba vya kusoma na PC ziko kwa matumizi ya watumiaji. Upatikanaji wa kumbukumbu unatawaliwa na kanuni za upatikanaji na ada na ushuru. Wasomi wanaweza kupokea nakala za hati zinazohusiana na utafiti wao. ITS imebuni dhana ya elimu kwa ushirikiano na shule, vyuo vikuu na vifaa vingine vya elimu, sehemu ya utume wake wa kuhamisha umuhimu wa makusanyo yaliyohifadhiwa katika kumbukumbu zake kwa umma kwa ujumla na vizazi vijavyo. Tume ya Kimataifa (IC) inayojumuisha wawakilishi wa nchi kumi na moja wanachama (Ubelgiji, Ufaransa, Ujerumani, Ugiriki, Israel, Italia, Luxemburg, Uholanzi, Poland, Uingereza, na Marekani) inasimamia kazi ya Huduma ya Kimataifa ya Ufuatiliaji. Mkataba wa Berlin uliosainiwa Desemba 9, 2011 Serikali ya Ujerumani inatoa bajeti ya zaidi ya Euro milioni 13 kwa ITS, IC hutoa miongozo kwa ajili ya shughuli za ITS na inasimamia kwa mujibu wa maslahi ya waathirika wa zamani wa mateso. ITS inasaidiwa na mshirika wa taasisi, Hifadhi ya Shirikisho ya Ujerumani, ambayo pamoja na Kamati ya Kimataifa ya Msalaba Mwekundu (ICRC) ina hadhi ya mtazamaji kwa Tume ya Kimataifa.