This guide originated with the London Conference on Nazi Gold in December, 1997, when it was agreed to compile an international guide to archival sources on Nazi Gold and related issues. At a planning seminar for the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, held on 29th June 1998, it was decided that the international guide should be published electronically on national or institutional web sites.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has kindly provided a central web site, from which users can find general information and access individual contributions. Through hyper-links, users will be able to search the archival sources of individuals, countries, institutions, and non-governmental bodies. Most web sites will include archival information both on gold and other assets looted by the Nazis.

An electronic guide has the advantage that it can be regularly updated and offers better search and retrieval facilities. This flexibility is also aided by each country being responsible for maintaining and updating its own web site. The International Guide is an excellent opportunity to promote the international coordination of archival sources and be of vital importance to scholars working in the field. The aim is to internationalize research into Holocaust-era assets, making both public and private archives accessible to all scholars and researchers. Topics related to World War II as well as to the pre- and postwar periods can now be analyzed in an international and comparative perspective. The guide will be a step further from the symbolic to the imperative.

In sum, it is hoped that the International Guide to Archival Sources on Holocaust-Era Assets will be of great benefit to users, and provide an indispensable service for those seeking an international platform for archival sources on Holocaust-era assets.

Historians Foreign & Commonwealth Office United Kingdom

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