The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is receiving digital images of the documentation at the International Tracing Service (ITS), an archive established by the Allied powers after World War II to help reunite families separated during the war and trace missing relatives. The archive is located in Bad Arolsen, Germany. Over the next several years, the Museum expects to receive more than 100 million digital images of archival material from the ITS. To date, the Museum has received the first two installments of about 18 million digital images of arrest, camp, prison, ghetto and transport records.
Using these records plus other relevant archival documents in its already extensive collection, Museum staff will search for documentation about the fates of individuals during the Holocaust.
Please note that although the Museum will make every effort to locate requested documentation, archival records do not include information on every Holocaust victim or survivor.
Survivors and their families may submit requests for information to the Museum as follows:
Use the online form available by clicking here: Start Online Request (preferred method).
Submit your request on paper using the Paper Request Form, that can be printed and submitted by postal mail or fax.
Survivors and their families are welcome to visit the Museum to directly access the archive, but this is not required to request a search of the ITS records.
The Museum is committed to making the information in these records accessible to Holocaust survivors in a timely fashion.
Requests for information are acknowledged upon receipt. Priority is given to survivors and their families.
All others interested in accessing the ITS records--scholars, authors, genealogists and other researchers--should visit the Museum in person to examine the records. Access to the ITS records, like all of the Museum's archival material, is free and open to the public.
To begin the process of submitting a research request, please click the "Start Request" button below.
Additional Information:
Please note that The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will locate documentation about individuals and not for entire families. For services that will help locate entire family members separated during the Holocaust, individuals should contact:
The International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany is also accepting direct inquiries. Not all of the ITS records have yet been transferred to this Museum.
JewishGen is a non-profit organization providing valuable research tools, and a large variety of databases relating to individuals and places.
The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center (HWVTC), a national clearinghouse managed by the American Red Cross. The HWVTC taps into a wide variety of resources beyond the ITS collection. Individuals outside the United States should contact their local Red Cross or Magen David Adom.
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