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International
Tracing Service Background
Immediately after World War II, when refugees were scattered throughout
Europe, a common collection point of information about both survivors
and victims evolved into what became the International Tracing Service
(ITS). This was the first attempt to identify, in an orderly manner,
the fate of the millions of persons, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who
were displaced or killed during World War II. To this day, data is
still being discovered and accumulated by ITS which is now part of the
International Committee of the Red Cross. The service now has some 48
million pieces of information at their facilities in Arolsen, Germany.
Description
The ITS maintains a master index of information relating to more than
14 million individuals. If the person was a survivor, an index card may
exist from the time when the individual was in a refugee camp. It would
show his name, age, place of birth, and possibly names of parents and
where the person was at the time the information was recorded. When a
refugee was relocated, another card would show the destination. From
information acquired from death lists in cities and concentration
camps, the index card would show the name of the individual, date of
birth, place of birth, place of death and circumstances of death. There
are also index cards created from inquiries by persons trying to
determine the fate of friends or family.
Sample index card
from the ITS collection. It identifies a person named Berek Mokotow
whose name was found on a Dachau concentration camp document. Extracted
from the Dachau register was his date and place of birth, his home
address in Frankfurt, when he arrived at Dachau from Sachsenhausen
concentration camp and when he died at Dachau.
How to Use These
Records
There are three ways this information can be accessed, each with its
own advantages and disadvantages. There is no charge for the use of the
services or facilities of ITS, the Red Cross or Yad Vashem
- Write to the ITS
directly.
- Use the Red Cross
agency in your country
- Use copies of ITS
records located in the archives of Yad Vashem.
Write
directly. To write to
the ITS directly, address your inquiry to International Tracing
Service, Grosse Allee 5-9, 34444 Arolsen, Germany. The ITS will search
only for specific individuals, and you must provide as much information
as possible about the person. You must know the name of the individual,
either the place of birth or town before the war, and an approximate
age. If the name you are searching is reasonably unique, this should be
sufficient for them to perform the search. If the name is common, you
must provide additional information to identify the individual
definitively. One major disadvantage of accessing ITS records by
writing to them directly is the time it takes for a reply. It can take
from six months to two years for them to determine whether they have
information about an individual. Consequently, writing to ITS directly
is the least desireable method of accessing their information.
American Red
Cross. [The
description of the role played by the American Red Cross shown here is
an update from the book and contains more accurate information--Author]
If you live in the United States, a more rapid way of dealing with the
ITS is through the American Red Cross (ARC). Their address is:
American Red Cross
Holocaust and War Crimes Tracing and Information Center
Mount Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
Phone: (410) 764-5311
Fax: (410) 764-7664
E-mail: lklein@arc-cmc.org
Internet: http://www.redcross.org/services/intl/holotrace/index.html
In 1990, ARC made
special arrangements with ITS to act as an intermediary. There are a
number of advantages to working through ARC. They will process your
form immediately and reject it if they feel you have provided
insufficient information about the person you are seeking. It can take
as long as six months to get a comparable rejection letter for a
request sent directly to ITS. The response time from ITS to ARC is
faster because ARC constantly monitors its open inquiries. Another
advantage is that ARC is part of an international network of Red Cross
organizations and will contact its counterpart in another country if
evidence indicates a survivor went to that country. If you would like
general information about this service, which is performed at no
charge, contact the Center in Baltimore. They will be happy to talk to
potential inquirers to provide help through the process. Otherwise, go
to the local Red Cross chapter in your area. If the local chapter
claims they cannot process your inquiry, contact the national office
for advice. This group can only process requests from inside the United
States. If you do not live in the United States, contact the Red Cross
in your country to place an inquiry.
(continued
on following page)
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