jlf1961 -> RE: is holacaust denial antisemitic? (2/7/2013 8:17:30 PM)
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A few interesting facts.... quote:
nternational Tracing Service (ITS) The Archives in Figures The archives house 50 million records containing information on 17.5 million individuals 25,908 metres of files 232,710 meters of microfilm 106,870 microfiches (microplan film in DIN A6 format). Since its inception in 1943, the archive has responded to 11.8 million requests for information and compiled more than 3 million information files. Results for 2011: 12,941 incoming requests from 69 different countries 12,039 responses given 2,634 visitors Historical Research at ITS The documents preserved at the ITS in Bad Arolsen are accessible to the public for research since November 2007. After numerous years of conflict and debate, the negotiations between the member states of the International Commission, the ICRC and the ITS could be concluded, opening the way for historical research at the ITS. A balance was struck that allows research while binding, in the form of a user statement, the archives´user himself/herself to protect individual data. At the same time the eleven states decided to task the ITS with providing copies of this documentation to those among them, which wish to make them accessible on their sovereign territory, through an archival repository of their choice and according to the data protection laws applicable in said country. What information is contained in the collections of the ITS that makes them particularly important? The archive contains documents illustrating the persecution, the exploitation and the destruction of millions of civilians by the Nazis. Both, the mass and uniqueness, of these documents point up the systematic wrongdoing of, and the crimes methodically committed by, the National-Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. They might not shed light into previously unknown phenomena of twentieth century history, but they certainly confirm, solidify and deepen understanding of the structures, methods and dimension of the Nazis´crimes. Thus, for example, deportations, demography of the camp inmates or questions related to health and mortality of forced labourers can henceforth be investigated in depth. Subjects such as “Aryanization”, but also the death marches may be analysed more accurately with the help of the ITS documents. Scholars and educationalists are likely to discover in the documentation of the post war period new or hitherto rarely exploited information about individuals and families. This data illustrates how the survivors, deeply marked by persecution and war, took the first steps toward the construction of a new chapter in their lives. There is no doubt that in the future further more efficient finding aids will have to be created and the potential of the collection for historical study be assessed. But the project of optimising catalogues and finding aids will take a couple of years. The staff of the ITS provide the best service possible to visiting scholars and researchers by sharing their expertise acquired in matters related to documenting the fate of individual victims. Reading rooms, seminar rooms and an academic library are available.
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