Archives | Internationaler Suchdienst Arolsen

The ITS Collections

The ITS archive holds 26,000 metres of various types of records. The alphabetically and phonetically arranged Central Name Index contains over 50 million reference cards for over 17.5 million people and is the key to the documents and correspondence files.

» Collections

Search the Collections

ITS preserves over 21,000 archival or historical collection units. Because of its origins as a registration tool, the inventory offers only a summary sketch of the contents of the archives, and not an in-depth view into the contents of every collection. Apart from the inventory, finding aids are in the process of being completed and a list of the remaining 2,800 personal effects from concentration camps can be consulted.

» Inventory Search

» Finding Aids

» List of personal effects

The Archives in Figures

50 million references, three million correspondence files, almost 26,000 metres of files - The figures for the activities of the archives are impressive.

Tasks of the Archives Department

The documents in the ITS archives are of enormous historical significance. To ensure the long-term use for future generations it is essential to digitize and preserve the records and to make them accessible for research.

» Preservation

» Archival Description

» Paper on the Archival Processing (pdf)

» Archival Terminology (pdf)