Work Card

Sample Work Card

General description:

Work cards contain information about a prisoner´s employment at a concentration camp or in so-called external camp detachments, as well as the prisoner´s name and prisoner number. Transfers to other Einsatzgruppen are also partially noted.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.3 Individual records men 

Personal Property Card

Sample Personal Property Card

General description:

Personal items and clothing taken from prisoners upon arrival at a concentration camp were listed on the Personal Property Card.  Prisoners confirmed the information with their signature.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.3 Individual records men

Konrad Adenauer´s Gestapo Card

Konrad Adenauer´s Gestapo Card

General description:

On November 14, 1935, the Gestapo in Koblenz issued a card in the name of Konrad Adenauer, former mayor of Cologne and later Chancellor.  A note on the back explains that “he acted in a separatist manner.”  The ITS archive contains several thousand cards from different regions in Germany on which the Gestapo noted down information on people under surveillance or who had been denounced by their neighbours.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution| 1.2 Miscellaneous | 1.2.3 Gestapo registration | 1.2.3.3 Index Gestapo Koblenz

Prisoner´s Personal Sheet

Sample Prisoner Personal Sheet

General description:

Prisoners´ personal sheets were forms detailing the registration of prisoners in concentration camps.  They were kept in so-called “offices” at concentration camps and contained personal data, the reason for imprisonment and a description of the prisoner. Some cards contain photos of prisoners.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution  | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.3 Individual records men

Anne Frank´s Westerbork Card

Anne Frank´s Westerbork Card

General description:

The Nazis rounded up people at Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands for transportation to concentration camps and death camps.  Personal data and information on imprisonment and transport to other camps was usually noted on cards.  This document shows Anne Frank´s card.  She was sent to Westerbork on August 8, 1944 and deported to Auschwitz on September 3, 1944.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.46 Collection and Transit Camp Westerbork

Lice Check List

Sample Lice Check List

General description:

Able-bodied prisoners were forced to undergo lice checks at some concentration camps. These checks served to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as typhoid, as prisoners´ manpower was especially needed there at the end of the war.  This lice check list from Gross-Rosen concentration camp shows the prisoner´s name, number and number of lice found per block.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.11 Concentration Camp Groß-Rosen | 1.1.11.1 List material

Military Government Questionnaire

Sample Inmate Questionnaire

General description:

After the liberation, surviving concentration camp inmates were registered and interviewed by the Allies about the reasons for their imprisonment and their desired future residence.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.3 Individual records men

Schindler´s List

Schindler´s List

General description:

The ITS is in possession of a list of 1000 Jewish prisoners (700 male and 300 female) who worked for Oskar Schindler as forced labourers.  It was compiled by former camp stenographer Mieczyslaw Pemper upon the prisoners´ arrival October 21, 1944 at Schindler´s Brünnlitz factory.  Pemper personally presented the list to the ITS in 1958.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.11 Concentration Camp Groß-Rosen | 1.1.11.1 List material

“Office” Card

Sample “Office“ Card

General description:

Prisoners were issued “office cards” on arrival at concentration camps, which contained arrival and transfer information as well as personal data.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.3 Individual records men

Protective Custody Order

Sample Protective Custody Order

General description:

On February 4, 1933, the “Order of the Reich President for the Protection of the German People” was enacted, allowing protective custody for up to three months in the interest of public security.  The regulation was tightened with the decree issued on January 25, 1938, which allowed an indefinite period of protective custody and was mainly used against opponents of the regime and minorities.  The protective custody order contained personal data, place of residence and the reason for protective custody in the concentration camp. 

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.8 Concentration Camp Flossenbürg | 1.1.8.3 Individual records men

Death Book

Sample Death Book

General description:

The deaths of slave labourers in concentration camps were recorded in “Death Books.” This example from the concentration camp Mauthausen shows that the Reich Security Main Office ordered the SS to shoot 48 prisoners at two-minute intervals on April 20, 1942, Hitler´s birthday.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.26 Concentration Camp Mauthausen | 1.1.26.1 List material

Transport List

Sample Transport List

General description:

The Nazis issued transport lists when transporting prisoners from transit camps, ghettos and prisons to concentration and death camps, or for transports between concentration camps. For the most part, these lists were the last signs of life enroute to the death camp. This sample shows a transport on July 5, 1941 from the concentration camp Dachau to the concentration camp Buchenwald. The ITS archival unit Incarceration contains several thousand transport lists from various concentration camps.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.6 Concentration Camp Dachau | 1.1.6.1 List material

Report on Changes in the Number of Camp Inmates

Sample Report on Changes in the Number of Camp Inmates

General description:

Reports on changes in the number of camp inmates were written daily in concentration camps, allowing the Nazis a precise overview of the number of inmates in each. On this particular day, 14 arrivals and 23 departures were recorded. Reports on changes in the number of camp inmates are organized under List Material in the ITS archival unit Incarceration.

Archival Unit:

» Incarceration

Inventory List:

» 1. Detention and Persecution | 1.1 Camps and Ghettos | 1.1.5 Concentration Camp Buchenwald | 1.1.5.1 List material

Workbook

Sample Workbook

General description:

During the Third Reich, civilian forced labourers received  a “workbook for foreigners” from the  employment office. In addition to personal data, the “workbook” included information on professional training, employer and period of employment.

Archival Unit:

» Forced Labour

Inventory List:

» 2. Registration of Foreign Persons and German Persecutees through Authorities, Insurance Companies and Firms (1939 - 1947) | 2.2 Documents on registration of foreign persons and assignment of forced labourers, 1939 - 1945 | 2.2.2 Various authorities and firms (individual-related records) | 2.2.2.1 Wartime index (registration cards, labour books, individual correspondence)

Forced Labourer Registration Form

Sample Forced Labourer Registration Form

General description:

Lists of names were issued by order of the Allies in 1946 of all UN military and civilian personnel, other foreign nationals, German Jews and stateless persons who stayed temporarily or permanently in a German city or community during the Second World War. These lists provide information on forced labourers especially: first and last name, date of birth, birthplace, nationality, duration of stay, date of death, employer and issuing authority. There are approximately 2 million such lists in the archival unit Forced Labour.

Archival Unit:

» Forced Labour

Inventory List:

» 2. Registration of Foreign Persons and German Persecutees through Authorities, Insurance Companies and Firms (1939 - 1947)  | 2.1 Lists drawn up in execution of the Allied orders to register foreign persons and German persecutees and related documents

Health Insurance Card

Sample Health Insurance Card

General description:

Some companies paid social security taxes for forced labourers, who were issued receipts or health insurance cards. Personal data, name of employer, amount of earnings and the name and location of the health insurance company to which the contributions were paid were noted on the cards.

Archival Unit:

» Forced Labour

Inventory List:

» 2. Registration of Foreign Persons and German Persecutees through Authorities, Insurance Companies and Firms (1939 - 1947) | 2.2 Documents on registration of foreign persons and assignment of forced laboures, 1939 - 1945 | 2.2.2 Various authorities and firms (individual-related records) | 2.2.2.1 Wartime index (registration cards, labour books, individual correspondence)

CM/1 File

Sample CM/1 File

General description:

CM/1 describes the requests filed by Displaced Persons (DPs) for assistance from the Refugee Organization (IRO) between 1947 and 1951. CM stands for care and maintenance; 1 for the type of questionnaire used at that time. The ITS archival unit Displaced Persons contains approximately 350,000 envelopes with documents from DP camps in Germany, Austria, Italy and England.

Archival Unit:

» Displaced Persons

Inventory List:

» 3. Registration and Files of "Displaced Persons", Children and Missing Persons | 3.2 Aid programs launched by various organisations | 3.2.1 IRO program for "Care and Maintenance" | 3.2.1.1 C/M 1 records Germany

DP-2 Registration Card

Sample DP-2 Registration Card

General description:

At the end of the Second World War, people who had been displaced from their homes due to persecution or forced labour were designated “Displaced Persons” and housed in DP camps.  All DPs were registered on different cards.  The DP-2 card pictured here was the main registration card. It shows personal data, family information, language and occupation, and was used to answer potential queries. The ITS archival unit Displaced Persons contains around 3.5 million such registration cards.

Archival Unit:

» Displaced Persons

Inventory List:

» 3. Registration and Files of "Displaced Persons", Children and Missing Persons | 3.1 Proof of stay and emigration | 3.1.1 Registration of and care for DPs inside and outside the camps | 3.1.1.1 Post-war index

Emigration List

Sample Emigration List

General description:

Emigration lists show the emigration of refugees and survivors to the USA, Canada or Australia, mainly by ship. The lists are divided into ship lists and lists from resettlement centers. This example shows emigrants bound for the USA from the Wentorf resettlement center near Hamburg in June 1951.

Archival Unit:

» Displaced Persons

Inventory List:

» 3. Registration and Files of "Displaced Persons", Children and Missing Persons | 3.1 Proof of stay and emigration | 3.1.3 Emigration | 3.1.3.2 Passengers' lists and other compilations on émigrés

Children´s File

Sample Children´s File

General description:

After the end of the war, the refugee organizations United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and International Refugee Organization (IRO) created children´s files in response to inquiries from families or for the registration of single children. These files contain correspondence on the Tracing Service´s activities. Letters, pictures and school report cards are included in some cases.

Archival Unit:

» Displaced Persons

Inventory List:

» 3. Registration and Files of "Displaced Persons", Children and Missing Persons | 3.3 Child-tracing service | 3.3.2 Tracing case treatment | 3.3.2.1 Files on search for and clarification of the identity of children (1945-1951)

T/D Case

Sample T/D Case

General description:

T/D (Tracing/Documents) cases contain all correspondence between the ITS and victims of National Socialism and their relatives. The term T/D has been used since 1948. The ITS´s holdings contain approximately 3 million of these files.

Inventory List:

» 4. Files of the International Tracing Service and its Predecessor Organisations | 4.2 Concluded tracing and certification cases