General Provisions for Access

Section 1 of the Regulations for Access

The archives and documents preserved by the International Tracing Service are accessible to the public for research purposes.

The correspondence between private or official inquirers and the ITS is accessible if it is over 25 years old.  More recent correspondence is accessible with the authorisation by the ITS’ partner in such correspondence. The ITS will provide its good offices in obtaining such authorisation.

Archives and documents which were transferred, or made available to the International Tracing Service, based on the written understanding at the time of the deposit that the International Tracing Service would enjoy exclusive right of use, may be used or further copied only if the donor of the archives and documents or in appropriate cases its legal successor so agrees in writing.

Researchers desiring to obtain access to the archives and documents of the International Tracing Service shall contact the ITS in writing via mail addressed to the ITS at Grosse Allee 5-9, D-34454 Bad Arolsen, or e-mail addressed to email[at]its-arolsen.org, at least two weeks prior to the projected research visit, stating the research topic of the project and its purposes, as well as the anticipated dates of the visit. The ITS shall reply to researchers within 7 calendar days, and if a visit cannot be accommodated on the dates proposed, arrange alternative dates with the researcher that are, if possible, no more than 14 days delayed from the researchers’ initial proposed dates.

Before commencing their actual research, researchers shall provide the International Tracing Service with proof of their identity. Researchers shall receive the text of the Regulations and the Rules for Use of the Reading Room, as mentioned in Section 6, from the International Tracing Service and shall bind themselves to comply with these Regulations by signing written statements provided by the International Tracing Service for such purpose. The text of the user statement is contained in Annex 1, which is an integral part of these Regulations.