Press Pictures

On this site, we present you a selection of pictures about the work of the International Tracing Service (ITS). The pictures may be reproduced solely for editorial purposes and must be properly credited. They may not be cropped or altered in any way.

We kindly asked print media for a copy for our records, electronic media for a brief notification. Filming or photographing on ITS property and in the archives is permitted only by securing permission through the Communication Department prior to arrival.

International Tracing Service (ITS)
Kathrin Flor
Head of Communication
Phone: +49 (0)5691 629 116
Mobile: +49 (0)170 900 84 95
Fax: +49 (0)5691 629 501
Email: communications[at]its-arolsen.org

Main building of the International Tracing ServiceITS is using five buildings in Bad Arolsen.

Main building of the International Tracing Service

Entrance to the main building of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, erected in 1952.

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Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Jean-Luc Blondel, ITS DirectorSince 1955, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appoints a Swiss citizen as Director.

Jean-Luc Blondel, ITS Director

Since January 2009 the ICRC delegate Jean-Luc Blondel is director of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen.

Imagesize: 1772px x 1243px - 2,1 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Documents in the ITS archivesAmong the documents from concentration camps are transport and entry lists as well as death books.

Documents in the ITS archives

The archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) contain numerous original documents from concentration camps, the most well-documented are Buchenwald and Dachau.

Imagesize: 1434px x 1074px - 1,2 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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ITS ArchivesGabriele Wilke from the department for evaluation and documentation.

ITS Archives

More than 30 million documents about Nazi persecution are stored in the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS).

Imagesize: 1248px x 1872px - 1,9 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Contents of the archives77 per cent of the documents are originals, 23 per cent copies from other archives.

Contents of the archives

The documents in the ITS archives dating from the National Socialist era and the immediate post-war era extend to a length of 26,000 metres. Essentially, the ITS archives are divided into the three main areas incarceration, forced labour and post-war period.

Imagesize: 1280px x 853px - 0,9 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Child tracing serviceThousands of documents describe the search for the families of children who survived Nazi persecution.

Child tracing service

The child tracing archives maintain records about children and youngsters who had not reached the age of 18 when the war ended.

Imagesize: 1489px x 1081px - 1,6 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Central Name IndexThe Central Name Index is the key to the documents.

Central Name Index

The Central Name Index contains 50 million reference cards about the fate of 17,5 million people.

Imagesize: 1434px x 1076px - 1,5 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Correspondence filesThe correspondence files are being digitized since January 2010.

Correspondence files

The correspondence with victims of Nazi persecution, their family members and governmental organisations is recorded in the correspondence files (about three million T/D cases (tracing/documents)).

Imagesize: 1432px x 1069px - 0,8 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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Digitisation of the archivesDigitisation serves the protection of the original documents.

Digitisation of the archives

The ITS is digitising its archives since 1998 and with full effort since 2006. About 90 per cent of the original documents have been scanned. Digitisation of the three million correspondence files started in 2010.

Imagesize: 1378px x 2067px - 1,5 MB

Copyright: International Tracing Service (ITS). For editorial purposes free of charge. A copyright notice is required.

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