December 18,2008

ITS Direction Handed Over

Press Release

The resigning director of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Reto Meister, handed over official business to his successor Jean-Luc Blondel at the institution’s year-end ceremony today. Effective January 2009, the Swiss delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be the new director of ITS. “In view of the archive’s thematic focus, running ITS represents a very unique responsibility,” says Blondel.

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December 18,2008

ITS Historian Transfers to Munich

Press Release

Historian Dr Irmtrud Wojak, Head of Research at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, was appointed Founding Director of the planned Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism today. “A unique opportunity,” said Wojak. ITS Director Reto Meister welcomed the decision, yet also regretted losing the renowned scholar. “I’m pleased that a historian from our institution was selected. She accomplished some important groundwork at ITS,” said Meister.

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December 4,2008

New Archivist Launches Project for Improved Indexing of ITS Documents

Press Release

Archivist Karsten Kühnel took up his position with the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen this week. The 41-year-old will be assuming responsibility for indexing the inventory and creating finding aids for historical research purposes. “This project represents an unusual challenge. Experts will follow it with a great deal of interest,” said Kühnel.

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November 28,2008

Researchers Embrace ITS Archive as New Information Source

Press Release

One year after the archive of the International Tracing Service (ITS) opened up to researchers, Director Reto Meister has drawn a positive balance. “The archive’s contents meet the users’ high expectations,” says Meister. “The documents are proving to be an important new source for historical research into the atrocities and aftermath of the Nazi regime.

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November 19,2008

Interesting Perspectives for Research

The renowned German historian and director of the Holocaust Research Centre at the Royal Holloway College of the University of London, Professor Peter Longerich, is in favour of the expansion of historical research at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen. “The unrivalled collection of documents is of great interest to scholars,” said Longerich. “In our political life, National Socialism and coming to terms with the past play a prominent role. Yet there is no large-scale research centre in which reflects this relevance in the academic field.”

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October 8,2008

The Past Urges Our Commitment to Democracy and Human Rights

Press Release

Questions involving closer cooperation were the focus of today’s meeting between Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, and representatives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen. For the first time ever, Rose took the opportunity to personally inspect the documents archived at the ITS. “This comprehensive documentation of the Nazis’ crimes must be freely available to researchers and the education sector,” said Rose. “Arolsen is a site of knowledge.”

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September 3,2008

President of the International Commission Visits ITS

Press Release

Daniel Bethlehem, head of the legal department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) visited the International Tracing Service (ITS) for two days in Bad Arolsen together with representatives from the FCO and the British National Archive. Bethlehem is chairing the International Commission of the ITS since this year’s annual meeting in May 2008.

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August 25,2008

Testimonies to the Magnitude of Slave Labour

Press Release

The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen has completed the digitalization of its documents on forced labour in the “Third Reich”. The Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw are receiving a copy of the data today. “The documents attest to the monstrous dimension of slave labour during the national socialist reign,” said Udo Jost, head of the archive. “The labour of so-called foreign workers was exploited in nearly every economic sector and region.”

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August 15,2008

An Impressive Wealth of Documents

Press Release

After gaining insight into the archive of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, the renowned German historian Professor Hans Mommsen described it as an “asset to historical research”. “The documents in Arolsen will provide more valuable information that can be used to reappraise Nazis’ crimes,” said Mommsen. On the evening prior to his visit to the archive, the historian accepted an invitation by ITS and the “Historicum 20” forum for contemporary history to hold a speech on the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

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July 31,2008

ITS introduces Special Scanning Stations

Press Release

The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen has embarked on yet another major project for the digitalization of its document inventory. At 15 stations that have been developed especially for ITS, all documents on displaced persons (DP) will be scanned by the end of 2009. These files provide information on the fate of those who were rescued at the end of WWII from concentration camps, forced labour and, in some cases, war captivity. “The documents are of great interest for both the families of these people and for researchers, as they reveal the post-war migration movements and immigration policies of the time,” says Alexander Lommel, Head of the Digitalization Division at ITS.

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June 26,2008

A valuable source for historical research

Press Release

The archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen are a tremendous asset for historical research and give a new perspective on the magnitude of crimes committed during the Nazi era – this is the conclusion of a research workshop for scholars organised by the ITS and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington. „The substance of the documentation allows us to change our function as a tracing service to become that of a significant archive for historical research“, says ITS Director Reto Meister. „This is more than just taking a step; it is a long journey where the end of the road allows historians to profit from this unique documentation."

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May 8,2008

Beginning of family reseach at ITS

Press release

This week 42 genealogists are carrying out research at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Arolsen. They are in the main Jewish name researchers from the USA, Australia, Israel and Great Britain who are compiling data on Holocaust victims and survivors. “This is the biggest group of researchers that has so far come to the ITS in Arolsen”, says ITS Deputy Director Erich Oetiker. “Opening the archives has already had a positive effect, and is perceived as a valuable asset”.

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April 30,2008

A new leaf has been turned over at the Tracing Service

Press Release

A ceremony has marked the opening of the archives at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen. The archive is now open for historical research and the public. „We are turning over a new leaf in the history of the ITS“, says Director Reto Meister. „This opening will contribute to keeping alive the remembrance of the monstrous crimes that went on throughout Nazi era. And at the same it will promote our work with research institutions, memorials and museums.

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March 20,2008

Handover of data on Displaced Persons

Press Release

Yesterday the International Tracing Service (ITS) based at Bad Arolsen handed over further documents to the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and the National Institute of Remembrance in Warsaw. The material encloses digital copies of index cards relating to Displaced Persons compiled after the end of the Second World War. An operational meeting held with representatives of national organizations from the member States of the International Commission, the supervisory body of the ITS, was the occasion for this exchange of data.

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February 1,2008

Historian taken aboard

Press Release

With Dr. Irmtrud Wojak, the ITS has employed a historian of reputation.  Irmtrud Wojak did theme-oriented research relating to the National Socialist persecution and extermination policy and to emigration action during the Third Reich.

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