| |
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Transfer of Digitized Records from Holocaust Archive Approved
The Holocaust archives of the International Tracing Service at Bad Arolsen will soon be opened to historical research. In preparation for this, the 11 member nations of the International Commission for the International Tracing Service agreed on rules at their annual meeting on May 15 governing that expanded access and allowing for the transfer of digitized copies of certain records to member states. The commission agreed that this transfer of digitally scanned documents to member states who request them can begin before all 11 members have ratified the protocol amending the 1955 Bonn Agreements governing the archives. The transfer will help those states prepare for the opening of the archives to researchers. The commission members are Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, United States The decision by the International Commission for the International Tracing Service will speed up the process of opening the archives to research, German State Minister for Europe Günter Gloser said in welcoming the decision. With its dedication to the opening of the Bad Arolsen archives, Germany underscores its steadfast commitment to confronting the past. Germany completed its ratification of the protocol in April. Over the past decades, Germany has already opened to research its major national archives relating to the Holocaust.
According to the ITS website, when the protocol is adopted, historians will have access to over 30 million documents as well as to correspondence dating back more than 25 years between the ITS and governments and private individuals. Reto Meister, ITS director in Bad Arolsen, welcomed the unanimous decision. “Several member States have very strict regulations on access to archives,” he explained. “So 25 years is a sound compromise.” The rules laid out by the commission also protect the confidentiality of personal information contained in the records. Currently the International Committee of the Red Cross, which manages the ITS, uses the archives to answer requests only by Holocaust victims themselves or their direct relatives. “The documents stored in the archives offer a unique window in that black chapter of recent history,” Meister said, according to an ITS press release. “Behind each record is a personal story that puts a face on the suffering caused by Nazi persecution. The ITS is a living memorial that must be preserved for posterity, so that history does not repeat itself.” May 17, 2007 photos dpa Links
|
|
 Newsletters
 Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article |
||
|
|||||
|
|||||
