Language:
English
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Yad Vashem Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
40,1 (2012) 197-231
Keywords:
International Tracing Service
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Libraries
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Archives
Abstract:
In 2007 the International Tracing Service in Arolsen opened its vast archive to researchers. The project known as "Attempted Identification of Unknown Dead", aimed at identifying nameless victims of death marches and locating previously unknown burial sites by reconstructing the routes of the marches, has commenced. Concerning the ongoing discussion on whether death marches are to be regarded as a continuation of the Final Solution, or their goal was the elimination of traces of the annihilation in the camps, or the large-scale deaths of prisoners was mainly a result of the chaos that prevailed in Germany in 1945, surmises that the aim of the "evacuations" was to preserve the prisoner manpower. However, other factors, such as wanton brutality, also played a role. Describes the system of registration of prisoners at both the departure points of the marches and at the arrival points, e.g. in Buchenwald and Dachau, and notes that in many cases those who perished during the marches were recorded only in numbers; there were also mistakes in the registration of the dead and dying. Compares the Auschwitz prisoner numbers recorded in Buchenwald and Dachau with information held in the ITS archive and the Auschwitz Memorial database, as well as in other databases, and finds twelve "unknown dead", whose names now can be restored. Pp. 217-229 contain facsimiles of documents.
Note:
In English and Hebrew.
URL:
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