The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus Library Archive
28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, MI., 48334
www.holocaustcenter.org – info@holocaustcenter.org
TRACING HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS/VICTIMS:
A Brief Guide
The following is a brief guide to help you research and search Holocaust survivors/victims and to acquaint you with the resources available in the Holocaust Memorial Center Library Archive. For specific questions, please check with the reference librarian on duty or call 248-553-2834 to make an appointment for individual guidance.
Preliminary Searching:
NAME – LOCATION – HISTORY:
Check the name of the person whom you are searching and the name of the town where the person originated. Locate the city on a map and note surrounding towns and area. Learn what happened to the city during the war and identify the governing bodies or occupying forces. Get as much information as possible, including the European spelling of the person’s name, age, address and names of relatives.
INTERNATIONAL TRACING SERVICE, BAD AROLSEN, GERMANY:
Home page is: https://arolsen-archives.org/en/. Limited searching at https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/search. The ITS is a social service agency and will contact other social service agencies in other countries.
Requests are also accepted at:
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM:
https://secure.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/20121205-its-request-form.pdf>
Priority given to survivors & families. They will also check their own vast archive.
ANCESTRY:
Ancestry.com has acquired millions of Holocaust records from Arolsen Archives, an index to the Shoah Foundation index of Jewish Holocaust survivor testimonies, Jewishgen and USHMM records. All Ancestry Holocaust records available at no charge. Records may be searched at https://www.ancestry.com/cs/alwaysremember.
JEWISH GENEALOGY WEBSITE:
Check www.jewishgen.org website for names, locations, registers, and current research by topic and location. Pay special attention to the Infofiles, Holocaust Database, Special Interest Groups and KehilaLinks.
AVOTAYNU (Jewish Genealogy Magazine):
Search the www.avotaynu.com website for useful, up to date, articles in your area of research. Use the latest Avotaynu CD to search by keyword. A copy is available in the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus Library-Archive. For up-to-date news, subscribe to online Avotaynu Nu ? What’s New?
In-Depth Searching:
Contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Survivor Resource Center at 1 (202) 488-6112 or 1 (202) 488-6130.
Check American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee files at http://archives.jdc.org/Sharedlegacy/search-names. Photographs and text searching also available.
Check Miriam Weiner’s Routes to Roots website www.rtrfoundation.org to identify Jewish archival records in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania and Moldova.
Check USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education online catalog of survivor who gave their oral history at http://vhaonline.usc.edu/Search.aspx Also searchable by relatives, subject and place name. HMC is an access site.
Check Memorial Books for the town(s) where the person originated and numerous registers. The HMC has a very extensive collection. Website: https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/memorial-book-collection/
If the person was imprisoned in a concentration/slave labor camp, write directly to the address or find out where the records are currently being kept.
Check Yad Vashem, www.yadvashem.org, for Dape Ed — Pages of Testimony, where persons have registered names of people who died in the Holocaust. Click ‘Shoah Names Database’. Also check Documents Archive and Photo Archive.
Check displaced persons camps records and periodicals which appeared at the time. HMC has microfilm copies.
To locate persons who may have gone to Israel, Mrs. Batya Unterschatz-Landsman conducts research for a fee.
Email: batyal2@012.net.il
Mailing Address: 91 Derech Hazeitim, Moshav Beit Zeit, Israel 90815
Fax: 0972-2-5346573
Be aware that the person’s last name may have been changed to a Hebrew version of a European name.
Write to Landsmanschaften societies. Place an ad in their newsletters or ask the head of the society to speak with members regarding the person(s) in whom you are interested.
Place an ad in TOGETHER published by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors by emailing Allgenerations@aol.com. This magazine has a ‘Searches’ column and they accept notices for publication.
Place ad with Allgenerations@aol.com. Serena Woolrich, President of Allgenerations, Inc. administers this email group of survivors and children. The notice will reach the survivor community quickly and efficiently.
Place an ad in Generations of the Shoah International Newsletter (www.genshoah.org) GSI@genshoah.org.
Revised 8/2020