Researching W II Displaced Persons (DPs)
Replies: 2
Researching W II Displaced Persons (DPs)
 sadauskt
(View posts)
|
Posted: 12 Feb 2008 11:12PM GMT |
Classification: Query
In May 2008, I will be going to Germany as part of a group of forty genealogists who will be doing research at the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) of the International Red Cross (IRC). I will be researching my father's records but will have time to do research for others as well.
The ITS is located in Bad Arolsen, Germany (see URL below):
http://www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html
Following the end of WW II the Allies captured millions of German records regarding Jews killed in the Holocaust (Shoah) as well as information regarding other prisoners, forced workers, etc... These records were supplemented by new ones created by the Allies regarding displaced persons and others.
The ITS has 50 million individual records on 17.5 million individuals dating back to this period of history. One individual may have several records in the ITS database. These records have now been made available for research following a lengthy period of time during which access to these records was extremely limited.
I submitted an on-line inquiry to the ITS on 9 November 2007 and received a written letter from them on 28 January 2008. Based on the information I provided them, they were able to find at least 5 individual record entries regarding my father who was a DP in the French occupation zone of Germany following the end of WW II.
The information included his German address in 1947, the location of three refugee camps (Reutlingen, Rastatt, and Bremen-Grohn) he was in while a DP in Germany, as well as information regarding his emigration to the United States in 1949.
Eventually, copies of all these ITS records will be available at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
I will be there for five days and likely will be able to do research regarding other Lithuanian DPs. The ITS will be providing a full-time staff member to work with every two genealogists in the group I will be a part of.
If people would like to provide me with demographic information, I will see what I can find for them. Information should include such things as:
Name of Individual (including unmarried surname if applicable)
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Nationality
Religion
Marital Status
Name of Father
Name of Mother
Possible locations where they lived in Europe (including dates)
The more complete info I have, the more likely the ITS archivists can find something.
Let me know if you have any questions about my research offer.
Iki.
Tom
The ITS is located in Bad Arolsen, Germany (see URL below):
http://www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html
Following the end of WW II the Allies captured millions of German records regarding Jews killed in the Holocaust (Shoah) as well as information regarding other prisoners, forced workers, etc... These records were supplemented by new ones created by the Allies regarding displaced persons and others.
The ITS has 50 million individual records on 17.5 million individuals dating back to this period of history. One individual may have several records in the ITS database. These records have now been made available for research following a lengthy period of time during which access to these records was extremely limited.
I submitted an on-line inquiry to the ITS on 9 November 2007 and received a written letter from them on 28 January 2008. Based on the information I provided them, they were able to find at least 5 individual record entries regarding my father who was a DP in the French occupation zone of Germany following the end of WW II.
The information included his German address in 1947, the location of three refugee camps (Reutlingen, Rastatt, and Bremen-Grohn) he was in while a DP in Germany, as well as information regarding his emigration to the United States in 1949.
Eventually, copies of all these ITS records will be available at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
I will be there for five days and likely will be able to do research regarding other Lithuanian DPs. The ITS will be providing a full-time staff member to work with every two genealogists in the group I will be a part of.
If people would like to provide me with demographic information, I will see what I can find for them. Information should include such things as:
Name of Individual (including unmarried surname if applicable)
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Nationality
Religion
Marital Status
Name of Father
Name of Mother
Possible locations where they lived in Europe (including dates)
The more complete info I have, the more likely the ITS archivists can find something.
Let me know if you have any questions about my research offer.
Iki.
Tom