Facts and figures that tell our story

1943-1945

The Allies start collecting information about forced laborers, refugees, and prisoners of the Nazi regime. This work is taken over by the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), initially in London, then in Versailles, later in Frankfurt am Main.

September 1945

The military governments transfer responsibility for managing their Central Tracing Bureau to the Central Tracing Bureau of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Frankfurt-Höchst. This institution is the direct predecessor of the Arolsen Archives.

October 1945

The Central Tracing Bureau starts compiling an index of names to make it easier to search for missing persons. This is the first step in the creation of the Central Name Index (CNI), the “key” to the documents.

1946

The Allies move the Central Tracing Bureau from Frankfurt-Höchst to Arolsen, a small town in the north of Hesse.

July 1947

When UNRRA’s mandate expires, the newly founded International Refugee Organization (IRO), based in Geneva, takes over the management of the Central Tracing Bureau in Arolsen.

1948

The Central Tracing Bureau is renamed the “International Tracing Service” (ITS) – this remains the organization’s legal name today.

1951

The Allied High Commission for Germany takes over the management of the ITS. To this day, the ITS (now: Arolsen Archives) is supervised by an International Commission made up of representatives from eleven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

1955

The Allies hand over the management of the ITS to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The legal basis for this change is provided by the “Bonn Agreements,” ratified by the International Commission, which initially stipulate a time limit.

1965

The time limit stipulated in the Bonn agreement is lifted.

1990

The Federal Republic of Germany pledges to continue to maintain the work of the ITS.

1998

The ITS becomes a pioneer in the digitization of archival materials. The first major project is launched with a view to accelerating the process of answering inquiries on the basis of the documents in the archive.

2007

On November 28, 2007, having been closed to the public for nearly 25 years, the ITS opens its archive to researchers and visitors. The decision to open the archive was prompted by international protest from academics and politicians, as well as from victims of Nazi persecution who demanded access to the valuable historical documents.

2012

The ICRC withdraws from the management of the ITS. The International Commission assumes responsibility for the institution and sets new goals.

2013

The Berlin Agreement and a declaration of partnership with the Federal Archives as the new institutional partner of the ITS come into force.

On October 16, the collection of historical documents and the Central Name Index are added to the UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” register.

2015

The decision is taken to start work on an online archive that will give people all over the world digital access to data and documents.

2016

Launch of the #StolenMemory campaign: volunteers help to locate the families of victims of Nazi persecution in order to return personal belongings that were confiscated from them in concentration camps.

2017

The collection of documents is moved to a temporary archive because the Arolsen Archives do not have a suitable archive building; the valuable documents that belong to the world’s documentary heritage need appropriate storage in accordance with archival standards.

2019

The ITS changes its name to the Arolsen Archives. The Arolsen Archives launch an online archive in partnership with the World Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem. People from all over the world can now conduct research online to find out about the fates of victims of Nazi persecution.

2020

The online archive receives the European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award, Europe’s highest award in the field of cultural heritage.

The crowdsourcing initiative #everynamecounts kicks off too, and following an initial phase as an educational project for schools, it is opened up to the public. International volunteers capture data from archival documents to make the information accessible and searchable online – both for researchers and for the descendants of people persecuted by the Nazis.

2021

The #StolenMemory website wins a Grimme Online Award and the Grand Prix of the Art Directors Club competition.

2024

The Arolsen Archives launch their multi-media interactive educational platform “and today?” Tailored to meet the needs of young people growing up in a digital world, the platform focuses on the history of the Nazi period and on issues related to social participation and marginalization since 1945. 

Following a design competition, the architectural firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos from Berlin is awarded the contract for the planned new archive building, which is due to be completed in 2028 (construction costs are estimated at around 17.3 million euros).