Information services for Central Eastern Europe
The Arolsen Archives are active in Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The Nazis persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered millions of people with particular brutality in countries such as Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The families of many victims of Nazi persecution still do not know what happened to their loved ones. Documents from the Arolsen Archives can help trace paths of persecution and clarify fates. That is why we are keen to raise awareness of the resources and services provided by the Arolsen Archives in this region. We are also working with local partners to develop new campaigns and educational / informational resources.
A strong regional network
We are building a strong network in the region by forging connections, cultivating a community of volunteers, and working with a wide range of institutions. We cooperate particularly closely with the Auschwitz International Youth Meeting Center, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Stutthof Memorial, and the German-Polish Youth Office. We also work with media partners in Poland – such as Polish television – that regularly report on our projects and related themes.
#StolenMemory in Poland
One of the key focuses of our work in Poland is the #StolenMemory initiative and exhibition. Since we launched this tracing campaign in 2016, we have found hundreds of families in order to return the personal belongings of relatives who were persecuted during the Nazi era. We regularly organize ceremonies to mark the return of personal effects to families in Poland. Many dedicated volunteers help us find the families by conducting research in archives and at local level. Once a year, we organize a meeting where volunteers can connect and exchange ideas.
The Warsaw Uprising campaign
To mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the Arolsen Archives launched a #StolenMemory campaign titled “The Warsaw Uprising. 100 Untold Stories.” in 2024. The focus was on finding descendants of victims of Nazi persecution who had been deported during the Warsaw Uprising. With help from volunteers, we managed to find a large number of families, and we were able to reconstruct the fates of some of the victims. We returned personal effects to more than 25 families. These items had been confiscated from their owners in German concentration camps.
Educational work in Poland
Documents and objects from the collections of the Arolsen Archives encourage young people to explore the history of Nazi persecution in their own region. Looking at individual fates is a very tangible approach to the topic for young people. We work closely with various institutions in Poland, such as the German-Polish Youth Office (GPYO) and the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim/Auschwitz, developing teaching materials, training educators, and carrying out joint educational projects.
Cooperation with Ukrainian partner organizations
As part of the #StolenMemory initiative, the Arolsen Archives also work closely with Ukrainian partners, particularly in the field of education. We regularly organize international seminars on #StolenMemory in Poland for educators and school students, and we invite our partner organizations from Ukraine to participate. In light of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Arolsen Archives are particularly keen to expand this cooperation and establish it on a long-term basis. Working with schools and teachers from Ukraine is a key focus of our efforts.
German-Polish remembrance work
Since 2023, Anna Meier-Osiński has been a member of the expert forum established by the German Poland Institute (DPI) and the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This forum is involved in developing plans for a Polish memorial and a German-Polish House to be built in Berlin. The German-Polish House will foster intergenerational dialogue and facilitate encounters between people from Poland and Germany, drawing on over a thousand years of shared and intertwined history. In this context, the main emphasis is on developing innovative concepts for youth exchanges and for supporting activities that will run alongside the main project.