A Paper Monument

When the Second World War came to an end, millions of survivors and families were searching for missing people. In a Europe marked by war, persecution, and chaos, there was an urgent need to clarify their fates. Allies, aid organizations, and former concentration camp prisoners began to collect documents and compile information systematically. The International Tracing Service (ITS) was born from these beginnings in 1948 and functioned as a central hub for tracing inquiries from all over the world. Since 2019, the institution has been known as the Arolsen Archives.

The history of the archive is closely linked to the town of Arolsen. During the Nazi era, Arolsen was an SS base complete with a barracks, an SS school, and a concentration camp sub-camp. After the war, these buildings provided space for the files and the staff of the ITS. Political relationships also came to light: The exhibition shows how former Nazi elites and new democratic structures came face to face in Arolsen – and outlines the resulting tensions.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the role of the ITS began to change. More and more public authorities were contacting the tracing service to obtain certificates confirming eligibility for compensation, or proof that a person had been stripped of their citizenship during the Nazi era. Political developments like the Cold War made this work more difficult, as many archives in Eastern Europe remained closed for decades. It was not until the 1990s that new sources could be accessed. The exhibition shows how the tracing system evolved – and whose fates were clarified while other cases remained unsolved.

In the early years of the archive, many so-called displaced persons (DPs) worked for the ITS – people who had themselves been persecuted, deported, or deprived of their rights. They helped to set up the archive and had a huge influence on the international spirit of the organization. At times, up to 800 DPs lived in a special camp in Arolsen. The exhibition commemorates their dedication, their lives, and their contribution to the history of the archive.

The tracing work that began in 1945 led to the creation of one of the world’s largest collections of documents on Nazi persecution. Millions of documents from concentration camps, sites of forced labor, and public authorities were archived – supplemented by inquiries from relatives and certificates of eligibility for compensation. Digitization of the holdings began in the 1990s. Today almost all of the documents are freely accessible online – for research, education, and remembrance worldwide. The exhibition shows how the archive has grown – and why it is still unique to this day.

Nowadays, the Arolsen Archives are open to everyone: Survivors and their families, public authorities, and researchers, schools, and the general public. The exhibition sheds light on how the archive was used in the past – and on its instrumental role in digital remembrance today. Initiatives like #StolenMemory or the digital crowdsourcing project #everynamecounts combine archival work at international level with the dedication of volunteers.