Arolsen Archives

The Arolsen Archives are the international center on Nazi persecution and house the world's most comprehensive archive on the victims and survivors of National Socialism. Based in Bad Arolsen, Germany, the institution is a central source of knowledge for the processing and remembrance of the crimes of the Nazi era.

• Archive Holdings: The collection includes references to approximately 17.5 million people and contains documents related to the various victim groups of the Nazi regime, including concentration camps, ghettos, labor camps, Gestapo prisons, and forced labor deployments. These documents have been part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register since 2013[1][2][4].
• Online Archive: Since 2015, the institution has been building an extensive online archive that allows global access to the documents. As of 2023, approximately 40 million documents are available online[4].
• Research and Education: The Arolsen Archives respond to inquiries about around 20,000 Nazi victims each year and offer extensive programs for research and education to bring knowledge about Nazi crimes into today's society[2][3][4].
• Digital Initiatives: The crowdsourcing project #everynamecounts allows volunteers to digitally capture data of the victims and make their names searchable in the online archive. In 2020, 10,000 volunteers worldwide participated in this project[2].

The main mission of the Arolsen Archives is to clarify the fates of Nazi victims and support the search for missing persons. The institution sees it as its task to contribute to debates surrounding remembrance and processing of the Nazi era, political persecution, and racism. The focus is on preserving the memory of the crimes of the National Socialists as a continuing warning against racism and anti-Semitism[1][3][4].

• Digital Future: The Arolsen Archives are continuously working on the digitization of their archive holdings and the development of modern, online-based systems to facilitate and standardize access to the documents[5].
• International Cooperation: The institution is closely connected with international partners such as the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) to promote research and education about the Holocaust[1].
• Educational Work: Through projects like the educational platform "and today?" and participation in workshops and conferences, such as the Museum Educators Expert Training Workshop, the Arolsen Archives strengthen the importance of history in the digital age and promote innovative approaches in historical-political education[3].

The Arolsen Archives are a living memorial to the victims of National Socialism and an important contribution to the remembrance and processing of the darkest chapters of history. Through their extensive archive holdings, digital initiatives, and dedicated educational work, they help ensure that the memory of the crimes of the National Socialists remains alive and serves as a warning for future generations.

• 1 - https://arolsen-archives.org/ueber-uns/kurzportraet/
• 2 - https://www.bad-arolsen.de/de/unsere-stadt/stadtportrait/archive-und-bibliotheken/arolsen-archives.php
• 3 - https://arolsen-archives.org/ueber-uns/
• 4 - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arolsen_Archives
• 5 - https://arolsen-archives.org/downloads/jahresbericht-2020/datenmanagement/