Opening the
ITS-Bad Arolsen Holocaust Archive
 "Record
Time"
Is the Holocaust museum
helping survivors research their families' fates? Yes, but not
fast enough for Leo Rechter.
HSF Board member Leo Rechter
is featured in Washington City Paper's January 7, 2009
cover story on the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum and it's handling of Holocaust records
from the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany.
"More Controversy-Plagued
Holocaust Records Transferred to Museum"
September 25, 2008 --
News coverage
in the Forward focuses on continuing efforts to open up
Holocaust archives to full public access.
A related
op-ed by HSF Board member Esther Widman was published by the
on-line news site, The Cutting Edge.
Bad Arolsen conflict:
"Museum is more concerned with creating a legacy for historians
... than with the heart-wrenching and pressing needs of
Survivors"
An article by Leo Rechter,
HSF Officer and President, National Association of Jewish Child
Holocaust Survivors, Inc. (NAHOS) in the online news journal,
The Cutting Edge
("Survivors
Rebuke USHMM’s Shapiro and ICRC’s Meister over Bad Arolsen
Discord Following Closed Door Meeting" - March 3, 2008).
Coverage of this topic in
The Cutting Edge moved a number of readers to respond. See
letters from
Michael Katz,
Stu Rosen,
Jennifer Levin and
Leo Rechter.
Opening Holocaust Archives:
"20 computers ...are not enough"
The Washington Jewish Week
argues in a blunt editorial ("Our
Obligations to Survivors and History" - Jan. 23, 2008) that more
must be done by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to
ensure meaningful public access to the vast Holocaust archives it
has acquired from the International Tracing Service.
Washington Jewish Week
also provides this news coverage:
"Harvesting the Holocaust: Shoah archive opens, but access issues
linger."
Background
The
largest closed Holocaust-related archive in the world, the
International Tracing Service located at Bad Arolsen, Germany has
officially begun the process of
opening to the public. The first installment of 18 million
electronic copies of the vast
archive holdings have been transferred to the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and
Yad Vashem in Israel. Both of these institutions are now providing a
search service of the documents upon request. For more
information on this new service and to submit a search request, go
to the respective websites of the
Holocaust Museum and
Yad
Vashem.
HSF supports full, unfettered
public access via the internet to these materials that have for far
too long been withheld from survivors and families. HSF played an
instrumental role in drawing public attention to the right of
survivors and victims' families to access documents. See the
following sources:
"USHMM
Launches Promising if Daunting Individualized Bad Arolsen Search
Program," by Edwin Black, Jan. 17, 2008
HSF News
Release, May 18, 2007
"Survivors Outraged at Holocaust Museum Over Bad Arolsen"
by Edwin Black, May 11, 2007
Congressional hearing, March 28, 2007: "Opening Up the Bad
Arolsen Archives" featuring testimony from survivors & HSF Officers
David Schaecter
and Leo
Rechter.
Congressional Record, Dec.
27, 2006
Statement of Rep. Alcee Hastings, including HSF letter and
statement by Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
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