Gedenkbuch

The Gedenkbuch – Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft 1933–1945 ("Memorial Book – Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933–1945") is a memorial book published by the German Federal Archives, listing persons murdered during the Holocaust as part of the Nazis' so-called "Final Solution". It is limited to people, regardless of nationality, who voluntarily lived within the borders of the German Reich as of December 31, 1937.[1] Since 2007, it has been available online. As of February 2020, it contained 176,475 names.[1] Alongside the Arolsen Archives and Yad Vashem's central database, it is considered an important resource for Holocaust research.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Since its publication, many cities and states have published their own memorial books, complementing and expanding on the Gedenkbuch.[8][9][7][10][11]

History

In 1960, upon request from Yad Vashem, the Federal Ministry of the Interior issued a letter instructing state and local governments to begin collecting records about their former Jewish populations. The German Federal Archives needed 25 years to complete the "immense task"[12] of compiling and reviewing this data.

The first edition of the Gedenkbuch was published in 1986 in two volumes, prepared by the German Federal Archives in Koblenz, and the Arolsen Archives, in Bad Arolsen, Germany. This edition contained approximately 128,000 names and listed victims who had lived in the parts of the German Reich that became West Germany, along with both East and West Berlin.[13][14] East Germany declined to participate in this project.[12]

After the end of the Cold War, researchers gained access to a large amount of archival material located in former East Germany and other former eastern territories of Germany. This data was incorporated into a considerably expanded second edition of the Gedenkbuch, which was published in 2006 in four volumes, edited and published by the German Federal Archives. The second edition included victims who had lived within the 1937 borders of the German Reich, with a total of approximately 149,600 names.[15]

Since December 2007, the Gedenkbuch has been available online; the German Federal Archives continuously publishes additions and corrections based on research and submissions.[1][16]

Dieses Gedenkbuch gibt den Ermordeten ihren Namen und damit ihre Menschenwürde wieder. Es ist zugleich ein Denkmal und eine Erinnerung daran, dass jedes einzelne Menschenleben einen Namen und eine einzigartige Geschichte hat.
This memorial book gives the murdered their names and thus their human dignity back. It is both a memorial and a reminder that every single human life has a name and a unique story.

—Preface to the second edition, written by president of Germany Horst Köhler[1]

Online edition

The core of the online edition is a searchable directory of names.[17][18] It also contains a detailed chronology of deportations,[19] and a bibliography.

In 2021, the Gedenkbuch was relaunched with a new interface and additional features.[20]

References
  1. "Memorial Book - Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933 - 1945". German Federal Archives. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  2. "Die Leben hinter den Namen" [The Lives Behinds the Names]. Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). Retrieved 21 April 2023. Durch die Möglichkeiten des Internets ließ sich die mühselige Datensuche großteils von zu Hause aus erledigen. Andererseits hätten kaum man noch Zeitzeugen befragen können. Wichtige Datenquellen waren das »International Center on Nazi Presecution« in Bad Arolsen, das Bundesarchiv Gedenkbuch über die Naziverfolgten (Koblenz) und die Datenbanken der Internationalen Holocaust Gedenkstätte Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. [Thanks to the possibilities of the Internet, the laborious data search could largely be done from home. On the other hand, it would hardly have been possible to interview contemporary witnesses. Important data sources were the "International Center on Nazi Presecution" in Bad Arolsen, the Bundesarchiv Gedenkbuch about those persecuted by the Nazis (Koblenz) and the databases of the International Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.]
  3. "Schicksale" [Fates]. German Riga Committee: The Association of Cities for the Remembrance and Commemoration of the Deportation of Jews (in German). Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  4. "Provenance research: The books' paths". Berlin Central and Regional Library. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  5. Newhouse, Alana (20 January 2008). "Portrait in Grief". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  6. Hertzberg, Claire (23 June 1991). "Resource to Trace Holocaust Survivors". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  7. Meyer, Beate; Simon, Hermann; Schütz, Chana (15 December 2009). "Every Person Has a Name". Jews in Nazi Berlin: From Kristallnacht to Liberation. p. 185-186. ISBN 9780226521596. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  8. "Thüringer Gedenkbuch für die ermordeten Jüdinnen und Juden" [Thuringian Memorial Book for the Murdered Jews]. MENORA - Jüdisches Leben in Thüringen (in German). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  9. "Gedenkbuch der jüdischen Bürger Oberfrankens" [Memorial Book of the Jewish Citizens of Upper Franconia]. University of Bamberg (in German). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  10. "Das Biografische Gedenkbuch der Münchner Juden 1933-1945" [The Biographical Memorial Book of Munich's Jews 1933-1945]. City of Munich (in German). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  11. "Das Projekt und die Recherche" [The Project and the Research]. Memorial Book Düsseldorf (in German). City of Düsseldorf. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  12. Poliakov, Léon (1989). "Gedenkbuch. Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933–1945, 1986". Francia (in French). 16 (3): 271–272. doi:10.11588/fr.1989.3.53766. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  13. "Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database -- Gedenkbuch". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  14. "Essential Gedenkbuch [Memorial Book]". JewishGen. 4 May 2009 [1 December 1994]. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  15. "Gedenkbuch – Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft 1933–1945". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  16. "Gedenkbuch für die jüdischen NS-Verfolgungsopfer online" [Memorial Book for the Jewish Victims of Nazi Persections Online]. AUGIAS.net (in German). 23 December 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  17. "Gedenkbuch - Search in memorial book". German Federal Archives. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  18. "Online-Gedenkbuch des Bundesarchivs im Holocaust-Denkmal zugänglich" [Online Memorial Book of the German Federal Archives Accessible in the Holocaust Memorial]. Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Press release) (in German). Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  19. "Gedenkbuch - Deportation chronology". German Federal Archives. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  20. von Fransecky, Tanja (29 April 2021). "Relaunch des Online-Gedenkbuchs des Bundesarchivs" [Relaunch of the Federal Archives' Online Gedenkbuch]. German Federal Archives (in German). Retrieved 20 April 2023.
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