Center helps reunite families separated during World War II
By DONNA MURRAY ALLEN
Published June 10, 2004
Time was running out for a New York woman trying to locate the sister she was separated from in Europe during World War II. Neither was getting any younger. Maggie, as we will call her, logged onto www.anybirthday.com where she accessed a list of people who share a name and a birthday. Maggie got a hit. A person in Maine had the same name and birthday as her sister.
The woman wasn't related, but she did become the catalyst for a joyful reunion when she suggested that Maggie ask the Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center for help. The center turned up 23 possibilities. One was Maggie's sister.
That anecdote, related by center director Linda Klein, is just one of many success stories credited to the organization's staff and volunteers since it was founded in 1990. Nearly 1,000 people have been reunited with their families. About half the people who request help get information.
The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center in Baltimore functions as a national clearinghouse for residents who want to find out what became of loved ones missing since the Holocaust. It also provides help in obtaining documentation of deportation, internment, forced/slave labor and death.
It was established primarily to handle the files on 130,000 people detained for forced labor and 46 death books containing 74,000 names from Auschwitz that were released by the former Soviet Union to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The collection is the single largest source of information made available since the end of World War II.
Tracing isn't a new concept. Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, started tracing during the Civil War when she carried messages between wounded men and their families. The American Red Cross has been tracing victims of World War II and the Nazi regime since 1939.
Anyone may use the center's services, regardless of ethnicity, if the separation occurred in Europe between 1933 and 1957 as a result of Nazi actions. In addition to Jews, Polish Catholics, clergy, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, Ukrainians, Russian soldiers, homosexuals and the disabled were also targets.
Virtually any data the center obtains would be useful in compiling a family tree even if it's not conclusive. "Someone might get back excerpts from original documents," Klein said. "Or they might get a certificate indicating that their loved one did indeed die in a concentration camp."
Where to start? The center will conduct searches for immediate family members, aunts, uncles, cousins and even friends if you have basic information such as the person's first and last names, approximate year of birth, country of birth, last known residence and date and manner of the last contact with that person. With that data in hand, pay a visit to your local Red Cross chapter. A caseworker will help you complete the inquiry form, which remains confidential. The service is free.
From there, your request gets forwarded to the appropriate location for followup. You can expect results in six months to one year, Klein said. Cases do remain open. If new information becomes available, it is immediately shared with the inquirer.
The center's comprehensive approach takes time. "Some people think we can look something up quickly on a computer," Klein said. "But we do a thorough, comprehensive search. We want to be sure our information is accurate."
"We're partners in a really big network," said Klein. "We translate cases into German and work with the International Tracing Service in Arolsen, Germany, which maintains the world's largest cache of original records pertaining to original Nazi documents. We also use a worldwide network of 176 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the Magen David Adom in Israel and various government agencies and institutes to help with searches."
For more information about the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center, log on to www.redcross.org/services/intl/holotrace call 410 764-5311 or contact your local Red Cross chapter.
Read past Donna Murray Allen columns online at www.sptimes.com Type "Donna Murray Allen" in the search box. You can write to Allen, c/o Floridian, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@yahoo.com Her Web site, www.rootsdetective.com includes information on classes and lectures.
