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The archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) contain over 21,000 separate collections of historical documentation. This on-line inventory of collections has been designed to enable users to begin the process of determining whether or not the information they are seeking may be contained in the ITS archives. Collection descriptions are presented in both German and English, and the inventory search engine functions equally well in both languages. Users are encouraged to read the user notes for the inventory in order to understand both its capabilities and its limitations. In particular, users should bear in mind that the search engine is not searching the documents themselves that are in the archives, and thus searches for individual names that may appear in the documents, as opposed to topics, geographical and organizational names that may appear in collection descriptions, will not produce positive results. Despite its limitations, the online inventory represents the only comprehensive listing that exists today of the historical collections in the ITS archives. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the International Tracing Service are pleased to be making it available in searchable form to Holocaust survivors and their families and to other potential users of the ITS archives. |