How to Find Names of Holocaust Victims

The Internet makes it easier to share the information that helps find names of Holocaust victims. Those who were children at the time, others who have wondered for many years what happened and those involved in research on the era can find names of Holocaust victims in a variety of places.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Gather as much information as possible on the name of the person. Place of birth, the area in which he was taken prisoner and approximate year of birth can all help.
2. Visit the Yad Vashem website, and look through the database. Yad Vashen is the Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Authority. The sheer volume of names means that what you are looking for may not yet be online, but there are numerous resources to help you.
3. Search through Jewish Genealogy website. There are links to lists, and the site urges people to share family trees so that others can search for relatives.
4. Plan a trip to Holocaust sites and museums. There are places to search for Holocaust names at Buchenwald, for instance. The U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington also has resources.
5. Set up a blog for sharing information with others, and get leads from those who are also search for names of Holocaust victims.
6. Keep hope. Go back to websites and databases after a few months. More and more information becomes available online on a frequent basis.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember spelling of place names and family names differs. Variations of names can help with the search.
• You may find the name you're looking for, but other than a concentration camp location you may not know what actually happened to that person.
• There were many Holocaust victims who died outside concentration camps too. It's difficult to find these names, though you may be able to locate relatives or neighbors, if you know where they lived.