26 September 2005
Close to 6 million people, from 203 countries, have visited the Yad Vashem website since the Internet launch of the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names in November 2004. Since then, approximately 110,000 names have been added to the Database.
From its inception, Yad Vashem has been dedicated to recovering the names of Jews killed in the Shoah by collecting Pages of Testimony - special forms for registering Holocaust victims.
Yad Vashem launched its Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names onto the Internet in order to keep the memory of the victims alive, and recover as many names as possible. The Database contains some 3 million names; half the victims’ names are still unidentified. As we approach the High Holidays, Yad Vashem is renewing its call for people to add as yet unlisted names to the Database. Yad Vashem urges people to be a part of this critical effort to recover names of Holocaust victims, while those who remember them are still with us.
There are currently some 109,000 pictures of victims in the Database, including 900 photos that have been added to existing Pages of Testimony since November. While in most cases no photographs remain of Jews killed by the Nazis, some relatives and friends managed to save these treasured images. Now these photos can be scanned directly from home computers and become a part of the Database. Yad Vashem is calling on the public to add photos to names that already appear in the Names Database, and to include photos, whenever possible, when submitting additional names.
To submit new names, please first search the Database to prevent duplicate entries. If the name does not already appear, click on “Submit additional names” to fill-out an online Page of Testimony, or download a Page of Testimony from the site, fill it out, and mail it to Yad Vashem.
Maintaining the Database is an ongoing project; since launching the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, Yad Vashem has fielded 30,000 public enquiries regarding the Database and the Names listed therein. Each visitor to views an average of 18 pages of the site. In addition to the 110,000 names already added from Pages of Testimony and archival lists, another 140,000 names are expected to be added to the Database by the end of 2005. To access a free resource guide to initiate a Names Recovery Campaign, contact names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il
Help us recall their lives, their identities - their names. They are part of our history and heritage, and will remain in our collective memory, for generations to come.
