Tracing and Documenting Nazi Victims Past and Present

The International Tracing Service (ITS) is an archive and a center for documenting　National Socialist persecution and the liberated survivors. Former victims of Nazism and their families receive information regarding their incarceration,　forced labor and post-war Allied assistance. The more than 30 million documents in the ITS archives also provide the basis for research and education.

In order to fulfill these tasks, the ITS cooperates internationally with memorial sites, archives and research institutions. The ITS commemorates the victims of the Holocaust as well as National Socialist crimes, thus contributing towards a culture of remembrance. As of 2013 the original documents in the ITS archives are included on the UNESCO "Memory of the World" registry.

The original title "International Tracing Service", still in use today, was given to the ITS on 1 January 1948. Originally the ITS was the responsibility of the Allies; in 1955 the International Commission took on this task.

The archives of the ITS document the fates of millions of victims whose memory it preserves. From this arises a special respect for the values of democracy, freedom, human dignity and tolerance. The ITS is committed to these values and will continue to strengthen these through its work.

The ITS will be renamed in 2019 to "Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Persecution".