The ' ("''Memorial BookVictims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933–1945''") is a

memorial book A book of remembrance is a book commemorating those who have died, usually listing their names in date or alphabetical order. They are often compiled to commemorate war dead and others who have died on military operations. Another use is to com ...

published by the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture ...

, listing persons murdered during

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

as part of the Nazis' so-called "

Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...

". It is limited to people, regardless of nationality, who voluntarily lived within the borders of the German ''Reich'' as of December 31, 1937. Since 2007, it has been available online. As of February 2020, it contained 176,475 names. Alongside the Arolsen Archives and

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

's central database, it is considered an important resource for Holocaust research. Since its publication, many cities and states have published their own memorial books, complementing and expanding on the ''Gedenkbuch''.

History

In 1960, upon request from

, the Federal Ministry of the Interior issued a letter instructing state and local governments to begin collecting records about their former Jewish populations. The German Federal Archives needed 25 years to complete the "immense task" of compiling and reviewing this data. The first edition of the ''Gedenkbuch'' was published in 1986 in two volumes, prepared by the German Federal Archives in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, and the Arolsen Archives, in

Bad Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then un ...

, Germany. This edition contained approximately 128,000 names and listed victims who had lived in the parts of the German ''Reich'' that became

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, along with both East and West Berlin.

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

declined to participate in this project. After the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, researchers gained access to a large amount of archival material located in former

and other

former eastern territories of Germany In present-day Germany, the former eastern territories of Germany () refer to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany, i.e. the Oder–Neisse line, which historically had been considered German and which were annexed b ...

. This data was incorporated into a considerably expanded second edition of the ''Gedenkbuch'', which was published in 2006 in four volumes, edited and published by the German Federal Archives. The second edition included victims who had lived within the 1937 borders of the German ''Reich'', with a total of approximately 149,600 names. Since December 2007, the ''Gedenkbuch'' has been available online; the German Federal Archives continuously publishes additions and corrections based on research and submissions.

Online edition

The core of the online edition is a searchable directory of names. It also contains a detailed chronology of

deportations Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

, and a bibliography. In 2021, the ''Gedenkbuch'' was relaunched with a new interface and additional features.

References

{{reflist Books about the Holocaust Online person databases Holocaust memorials