By Cynthia Wroclawski, Manager, The Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
In response to Eric Nusbaum’s article of Sept. 13, 2011 titled “The Family Reunion,” the article neglects to mention that the reunion was made possible thanks to a Page of Testimony submitted by Wolf Hall to Yad Vashem in 1980 to commemorate his family murdered in the Holocaust. The page has been freely accessible online since November 2004, when the central database of Shoah victims’ names was uploaded to www.yadvashem.org. Pages of Testimony are special forms filled out in memory of the victims of the Shoah. The fact that Mr. Hall’s niece was unable to find his testimony earlier is primarily due the fact that the names of family members were not listed in the correct fields on the Page of Testimony form. The Names Database is a memorial, based largely on the testimony of people who knew the victims.
In July 2011 Yad Vashem hosted Rachel Vered and her children and presented them with additional archival documents that brought new information to light on the fate of other family members during the Holocaust. At the time, Yad Vashem staff explained to Vered the importance of updating the information on record on her family at Yad Vashem, explained how to do so and offered assistance.
Unfortunately, no full list of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust exists anywhere. In addition, there is no complete list of the Jewish survivors. To trace an individual during the Holocaust or thereafter one should utilize a variety of resources. To date, in an ongoing effort, Yad Vashem has identified two-thirds of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust — 4 million names of victims are registered in our online Names Database, which is available at www.yadvashem.org in English, Hebrew and Russian. The public is invited to add new information and to send comments online.