Ancestry Holocaust Records

Today Ancestry announced a new partnership with the Arolsen Archives (formerly the International Tracing Service or ITS). The Arolsen Archives contains the most comprehensive archive of material related to victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. Many of these documents will be made available on Ancestry.com.

Two collections from Arolsen are already online and accessible from Ancestry:

Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947

This collection includes information gathered by the Allies at the end of the war concerning those who had been persecuted in Germany by public institutions, social securities and companies. The documents may contain death and burial information.

Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971

The majority of the immigrants in this collection are Holocaust survivors or refugees leaving Germany and other European ports. These records were created by the International Refugee Organization (IRO) and the Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration.

European Genealogy Resources

The hardest part of researching European ancestors is actually finding European records online! Here's a list of some online resources that can help you get started.

And don't forget to visit Cyndi'sList, RootsWeb, and WorldGenWeb to find more great European genealogy websites.

European Genealogy Websites

The following links were taken from GenealogyInTime. GenealogyInTime also posts links to genealogy record collections from all over the world that have been recently digitized.

Here are few free European websites that GenealogyInTime included in its 100 Best Websites of 2014 list.

Denmark
Dansk Demografisk Database: Includes Danish census records from 1787-1930, emigration records, probate, church records, and more.

France
GeneaNet: The largest French genealogy database that includes links to online municipal archives and information to help you get started with French research.

Germany
Ahnenforschung: Contains databases, digital archives, dictionaries, and forums related to German genealogy.

Ireland
Irish Genealogy: Online resources, church records, and Irish research tips hosted by the Irish Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht.

The Netherlands
Wie Was Wie: This database includes vital records, population registers, Dutch family trees, and more.

Norway
Arkivverket Digitalarkivet: Digital archive that includes census records, parish registers, property and legal records and much more.
DIS-Norway, Slekt og Data: Norway's largest genealogy organization whose site contains forums, helpful links, and digital projects.

United Kingdom
GENUKI: Online gazetteer, parish maps, and many useful links for UK research.
RootsChat: The UK's largest family history forum.
FreeBMD: Search transcriptions of the Civil Registration Index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales.

Several of these sites are in the language of the host county. Google Translate can translate whole webpages into English for you if you need help.

World Memory Project

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Ancestry.com are collaborating to make information about victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution available online through the World Memory Project. 

The Museum owns millions of historical documents containing details about survivors and victims.  By using Ancestry.com technology, the World Memory Project collection can be searched online for free.

The World Memory Project was launched in May 2011, and since then thousands of contributors around the world have indexed hundreds of thousands of records.  You can contribute to this effort by volunteering to become an indexer.

To search other Ancestry collections at no cost, visit Ancestry Library Edition on the Glenview Public Library website.