We (more than a dozen GerSig volunteers) have almost finished entering
all the names (close to 50,000) which appear in the German Town
collection in the International Tracing Service (ITS)collection.
I am sorry that I won't be in Salt Lake to discuss this collection but...,

Briefly--in the 1960s the ITS sent letters to all West German towns (not
including Berlin) asking them to submit lists of all Jews who had resided
there in 1933 and what had happened to them.

Most but not all towns replied, though the quality and detail of
the responses varied widely. The information has been entered into a
database available on Jewishgen and Steve Morse's website and can be
searched by name, place of birth or place of residence as well as a list of
towns included in the survey.

The information available in this collection supplements the
usual sources, such as the 1939 census and the Gedenkbuch, since it goes
back before 1939 and includes Jews who emigrated as well as Jews who
perished within Germany after 1933.

Thanks to all who made this database available--I hope it is useful.

Peter Lande, Washington, D.C. pdlande@...