Working together to fight oblivion
The documents that are currently being processed for “Every Name counts” come from concentration camps. They might be transport lists, for example, or so-called status reports that documented who were the new arrivals to the camp, who had been transferred to another camp, and who had died.
It can be a frustrating, time-consuming task to decipher and enter the data. “The lists are a labor of love sometimes, squinting at faded letters, checking possible names in the internet because the "a" and "o" look identical, etc. It has taken me up to two hours to do some of them. […]” This is how one of the volunteers described the experience of working on lists from the Mauthausen concentration camp.
However, none of this seems to act as a deterrent: 6000 volunteers have registered to work on the project and exchange information in the forum. And many more take part without registering as users.
The online community uses the forum to share personal stories, pictures, and background knowledge. Users work together to try to find answers to the questions thrown up by the documents.
People of all generations are involved, ranging from high school students to Holocaust survivors. One young woman told us that she is working on the project together with her grandmother, who helps her to decipher the old German handwriting. Many of the volunteers use the forum to tell us about their background and their motivation for getting involved in the project. Some of them lost relatives in a German concentration camp themselves. Others are pleased to have something meaningful to do while they are unable to leave the house. All feel strongly that it is important to play an active role in fighting against oblivion…
Conclusion
The project “Every Name Counts” has two objectives: in addition to the fact that the Arolsen Archives benefit at a purely practical level from the support provided by participants who help enter the data of Nazi persecutees, the project also prompts many people to think about what the documents mean – and take an interest in the fates of the people whose names they contain.
The conscientiousness and the perseverance shown by the volunteers who work on "Every name counts" is impressive. The quality of the data they enter is very high and the contribution this makes to remembrance work is very valuable. It is clear that the project will remain an integral part of the work of the Arolsen Archives and will be developed further in the future.
“Digital remembrance is a modern form of remembrance that we want to use to reach out to young people in particular,” explains Floriane Azoulay as she describes the significance of the project. “It enables them to take action and to participate in a shared experience without leaving the sofa, so to speak. With so many people working together to make sure the fates of individuals are never forgotten, we are gradually building a huge online memorial.”