The JMDR had noticed that most of the immigration files contained a questionnaire, filled out upon arrival, in addition to a photo of the migrant or refugee. As over 90% of the Jewish population in Belgium consisted of migrants and refugees, this meant that these files would most likely contain portraits of a majority of the deportees of the Dossin barracks.
Thus, the 'Give Them a Face' project, which worked to identify the correct files and scan the photos, was launched in 2005 under the supervision of Patricia Ramet, daughter of camp survivor and JMDR chairman Natan Ramet.
Between 2005 and 2009, over 18,000 photos were scanned from the immigration files and carefully cataloged. During the process of scanning, word about the 'Give Them a Face' project spread and Jewish families in Belgium and abroad started to present photos to the JMDR to be added to the photo collection. As the immigration files often didn’t contain photos of children arriving in the country, nor were photos of children born in Belgium from non-Belgian parents added to the files, this support from the community greatly enriched the project.
By 2009, 18,522 portraits of the 25,628 deportees had been collected. That year, the four-volume series Mechelen-Auschwitz, 1942-1944: The Destruction of Jews and Gypsies from Belgium was published. Many Holocaust survivors, including hidden children, were very touched by the project as they had never before seen photos of their parents who were killed in the camps.
Przykład teczki imigranta, pierwotnego głównego źródła dla celów projektu Give Them a Face