Germany's Arolsen Archives, which documents the victims of Nazi persecution, recorded more than 20,000 applications for information on more than 28,000 people last year, a rise of more than 30% on the year.
"The interest shown by relatives and subsequent generations in obtaining information about victims of Nazi persecution and their fates has increased dramatically over the past year," the centre, which is funded by the German government, reported on Tuesday.
The online archive saw an even greater increase of over 43%, with around 680,000 users searching the database. The Arolsen Archives, the largest documentation centre on Nazi persecution in the world, are busy digitizing their voluminous records.
The collection has information on about 17.5 million people and belongs to UNESCO’s Memory of the World.
Some 79% of tracing inquiries were submitted by family members, with 11% from researchers and 6.5% from people with an interest in history. Almost half came from Germany, Poland, and France, followed by Italy and Israel.
The centre, located in the town of Bad Arolsen, said it had been able to provide information and documents in almost 60% of cases. "As digitization continues, it becomes easier to carry out research because the archival collections can be searched faster and more effectively," it added.
Last year, the centre was able to hand over 180 envelopes containing personal belongings to the families of former concentration camp prisoners, the highest number ever. "When these objects are returned, it frequently leads to the discovery of previously unknown information about people's lives," it said.
Since 2016, the centre has returned more than 850 envelopes containing jewellery, watches, photos and papers to family members.
