FAQ

We currently know of around 550 photographs of deportations from the German Reich between 1938 and 1945. The project partners want to find more photographs and study them carefully – with the help of the general public. Our scholars will conduct research, but we also want to inspire many other people to actively contribute to the project.

Our goal is to bring together as many pictures of deportations as possible and analyze them in detail. To do this, we need a lot of volunteer support. The project will result in an innovative and interactive website as well as an educational program for schools based on the deportation photos. We want to bring memory into the present day and create a basis for further research.

#LastSeen is an initiative of the Arolsen Archives with the following partners:

• House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site
• Institute for Municipal History and Remembrance, Munich
• USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, Los Angeles
• Center for Research on Antisemitism, TU Berlin

The cooperative project is being sponsored by the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation (EVZ) and Federal Ministry of Finance on the basis of a decision of the German Bundestag.

Anyone who is interested and willing to spend some time can participate. The more people join us in our search for pictures, the more comprehensive and interesting the results will be. We’re asking experienced historical researchers and archivists as well as dedicated local historians and history enthusiasts to take part in #LastSeen.

We want to encourage you to look for photographs of deportations that have not yet been found. When you show us what you find, our researchers will review the pictures and try to determine what they depict. You can also help us identify the people and places in the photographs.

We hope to find previously undiscovered photos in old photo albums in attics or at flea markets, in local history archives and private collections (such as those owned by train enthusiasts), and in city and national archives, of course. Think about where you might find such photos in your area and share your discoveries with us.

The “Contact” section of our website has a postal address and an email address you can use to send us any pictures you find (copies or originals). Our experts will analyze the pictures and determine their context. Please tell us everything you know about the photos, since every detail can help: Where did you find the picture? Do you have other pictures or information? Is there anything on the back of the picture? Do you recognize the place where the picture was taken?

We are developing an interactive, participatory tool that students can use to interpret and understand the deportation photos. Young people will be involved in this right from the start. The low-threshold digital resource will offer perspectives that resonate with younger generations. The resource will be freely available to schools and extracurricular educational institutions throughout Germany, and workshops will be offered as well.

The idea for the project came out of the conference on “Deportations under the National Socialists – Sources and Research,” which was held by the Arolsen Archives in November 2020. Based on the organization’s digital expertise – and at the request of the participants – the Arolsen Archives took the initiative and set about implementing the idea as quickly as possible. The Arolsen Archives will keep the #LastSeen initiative alive even after the project funding ends so that the findings are available for other educational projects and researchers.

The Arolsen Archives are the world’s most comprehensive archive on the victims and survivors of National Socialism. Visit our website to find out more about our many projects and campaigns.

You can also subscribe to our email newsletter for updates on #LastSeen as well as other news, events and initiatives from the Arolsen Archives.

To achieve our goal of bringing together all existing historical sources, we need the support of every archive that has photographs of deportations.

#LastSeen and the Arolsen Archives do not own any image rights. Instead, the archives that hold the material grant us digital usage rights. All archives that contribute photographic material will be named on the website.

The website will also notify users that they need authorization from the respective archives to use or publish any of the images.

We need usage rights for digital copies of the photos so we can bring together all existing photographs of deportations. We are also asking archives to look for photographs in their collections even if pictures of deportations have not previously been found in them. The project partners are in direct contact with the archives for this purpose.

Photographs are an increasingly important resource for teaching the history of the Nazi period, particularly as the last survivors fall silent. We see three important benefits for the participating archives:

1. The pictures in their collections will reach a wider audience and spark greater interest.
2. The project will carry out deep indexing if the archive has not already done so. This could lead to the discovery of additional sources and information about the history of the deportations.
3. The archives will play an active role in an important project for the long-term preservation of the memory of Nazi persecution – because the deportations were a key structural element in the Nazis’ policy of persecution and extermination.