Selected Events in 2006
Ambassador Timken Participates in I.T.S. Amendment Signing Ceremony
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Ambassador William Robert Timken, Jr., joined representatives of Germany and of nine other nations at the signing ceremony of amendments to the agreement that established the International Tracing Service, I.T.S., the world's largest archive of Holocaust-related material. The amendments to the founding agreement, once ratified, will open the archives fully to researchers. "Those who suffered from the Holocaust will welcome access to these archives as they hope to answer long-standing and agonizing questions about the fate of family members and family property," said Ambassador Timken in a statement. The signing ceremony at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin was hosted by the German State Minister for Europe Günter Gloser. Ambassador Timken signed on behalf of the United States.
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| International Tracing Service Bad Arolsen Signing Ceremony, German Foreign Office, Berlin |
International Tracing Service Bad Arolsen Signing Ceremony
Statement by U.S. Ambassador William Robert Timken, Jr.
I am pleased with today's signing ceremony, as it helps us to achieve our goal of making the I.T.S. archives available to historians and researchers of the Holocaust.
This is an important step forward for families who seek to learn more about their loved ones by researching these key archives. Those who suffered from the Holocaust will welcome access to these archives as they hope to answer long-standing and agonizing questions about the fate of family members and family property.
I hope that parliamentary ratification of the amendments, by those member nations who are required to ratify, will be completed within the six months suggested by German Justice Minister Zypries during her April 2006 visit to Washington.
I congratulate the member nations on taking this important step forward.
More information
International Tracing Service
