ICRC Tracing Archives (Second World War Central Agency)

Archive of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva with the files of its wartime Central Agency for prisoners of war and civilian internees: nominal lists, transfer lists between camps, proof of detention in specific camps, liberation lists and death certificates, and index cards filed alphabetically by nationality that numbered more than 36 million by the end of the war. The ICRC's general access page says documents become available to the public after 70 years under conditions. Service status as stated on the ICRC blog on 19 January 2026: the online request form is unavailable, requests for Second World War information in collections open to the public are under a moratorium with no further requests processed until further notice, and only requests for administrative or compensation files and for identifying biological parents are accepted (by email to tracing.archives@icrc.org, duly justified). A digitisation programme begins in 2026. It is a request service, not a searchable index.