Steven Vitto has been a researcher at the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum for over thirty years. With deep expertise in examining documents both physical and digital, he has reconnected numerous families over the years. In this episode, Paul talks to Steven about specific stories of family reunions and the work that leads up to them. One resource Steven mentions are the Arolsen Archives, which was formerly known as the International Tracing Service. Based in Bad Arolsen, Germany, the archive is overseen by an international committee of 11 countries.

For more information about the Arolsen Archives: https://www.ushmm.org/remember/resources-holocaust-survivors-victims/international-tracing-service

For information about Oral Histories at the USHMM: https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/about/oral-history/

This episode was edited by Katherine Moncure.

For updates, follow us on Instagram at @DividedFamiliesPodcast, and contact us at [email protected]

Chapter Markers:

0:00 Eugene prefaces the episode 

1:36 Steven introduces his work at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and personal motivation to how he became interested in researching families

5:31 Steve provides an overview of how families were separated during the Holocaust 

9:10 Steve shares a story of a couple who was separated from the Holocaust and how he helped reunite them over Skype

12:20 Steve shares another story finding information for a son of a Holocaust survivor about his father and his family 

15:14 Steve explains the circumstances that kept these families separated, and what tools he uses in his research

18:21 Steve discusses the range of research requests he receives from Holocaust survivors from 77 countries around the world

20:15 Steve shares story of brothers from Poland - one who had stayed, and another who ended up in Nicaragua - whose grandchildren reconnected with each other 

21:40 Steve discusses collections of non-Jews who were persecuted during the Holocaust 

23:10 Steve gives an overview of the Arolsen Archives (formerly known as the International Tracing Service of the Red Cross)

29:12 Steve reflects on some trends he has noticed from stories and circumstances of Holocaust survivors 

32:52 Steve discusses the importance of finding stories across generations and his personal story of searching for his own family roots in Italy

36:16 Steve mentions ways listeners can learn more about the work of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and its ancestry database project

38:57 Eugene closes the episode