Jan Ludwig (German Federal Archives, DE): The Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime and the Immediate Post-War Years co:op-READ-Convention Marburg Technology meets Scholarship, or how Handwritten Text Recognition will Revolutionize Access to Archival Collections. With a special focus on biographical data in archives Hessian State Archives Marburg Friedrichsplatz 15, D - 35037 Marburg 19-21 January 2016

1. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime
in
The Federal Archives

2. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Outline:
1. Biograpical data in The Federal Archives
2. CV on file cards: „SS-Führerstammkarten“
3. NSDAP-Membership Records
4. Supplementary cards of the population census 1939

3. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
1. Biograpical data in The Federal Archives
Some Examples
 Personal files of ministries and other public authorities
 File cards about career in the army and SS
 Files of expropriation proceedings
 File cards of Prisoners of the SS

4. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016

5. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
2. SS-Führerstammkarten
 Example for detailed biographical “file cards”
 Part of Personal files of SS-Officers
 52.000 Führerstammkarten in total. Until 1994 part of the
holdings of the Berlin Document Center of SS Collections,
here: SSO, in future: BArch R 9361 III SS
 Problems for text recognition: different handwritings, (very)
small characters, different types of stamps (Roman type face
and German type), abbreviations

6. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
2. SS-Führerstammrollen

7. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
2. SS-Führerstammrollen

8. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
3. NSDAP-Membership Records
 Main source to proof NSDAP-Membership
 Circa 12,7 Million file cards of approximatly 80 % of all
Members of the NSDAP Party (8,5 Million Members in total)
 2 file cards: Zentralkartei (alphabetic) und Gaukartei (regional,
after 1945 in alphabetic order)
 Additionally: 600.000 NSDAP-membership bids
 Until 1994: BDC NSDAP Collections
 In Future: R 9361 VIII Zentralkartei
R 9361 IX Gaukartei

9. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
3. NSDAP-Membership Records
Digitization
 Digitization from April 2014 to June 2016
 Digitization (300 dpi, TIFF),
both sides = around 25 Million images
 Transcribed: Every 50th file card (name, first name, maiden
name, academic title, date and place of birth);
accuracy (per contract) 99,98%
 additional acquisition of data (by archivists) possible
 Perspective: Access in the Reading rooms, restricted for
research, browser-based viewer and print-option (72 dpi, pdf)
with automatically lettering (ID number of the image)

10. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
3. NSDAP-Membership Records
Challenges of the Digitization
 Different typefaces (Latin and German type, different
handwritings and different types: Sütterlin script and looped
cursive)
 Abbreviations, canceled words and corrections
 Faded Letters and stains
 Different schemes of file cards (chronological and regional)

11. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
NSDAP-
Membership
bid

12. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
NSDAP-
Zentral-
kartei
(alphabetic)

13. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
NSDAP-
Gaukartei
(Orts-
gruppen-
kartei)
(regional)

14. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
4. Supplementary cards of the population census
 Proof of the jewish people in the German Reich 1939 before
the Holocaust
 Holding group: R 1509 Reichssippenamt
 127.571 supplementary cards with ca. 277.000 of ca. 324.000
jewish people in May 1939 (= 85 %)
 For conservation reasons no direct access,
for legal reasons restricted access only for research
 Complete transcribed in a database (Oracle-APEX),
perspective: digitization

15. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Supplementary card
of Leo Baeck
(recto)

16. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Supplementary
card
of Leo Baeck
(verso)

17. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Database

18. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Database print preview

19. Biographical Data in Archives I.2
Documents of the Nazi Terror Regime in The Federal Archives
Jan Ludwig 20.01.2016
Thank you very much for your attention!