Effects preserved at the ITS

Scope and content

Effects are personal possessions that were taken away from prisoners when they arrived at a concentration camp as, for example, wallets, identification papers, photos or letters. Money and valuable objects had been confiscated by the National Socialists at that time. For this reason, the effects are not of any material value in most cases, but of an enormous sentimental value for the family members.

Predominantly, the former owners of the effects preserved at the ITS were political prisoners. They probably include members of all the nations whose countries were occupied by the National Socialists. The majority of them are Eastern Europeans. Jewish prisoners as well as Romany people, however, are only to be found in exceptional cases as most of the persecuted from these groups where killed immediately upon arrival, while their belongings were confiscated and distributed.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Verwaltungsamt für Innere Restitution Stadthagen und Bayerisches Landesentschädigungsamt (BLEA) München