Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, has identified and documented the names of five million Jewish victims in its central database, reaching more than 80% of the estimated six million individuals murdered during the Holocaust. This milestone reflects over seven decades of collecting evidence, reconstructing identities from witness testimonies, historical records, Nazi documents, deportation lists, and personal artifacts.
The database, accessible online in six languages, relies heavily on Pages of Testimony—biographical submissions from survivors, relatives, and friends—which have contributed 2.8 million names. Researchers also analyze personal letters, diaries, cemetery records, and trial documents to confirm identities. Most victims were left without graves, and for many families, these records serve as the only memorial, sometimes enabling relatives separated for decades to reconnect.
In 2024, Yad Vashem began using an AI-powered software capable of reviewing vast troves of archival material, uncovering names that would be otherwise impossible to find through manual research. This technology can process millions of pages and hundreds of hours of testimony, tagging and extracting variations of victim names across multiple languages and formats. Experts estimate AI could help recover up to 250,000 additional names, though many may remain lost due to gaps in the historical record.
As the population of Holocaust survivors continues to decline—90% are expected to be gone by 2040—Yad Vashem urges families and descendants to add any missing details while records and memories persist. The center will hold a seminar on November 6 showcasing advances in name recovery and the role of artificial intelligence in historical research.
Yad Vashem’s efforts underline the continued importance of reconstructing personal identities and preserving memory despite the challenges posed by time and loss. Each recovered name is documented with care, reflecting lives once lived and stories once silenced by history.
