Historic Milestone
Yad Vashem Identifies Names of 5 Million Holocaust Victims
Yad Vashem announced today that it has successfully identified and documented the names of 5 million Jewish victims of the Shoah, over 80% of the 6 million who were murdered.
Yad Vashem announced Monday that it has successfully documented the names of 5 million Holocaust victims, more than 80% of the estimated 6 million Jews murdered in World War II, marking a historic milestone after seven decades of research.
The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, publicly accessible online, now contains 5 million verified entries.
Each record is compiled from:
Experts estimate 250,000 additional names can be recovered in the coming years using AI and machine learning to analyze hundreds of millions of archival documents. However, hundreds of thousands of names will likely remain lost forever due to total destruction of records.
“Identifying 5 million names is both an achievement and a reminder of the unfinished duty,” said Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan. “Behind every name is a full life, a child who never grew up, a parent who never returned. Our moral obligation is to ensure no victim remains anonymous.”
Dr. Alexander Avraham, who led the database for 37 years before retiring this year, added: “A Page of Testimony is often all that remains of a person. The Nazis sought to erase their existence, this database prevents that.”
Yad Vashem will host a symposium on Thursday, November 6, featuring presentations on the name-recovery process, new AI tools, and survivor stories.
The database is available at yadvashem.org.