The Planning of a Database of Memorials Found in Israel of Vanished Communities: Pictures of the Memorials and Indexes Rose Avigael Feldman Israel Genealogy Society, Tel-Aviv Branch 79/6 Haim Levanon, 69345 Tel-Aviv, Israel, tel: +972 3 6413856, email: rosef@post.tau.ac.il With the establishment of the State of Israel after World War Two, associations of descendants of towns and communities in Europe and outside of it, started to erect memorials in memory of their loved ones who had perished during the Holocaust and in various pogroms. These victims of destruction did not receive a Jewish burial or a grave; hence the importance of these memorials for survivors. Most of these memorials are found in the cemeteries in the center of Israel, but some are found in outlying areas, towns and in the forests of the Keren Kayemet. Those in cemeteries have ashes or dust brought from the killing fields or cemeteries of the former communities. The Israel Genealogy Society has undertaken the building of a database that includes in addition to the name of the community, the geographical location of the community, the yahrzeit date, and photos of the memorials. Until today there was no centralized list of all the memorials. The aim of this project was to collect all the information in one database, including at least one picture of each memorial. The database at the moment includes over 1,300 communities and 500 pictures and is available on a special CD being prepared by the Israel Genealogy Society for the 24th Conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies that took place in Jerusalem during July 2004. Various aspects and decisions that were made during the construction of this database will be presented.
