JERUSALEM, Feb. 24 (JTA) — The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem has unveiled its project to computerize millions of names of Holocaust victims. Some 3 million victims’ names are expected to be entered on the massive computer database by March, according to Yad Vashem’s director, Avner Shalev. He hopes to eventually have 5 million of the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust entered on the database. The list, which will help track victims’ unclaimed assets in Swiss banks, will also be made available on the Internet to help researchers and relatives searching for family members killed in the Shoah, Shalev said Wednesday. Many of the names are gleaned from Yad Vashem’s “Pages of Testimony,” which include information provided by relatives and friends regarding a victim’s hometown, date and place of birth, and place of death. The software used in the project can decipher between variant spellings of names and hometowns. The software will enable a user to find a name by entering other information, such as the mother’s name or the victim’s birth date. Students and recently discharged soldiers are among those entering the names at various computer centers operated by Yad Vashem. Researchers fluent in 14 languages are overseeing the input operators to make sure the information is entered correctly. Shalev said he hopes word of the project will encourage people to come forward with additional information regarding Shoah victims.
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