Three months ago, Ancestry and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum launched the World Memory Project. Since that time almost 2000 community contributors have indexed over 395,000 records across 15 different record collections. These records contain information about victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi-era persecution.

We are proud to announce that this generous community completed indexing of the first of these collections in just 20 days.

USHMM: Munich, Germany, Displaced Jewish Children at the Ulm Children’s Home, 1945-1948

Following the surrender of the Nazis during World War II the Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone, Munich (CHC) collected information about some of the child Holocaust survivors in the Displaced Persons camps. This particular database is an extracted index of CHC questionnaires created when Jewish children were brought to the Children’s Home in Ulm, Germany. The children range in age from four to nineteen and were asked about their lives during the Nazi rule, the fate of their families, their journey to Ulm postwar, and their desired immigration location.

There were only about 325 questionnaires indexed as part of this collection. But, as you can see, we captured each person listed, creating an index with information about more than 2700 individual family members.

Last week that index was published on Ancestry.com.au making these records freely available for anyone to search. Images of the original questionnaires, some with photos, can be obtained directly from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum using these ordering instructions.

We invite you to join us and participate in the World Memory Project where you can help make these victims’ records freely searchable online and restore the identities of people the Nazis tried to erase from history. Even a few minutes of your time can create a chance for family connections that transcend war and time.

The Museum’s archives contain information on well over 17 million people targeted by Nazi racial and political policies, including Jews, Poles, Roma, Ukrainians, political prisoners, and many others.

The Museum assists thousands of people worldwide every year that are searching for information about individuals in its collections. The World Memory Project will greatly expand the accessibility of the Museum’s archival collection and enable millions of people to search for their own answers online.

“The Nazis’ genocidal policies quickly turned millions of individual lives, filled with hopes and dreams, into massive statistics that are hard to comprehend. Through our partnership with Ancestry.com, we hope to remind the public that the Holocaust is not about numbers but about individuals just like us and to help families uncover histories they thought were lost,” says Sara J. Bloomfield, Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Museum’s vast archives contain documentation that may be the only remaining link to an individual life. Preserving these personal histories and making them available online is one of the most powerful ways we can learn from history and honour the victims.”

The World Memory Project will utilise proprietary software and project management donated by Ancestry.com, which hosts its own online archival project to expand its transcribed records collections. Once transcribed, the indices will be hosted exclusively on Ancestry.com and permanently free to search. The Museum will also provide copies of documents to survivors and their families at no cost. The original documentation will remain in the Museum’s archival collection.

Individuals from anywhere in the world can help in this unique effort to make collections from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum available online by visiting www.worldmemoryproject.org and registering to become a contributor.

Since a beta launch in February 2011, Ancestry.com contributors have already indexed over 30,000 Museum archival documents that will soon be searchable at no cost by users around the globe. This figure will multiply as more people participate in the project.

These valuations were originally compiled in 1910 from across the UK as part of David Lloyd George’s 1910 Finance Act, later known as the ‘Domesday Survey’, which was introduced as a means to redistribute wealth through the assessment of land value.

As well as listing the owners and occupiers of a property, the records also detail the address, property value and annual rental yield for properties in early 20th century London, providing vital information about Britain’s epicentre at the time.

The records reveal a stark contrast to today’s housing market in London, with the average 1910 property carrying a price tag of just £14,000 – almost 3,000 per cent less than today.¹

Of particular interest are the values of famous landmarks included in the collection, such as the Bank of England; worth a mere £110,000 in 1910, the Old Bailey; worth just £6,600, and Mansion House; which contrastingly was valued at an impressive £992,000. St Paul’s Cathedral also features, but without a valuation as it is listed as ‘exempt’ from tax.

Famous streets include the media-hub Fleet Street, which according to the records was even then home to numerous newspapers including the Liverpool Courier, Yorkshire Evening News and the Newcastle Chronicle. A property on Fleet Street cost an average of £25,000 in 1910, compared to £1.2 million today.²

Surprisingly, buildings on law-dominated Chancery Lane were worth very little (around £11,000) a century ago, compared to £1.1 million today. The rapid disappearance of family homes in the City over the last century has also led to a drastic change in the average house value, particularly evident on Cannon Street, where a home costing £20,000 in 1910 would today set a buyer back a staggering £2.2 million.³

As well as famous landmarks, the records also include some of the notable names of the era, such as:

• Sir W. S. Gilbert – An English dramatist best known for his comic operas, including The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado, and allegedly an inspirational figure to Oscar Wilde. Gilbert is listed proprietor of three properties on Spring Street in Paddington.
• Sir William Crookes – A scientist who worked on spectroscopy, a pioneer of vacuum tubes, and famed for being one of the first scientists to investigate ‘plasmas’. He is listed in the records as living at 16 Newcastle Street, London.

The records provide a valuable snapshot of land ownership at the start of the 20th century and will enable those with ancestors in the collection to discover more about their respective financial situations and the lives they led a hundred years ago.

These records are especially useful as a census substitute for people tracing their London ancestors who may not have been captured in the 1911 England and Wales Census. They also a fascinating insight into London at the beginning of the 20th century – a time when Britain was on the verge of major social, political and economic change.

The collection complements the extensive UK census records, ranging from 1841 to 1901, already online at Ancestry.com.au.

London Land Tax Valuations 1910 was keyed as part of the Ancestry World Archives Project (AWAP), a collaborative effort that has allowed thousands of people around the world to help preserve history that would otherwise be lost. Learn more about AWAP.