Based on the work of Dr. Robert Steegmann, the Natzweiler Memorials have researched – and still do – on the names and life stories of former prisoners. The information was compiled in a database.

It is aimed at the families of former victims as well as researchers and is to be made available online. At present, the memorial sites can already work with an SQL-based database.

In order to create this database with approx. 52,000 data sets, three contracts for work have been awarded so far, financed by the Federal Government, the State of Baden-Württemberg and the Office National des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre (ONACVG).

During the creation of the database, numerous problems had to be solved, such as different spellings of names and difficult data protection issues. For the scientific exchange on these issues, the contractor André Heck was sent to an international database colloquium at the Yad Vashem Memorial in Israel via funds of the VGKN.

A steering group consisting of historians from Germany and France and a computer scientist will accompany the work on the database.