Our history    Our areas of support

In the almost complete documents of the Kirchlicher Suchdienst, there are, today, more than 20 million persons recorded by name according to their erstwhile places of residence in the zones of expulsion in the period from 1939 to 1945 (as from 01.09.1939). Of these, most have lost their homes owing to fleeing, being expelled, resettlement and evacuation.

To help is undisputedly the exclusive and priority objective of the Kirchlicher Suchdienst.Even today, the fate of more than 600,000 missing civilians from the erstwhile zones of expulsion is unknown. Through the classification of the search service documentation according to hometowns, through specialisation and a high experience potential together with the latest computer technology, as well as through the possibility of integrating erstwhile neighbours or bearers of the same name in the search, the Kirchlicher Suchdienst achieves the best results in finding missing persons. We have been extremely successful in bringing families together even after so many years. The work of the Kirchlicher Suchdienst has not lost any of its significance even today.Every year, we help people with more than 22,000 items of information.

Financing and structure of the Kirchlicher Suchdienst

The work of the Kirchlicher Suchdienst is being financed since decades by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Thanks to this sponsorship and the technical support available, it has been possible to help hundreds of thousands of refugees and post-1945 evacuees. The institutional aid ensures that even in future, those affected and their successors can depend on the necessary help from the Kirchlicher Suchdienst.

The receiver of the financial help is the Deutsche Caritasverband e.V. Freiburg.

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