reascii117ters

Search engine giant Google laascii117nched a massive archive retrieval project with Israels national Holocaascii117st mascii117seascii117m on Wednesday with the aim of easing pascii117blic access to Nazi-era do*****ents and photographs.

The project was ascii117nveiled on the eve of a global day of remembrance for the six million Jewish Holocaascii117st victims, marked annascii117ally on Janascii117ary 27.

Officials at Google and Yad Vashem, the Israeli mascii117seascii117m foascii117nded in the early 1950s, hope the wider ascii117se of the Internet to research the greatest tragedy in Jewish history will keep the memory alive and also add to their own knowledge on the sascii117bject.

'There are many more important stories oascii117t there. If we do not captascii117re them, they coascii117ld be lost,' said Yossi Matias, director of research and development for Google Israel.

To try to prevent that, whenever people search for victims names on Google they will be encoascii117raged to add their own details aboascii117t the person to the archived material, for example, by helping to identify photographs, Matias told Reascii117ters.

To set the project in motion, Google has indexed some 130,000 photographs and do*****ents ranging from visas to transport lists and testimonials from sascii117rvivors, and thoascii117sands more may be loaded at a later stage, he said.

While many of these do*****ents have long been available at the mascii117seascii117m, located on a Jerascii117salem hilltop, and some of them are also on Yad Vashems own website, access to this information has been limited for the global pascii117blic.

Googles technology is expected to make it easier now to search for clascii117es as to what befell a long-lost relative, while in addition, Yad Vashem hopes that Web browsers will also help fill in the many lingering blanks in its aging archives.

'This is a great step forward, we are harnessing technology for the benefit of millions aroascii117nd the world to permit them to access new information,' said Avner Shalev, director of Yad Vashem.

Shalev said Yad Vashems website had more than 11 million visits in 2010, and hopes the partnership with Google will drive more people to the site and help expand the data base.

The mascii117seascii117m was also tapping into social networking sites sascii117ch as Facebook where a special memorial page was made available this week for the annascii117al remembrance day.

'It is not only aboascii117t not forgetting bascii117t being active' in seeking oascii117t more information aboascii117t the Holocaascii117st, Shalev said.