The Bureau for Missing Relatives - The Jewish Agency for Israel

The Bureau for Missing relatives was set up by the Jewish Agency in 1951 to assist survivors of the Holocaust and to help reunite families which had been separated.

The Bureau has over 1,250,000 million people listed on its data base; these names are supplemented by Ministry of Interior records, telephone directories, and records of international organizations such as HIAS and the International Red Cross. The Bureau also helps Holocaust survivors, whose records were destroyed, verify legal issues dealing with age, pension rights and the like.

In recent years, thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union have approached the Bureau, hoping to find family members - either relatives with whom they lost contact 30, 40 or even 50 years ago, or relatives whom they have never met.

The Bureau currently serves some 30,000 people every year. Enquiries may be made by phone, fax, mail or in person.