In today's edition, Episode 177, of Tracing Your Family Roots show host Sallyann Amdur Sack tells about her experiences during their visit to the ITS records archives in Bad Arolsen. (Her companion was Avotaynu's Gary Mokotoff.)

Sack shares the discovery of TD files and their importance for genealogists. These are the ITS correspondence files, originally not selected for filming - due to privacy concerns. Looks like the early ones can now be added to digitization plans, to be available by 2010.

Then Sack demonstrates the rich content of various record types and the modus operandi of research in Bad Arolsen. She even mentions her discovery of records for her Hungarian family in Solotvyno, former Maramaros County.

Avotaynu has managed to get approval for a group of researchers to go to Bad Arolsen and do on-site research in May 2008. (announced in Nu? What's new? vol. 8 no. 2). The group has a limit of 40 persons. Sack mentions at the end of the above episode that more than 30 have already signed up, so, anyone interested should act fast. (Oh, I see just now that the previously announces deadline was Jan 20.) Anyway, I can imagine that further research groups might be organized in the future.