Follow up to "Vienna phonebook thread"

June 6, 2007 6:33 AM

FYI: Remember the "Vienna phonebook thread"? The archival collection we used to find all that information is (finally) being opened to the public with a presentation tomorrow afternoon here at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.
posted by arco to MetaFilter-Related at 6:33 AM (11 comments total)

Mazel tov you guys!!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:38 AM on June 6, 2007

I would not stop giggling for a week if you were able to get a camcorder and some friend together and tape a dramatic re-enactment of the thread.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:57 AM on June 6, 2007

That's still my favorite AskMe thread. Thanks for posting the update.
posted by melissa may at 7:20 AM on June 6, 2007

It appears that you work there, arco. Did the thread here play any role in moving that project forward?
posted by Pastabagel at 7:46 AM on June 6, 2007

WOOT, SELF LINK, flagged!
posted by jourman2 at 7:56 AM on June 6, 2007

Did the thread here play any role in moving that project forward?

No, but I think that was the first time anybody (at least here at the Museum) had used that particular collection to find information for a Holocaust survivor or relative. The day that yankeefog asked the question, I called Anatol (who is quoted in the NY Times article) to see if he had any suggestions, and he just happened to have these microfilm reels sitting in his office. He looked through them and fortunately found all those documents. Had the question been posted to AskMe one week later than it was, those reels would already have been sent off for duplication and processing.
posted by arco at 8:00 AM on June 6, 2007

Thanks, arco, and all who work with you. Truly a mitzvah, no?
posted by signal at 8:06 AM on June 6, 2007

I could just plotz.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:33 AM on June 6, 2007

This is nearly as good as my cheese song post. I'm saying, y'know, nearly.

Seriously, this is awesome.
posted by Jofus at 10:19 AM on June 6, 2007

Arco, I just want to tell you that you're one of my favorite Mefites ever, and that I admire the work that you and everyone at the museum is doing.
posted by anastasiav at 1:56 PM on June 6, 2007

I somehow missed these threads. I just spent a few minutes clicking around and reading the bits of information on members of my family who perished at the hands of the Nazis. I wonder sometimes what my life would have been like if there had been no Holocaust. Would I be reading Metafilter in German via Babelfish?
posted by astruc at 5:32 PM on June 7, 2007