From Deseret News archives:

Names still in LDS database, Jews say

Researcher locates Holocaust victims despite '95 pact

Published: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 2:57 p.m. MDT
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An analysis of the CD by New Jersey-based Jewish genealogy expert Gary Mokotoff, however, showed the CD contained only 247,479 names, of which 31,688 are duplicates. Since then Radkey has documented thousands of database entries that indicate the practice of adding names hasn't stopped.

In April 2005 five boxes of Radkey's research — more than 5,700 entries — were given to LDS Church leaders during a meeting with Michel and others from his organization in Salt Lake City.

Afterward, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the church's Presidency of the Seventy, said the two groups would work toward an arrangement that would not "compromise our core beliefs and practices," while "still addressing the concerns of Jewish leaders."

The most recent 1,500 names are only a sampling, Radkey said. But the numbers are sufficient to raise questions about whether Jewish names were ever removed from the index, or have been re-entered into the system, which has an estimated 400 million records, she said. She also believes the church is ignoring the "direct ancestor" portion of the agreement. "The sheer volume of entries in the IGI of Jewish, Yiddish names is overwhelming," said Radkey, who also noted nearly 1,000 marriage records that raise similar questions. "You can't have that number of obvious Jewish Holocaust victims and say that all of them are related to Mormons."

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Michel said he has a good personal relationship with LDS leaders and appreciates that they continue to discuss the issue.

"But they did sign (the agreement) and I think they've regretted it ever since," Michel said.

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