Decisions regarding the Todeserklaerungen (Declaration of Death) of Jewish victims, given in the Amtsgericht (Magistrates Court) in Soest (Westphalia) In the Collection are files including applications to Courts of Law in Westphalia for the recognition of death of local Jews who were deported to the East by the Nazis, and for whom no official Declaration of Death had been given. These applications (requests) were submitted in most part by the relatives of those who had perished, [and] who requested to receive claims for compensation from Germany. The files include the applications including details regarding those who perished and their deportation; correspondence with German authorities, in most part with municipalities and Population Registration offices, confirming the personal details of those who perished; copies of personal documents of those who perished, such as birth certificates and marriage certificates; testimonies that those who perished had been deported; decisions by the Court[s] of Law, and other correspondence.