"The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names is an international undertaking led by Yad Vashem, from Jerusalem. It is the attempt to reconstruct the names and life stories of all the Jews who perished in the Shoah. It is the final act of respect that we can show them. It is a duty we must fulfill. The database is incomplete. As of the winter of 2004, we estimate that the number of Jews commemorated in it is close to three million. Millions of names that appear in a wide variety of historical documents have not yet been identified or recorded in the database; many additional names still linger only in the memories of survivors or in the lore of their families. Building the database is a work in progress."