Holocaust Category Update & More Questions

Question

Since the previous discussion (http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/111388/how-should-best-set-categories-victims-the-jewish-holocaust) I have done the following:

1. Created the category World History -> Holocaust and put a very brief description (MORE/BETTER NEEDED) and put some notes/questions about plans on the page.
2. Created subcategories for all the ghettos, labor camps, concentration camps, and extermination camps that were destinations of people whose profiles are on WikiTree (this will probably be added to as I work on profiles of Holocaust victims - 75 are done and I know of 80 more that I will complete soon).  Descriptive content is needed on all these pages.
3. Added 2 more subcategories - Survivors and Fate Unknown (there are fewer than a dozen survivors but a few hundred fate unknown in the single gedcom of about 900 family members that I adopted)
4. Discovered that a category World War II Casualties -> World War II Jewish Casualties had previously existed, so I added all the people in the Holocaust category.

As I've been working on this, my thoughts are starting to congeal and I have the following ideas to throw out for discussion:

1. I believe there should be another category level inserted between World History and Holocaust.  The category immediately under World History should be named Genocides and it should contain the current Holocaust category, as well as 3 others (this is the way Wikipedia organizes it - see my notes on Holocaust category page for full description).
2. It might be good to insert another category to improve the organization of the Holocaust category.  It would then have ONLY Survivors, Fate Unknown, and Victims (the new category).  All the camps and ghettos would be subcategories of Victims.
3. I would like to recommend that we do away with the pre-existing category of World War II Jewish Casualties.  I think Wolrd War II Casualties is not the right umbrella for Holocaust victims (not all of whom were Jewish).

Please share your thoughts, recommendations, advice, whatever!

PS  If anyone wants to help work on these profiles, rest assured that no offers will be turned down!!!!!!! 

Comments

This is just great work Gaile!  Mags

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Thank you Mags - my face now clashes with my red hair!

ANNOUNCEMENT - I just finished setting up the category structure outlined here and moving all the profiles into the new structure.  Here's the final result:

Top level - World History

Level 2 - Genocides

Level 3 - Holocaust, Armenian Holocaust, Sikkh Holocaust, Ukranian Holocaust
               (note - just plain Holocaust seems inappropriate, but that's how Wikipedia
                names these 4 subcategories of Genocides)

Level 4 under Holocaust - 
               Holocaust Fate Unknown, Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Victims

Level 5 under Holocaust Victims -
               Holocaust Victims at {Name of ghetto or camp} - lots of these
               Holocaust Victims at Unknown Location

I also made the old World War II Jewish Casualties disappear.

I included a bold note on the Holocaust and Holocaust Victims pages saying that individual profiles should not be added on these pages.

Is there anyplace that this structure should be documented?

 

Answer 1

Gaile,

Nice work.  I took the liberty of adding the links in your question to make easier to review what you have done.

I agree with your ideas to add the additional categories and make the other changes you suggest in categories.

I would expand the name for Fate Unknown to something like Holocast, Fate Unknown.  It seems that it might be difficult to understand the simple title Fate Unknown at a later date.  Also I think Holocast Survivor should be Holocast Survivors - this keeps the plural that is used for most categories.

Following the organization on Wikpedia is worthwhile - I use it often - I think it makes it easier to follow the structure and gives a useful guide for organization.  It does not always work, but often does.

Comments

Thank you Philip - I was hoping that you would weigh in here with your wonderful guidance.  It was by following your advice before to start working and see where it seems to go that everything started to come together and I got a much better understanding of how categories need to be organized to optimize their usefulness.

Your answer now made me think some more.  In line with the changes to Holocaust Fate Unknown and Holocaust Survivors, I think the new category at this level should be named Holocaust Victims.  I'd like to put all the camps and ghettos under the new Holocaust Victims.

This rasies another question, though - I don't believe I have the ability to change the name of an existing category (which needs to be done for the Fate Unknown and Survivors.  Is this something a leader can do?  I expect that when it is done, all profiles that link to it will have to be changed, but that's easy right now - there are only 3 of these.  Another place where category names should probably be changed is all the ghettos and camps, which should become Holocaust Victims at name of ghetto/camp.  That will entail a lot of changes on the profiles - there are about 70 of them - but that's also not too big a deal because I'll have to change all those anyway to remove the higher level Holocaust category that is currently on them.

Also, I have seen several categories that are intended as containers for subcategories where profiles should be listed (even though a few have been put there in some cases).  It seems to me that with the new structure for the Holocaust category, profiles should not be placed in it or in the Holocaust Victims category - profiles only belong in the Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Fate Unknown, and all the individual camps,

With your blessing, I can do all the new category creation and organization, but I can't change the names of the ones that already exist and need to be changed, nor can I make the pre-esisting World War II Jewish Casualties go away.  Can you arrange for someone sufficiently powerful to handle that part of it, please?

Thank you soooooooo much for all your help with this - I could never have gotten to this point without it!

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Gaile,

You are most welcome for any assistance I may have provided - I learned a few things from others nice that I can pass some information on.

Unfortunately there is no way to change a category name.  Can't be done.  So - for those where there are only a few profiles - just create the new category name.

For an old category name that you do not want anymore - as long as there are no profiles that link to it and all the material on the category page is removed it goes away to WWW-never never land.

For the others - look carefully  and make a decison -  Sometimes it is best to just go ahead and make all the changes so you know it is right.

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Philip,

I fully agree with the need to make all the changes to get everything named and structured coherently, no matter what it takes to do it.

I will proceed to rename the categories that need it, per our discussion here.  Changing all the links to them will not be all that big a deal, since I would have to go into each of those profiles anyway to remove the higher level Holocaust category from all of them.

I have already started on the structure changes.  Where I really need help from other members - - - YOO HOO - IF YOU'RE READING THIS THREAD, I'M CALLING YOUR NAME HERE - - - is to put meaningful content on all these new category pages.  It would be great if we had a Holocaust Project here ... I suggested it around the same time I first started on the categories, but that has not happened yet.  I have way too much to do already, trying to create meaningful and well sourced bios for the 900+ people in "my" adopted gedcom.  I'll create the category structure and all the category pages, but will not be able to put more than a VERY brief description on each one.

THANX again for everything, Philip!

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Gaile, if you'd be interested in being the project coordinator for a Holocaust project, I'd be willing to lead it.

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Eowyn,

What is a project coordinator and what does one do?  I doubt that I know enough about genealogy research to be able to handle such a job.  I'm willing to work on it, but don't have a clue what a project is ... I know the names of a bunch of them, but don't know what kind of activities the project members engage in.

I really appreciate your offer to lead it, though.  I'm ready, willing, and (I hope) able to learn, but educating me is liable to be a bigger job than whatever leading the project entails <grin>