In order to provide information concerning the whereabouts of residents affected by bombings, the Dresden Police Administration Office set up a Missing Persons Bureau, which was ready for operation as early as 1944. On 14 February 1945, only hours after the three heavy air raids, the office began its activities. As it was no longer possible to work in the demolished city hall, the headquarters were established in the side building of the municipal property at Neuberinstraße 15. In the following weeks, all the missing-person reports, police death rolls, lists of those at gathering points and in hospitals and reports from the receiving communities converged here.
The amount of work needed to process the reports was enormous. Branch offices were required in the administrative districts. By the beginning of April 1945 the bureau was able to locate more than 60,000 Dresdeners. More than the half of the 200,000 missing-person reports were answered by mid-May 1945.

Marked in 2001