Under the 1955 Agreements, the duties laid upon the International Tracing Service (ITS), at Arolsen, the management of which was entrusted to the International Committee, were defined.Far from diminishing over the years, the volume of work involved is still very considerable, as will be seen from the information given below:In 1971, ITS received 127,872 requests, which was 4,543 more than it had received the year before. There was a considerable change in the categories of requests. For the first time, the number of requests for certificates of detention and residence, connected with the law on compensation which in 1953 came into effect in the Federal Republic of Germany, was no longer the largest (48,800 in 1971 as against 71,169 in 1970). There was a corresponding drop in the number of requests for death certificates (4,747 as against 7,173 in 1970) and in the number of requests for documents concerning cases of illness (4,958 as against 6,270 in 1970). On the other hand, the category relating to requests for the preparation of books in memory of victims of deportation, requests submitted by record services, requests from attorneys-general, and requests for information with a view to obtaining annuities and pensions, amounted to 57,914 units, which was more than double the figure for the preceding year. There were 1,315 requests for statistical and historical information, 749 for photocopies, and 708 sundry requests.