An 11-nation panel began discussions about providing access to a vast Holocaust archive in Germany.

Representatives of the countries on a commission overseeing the International Tracing Service archive in Bad Arolsen gathered Monday in Amsterdam for two days of talks on when and how to open the archive to the public. The archive has been sealed since 1955.

The nations involved

agreed in principle to open the archives a year ago, but Luxembourg, Greece, Italy and France have yet to ratify the treaty. The United States, Israel, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany already have approved it.

Survivor groups long have pressed for full access to the archives, which contain information on more than 17 million victims of the Nazis.