Family Tree for survival?

hannover-l
1

Maureen, with all due respect since I recognize you to be a good poster, the statement above puts an unnecessary and even sinister twist on the genealogies produced during that time frame. Unless you are speaking rhetorically, no family tree or genealogical record was ever required for one's survival during the Hitler era. The family trees produced back then had more to do with meeting job requirements from the newly introduced race laws and political creed of the Third Reich, and as such were expedients towards "getting ahead" by proving one's "Aryan" background. They were not, by either definition or extension, instruments or enablers of life and death (though some insist on perpetuating such fallacies). They also were meant to serve as reminders to German families of their connection to their race, along with an implied obligation towards its preservation (again per the NS creed).

Now whether you or I (or anyone else) agree or disagree with these policies is beside the point frankly, as the issue of survival is not something that can be linked to these genealogical instruments, short of a long and presumptive reach.

A little background: The National Socialist Reich (government) established codified laws (e.g. Nuremberg Laws, Tenured Civil Servant Law / N�rnberger Gesetze, Berufsbeamtengesetz) which promoted "racial purity" while prohibiting intermarriage to non-Aryans. [These laws, as most know, also aimed at eliminating from positions of power and influence Jews and Communists in particular.] One method of proving or disproving "Aryan descent" was with the delineation of genealogical charts. Such charts, which usually traced back three generations to one's grandparents, were known as Ariernachweis (and colloquially as "Arierschein") during this period.

To cite just a few of the common ancestry documents found during the NS era (amongst a slew of others, many types long predating the Third Reich):

- Ahnentafel (ancestor chart, genealogical table, pedigree/lineage file, family tree)
- Ahnenpass (ancestor passport/report)
- Ariernachweis (Aryan proof/evidence)
- Familienstammbuch or Familienbuch (family album/book)
- Stammbaum (family tree)

Regarding Ariernachweis: the nachweis (evidence) sought consisted of collecting (7) birth or baptism documents (personal, parents and grandparents) as well as (3) marriage certificates (heiratsurkunden) of one's parents and grandparents. As a substitute, a certified Ahnenpass (ancestor passport) or a certified Ahnentafel (ancestor chart) or sometimes Milit�rpapiere (military documentation) could be submitted but Ariernachweis was generally accomplished by means of a simple Stammbuch, Stammtafel, Familienbuch or Sippentafel (variations of family documents, trees or charts). Ariernachweis was required for civil servants and employees of the municipalities, as well as certain occupational classifications and professions in Nazi Germany.

The gro�er Ariernachweis was a five generation record, often documented by means of a small booklet called an Ahnenpass (ancestor passport). Anyone could have one produced but they were only required for officials and employees of the Reich. Conditions of admission into the NSDAP party itself and the SS (Schutzstaffel, or any of its numerous subdivisions) required an even greater standard of Ariernachweis, that being proof of pure Aryan descent (Nachweis der rein arischen Abstammung) for both the applicant and his spouse back to the year 1800. For SS officers (Fuehrers), this requirement dated back further to include an Ahnentafel to 1750, and a narrative personal history (biography) drafted by the applicant. Acquiring the requisite records for all generations back to the great-great-great-grandparents of both partners - especially that many years ago, and particularly for the officer cadre - was a massive and exhaustive task both in finances and time that almost defies belief.

[FYI: Many of these records were confiscated by the Allies after the war from the Hartz Mountains and elsewhere. The U.S. National Archives currently has hundreds of thousands of these files on microfilm. Even if you never had a direct ancestor in the SS society, if one was a brother or cousin to your ancestor (or likewise the prospective SS bride was a sister or cousin), that genealogical data will be just as valuable to you as a family historian if it is uncovered.]

Regardless of the kleiner or gro�er variant, individuals had to do the genealogical research - or hire a qualified researcher - to complete these records but could not write in them. They were filled in and stamped certified by a qualified official. You also had to pay for them to appraise the research undertaken and verify the information. There was also a Reich Genealogy Office (Reichssippenamt) created during that time with a National Registry of Families that had centralized genealogical records including a massive collection of church books and registers (many in photostat form). If you presently happen to have any of these documents or booklets in amongst your family memorabilia, a lot of your research will be done for you as they could contain anywhere from 7 to 63 chronicled ancestors depending on classification type.

It should be remembered that none of these ancestor charts were necessarily bullet-proof in terms of accuracy, even when verified by the administering Register Offices (Standes�mter). Invariably transcription errors plus questions of interpretation from church or civil records crept in (and sometimes done on purpose, to cover up "inconvenient" or otherwise nebulous ancestors). This would be on top of mistakes that are always to be found in the original records themselves. There was also the same time-honored problem back then to be taken into account that we face today - there was never any formal convention on how to spell the names the further back you go. For this reason, parish offices supplying much of the data played an important role. Time and again, NSDAP officials complained about incorrect information from priests who obscured non-Aryan origins, warning against these occurrences and threatening penalties (though few were actually invoked).

At the end of the war many of the ancestor passports in particular were destroyed or hidden out of fear of reprisals from the Allied Powers (Siegermachten), since many could point directly to Nazi or government officials. Others went up in flames or were invariably lost or misplaced in the tumult that engulfed the country as the Third Reich ground to a halt. Strangely enough, the communist East Germans continued to make use of some of these ancestry passports right up to nearly the end of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). On some of them it is possible to find East German certification ink stamps right below the Third Reich stamps (which were never crossed out).

Now an Ahnentafel (or Ahnenreihe), sometimes referred to as the Sosa-Stradonitz System, is simply a genealogical numbering system or layout that depicts one's ancestors in chart form (something we are all acquainted with nowadays in our genealogical record keeping). The term Ahnentafel is actually a loan word from the German language, its German equivalent is Ahnenliste. Since many school teachers were members or supporters of the Nazi Party, it was not unusual for them to encourage their students to chart their family trees by means of an Ahnentafel.

A Familienstammbuch (or Familienbuch or Stammbuch) is termed a family album but is in actuality a record sheet kept and issued by the local register office that contains important information about marriage partners, and later their common children. They are issued to / purchased by newly married couples on the day of their marriage. Included are family names (surnames and maiden), occupations, birth and marriage particulars, affiliations to church or church societies, information on the parents of the spouses, nationalities, etc. A Familienstammbuch is also a file kept by many families that is comprised of birth, marriage and death certificates from the civil authorities, also certificates of baptism and the marriage ceremony from the church. Whether some include additional records from church registers (Kirchenbuch) prior to the civil registers (Standes�mtregister) that started in 1874-76 I'm not sure.

The larger parish-based Familienbuch (family books) that are authored by qualified area researchers often include additional things like baptisms and confirmations, threaded family group records, moves into or out of the local parish by area families, even vaccinations and verses from the scriptures. Their quality and accuracy can vary considerably depending on the author who compiles them, the cross-checking that is or isn't involved, and the availability of local source records. It goes without saying that both variants [Familienstammbuch or Familienbuch] are a step forward from the family Bibles we find in the States that are printed and preserved as family heirlooms, and which contain special pages to record a family's births, marriages and deaths.

Document examples:

Ahnentafel (ancestor chart)

Ariernachweis (Aryan proof)

Ahnenpass (ancestor passport)

Familienstammbuch (family album)

Additions or corrections are welcome if anyone has more to offer.

Flames are optional. Tsch�ss. Jb

2

Yes, JB, but was there anything distasteful that
may have happened to any of those whose
family history produced Jewish lineage
during the Third Reich?

Or did they all just live on happily ever after in
their German homes and businesses?

3

It was unfortunate of course. That goes without saying. Only it should be remembered that much of this came as a reaction towards the loss of the war (WWI) and the dire poverty and desperation many Germans found themselves in afterwards, coupled with the fear many felt towards the growing Marxist movement across the land. The Weimar Republic was of little help to most Germans, it greatly favored the existing power structure and was thoroughly corrupt. As it were, many of those leading the Communist and Marxist-Socialist waves happened to be Jewish. Others felt it was these same power cliques (both political and financial) that sold out the German war effort during the previous war. These sentiments are grounded in as much fact as fiction or folklore. Few today can begin to imagine the frustration and anger that was felt, all the more so when it came to the veterans who returned from the front. So yes in hindsight we are all very clear headed and forgiving, made all that much easier in times of peace and prosperity. But such was not the world or even mindset throughout much of Germany in the years that preceded the coming of the Third Reich.

So were certain dire reactions to be expected? Yes, it was inevitable in the end. Germany was in a state of revolution. There were pitched battles in the street. Brothers sometimes fought brothers. Did many innocents lose out because of it? Yes, and on many sides. The Germans probably lost out more than anyone. But why pin negatives on each and every manifestation of that era, when it is the power curves and reactive policies that are at the crux of the matter in the end? The lands I inhabit were once owned (rather loosely, so let's say peopled) by the native Indians of the region. The only reason they are where they are now - on a nearby reservation - is because their skin was red, and not white =AND= they did not possess the power to resist a greater force when it was upon them. This is the ongoing struggle of life and man, it has never been different. Should I not live on happily ever after because of this, or should I surrender my home to the Tribal Indian authorities out of guilt? Do you think for one moment the Indians would not have pushed our forebears straight into the seas if they knew what was coming, and had the power to do so?

Because we can go round and round with our differing views on these moral and political issues, may I simply point out that there is invaluable genealogical material to be had from the ancestral histories produced back then. I have tried to present a description of these in as non-biased way as I can, with no political or moral brandings. I realize this subject can elicit questions of propriety, but such things lay in the eye of the beholder. To each their own in this regard (as that's the way it is anyway, and always will be). It's Bismarck versus Beethoven time and time again. All I can say that when I ran across some of these ancestor passports and genealogical tables some years back, both at the NARA and later at LDS, I was absolutely astounded at what I found. If they can be of help to anyone, I'd suggest most definitely looking down that avenue. I was really hoping that more could add to the descriptions I put forth if additional details are known. If it is too sensitive to discuss (or too little is known), so be it.

Jb

4

Hi

I have located many relatives in Germany and only one still had retained
their Ahnenlist.

Bob Doerr in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks

5

Was it in booklet form, about the size of a common passport, or simply a document? As I can assure you there are a lot of Ahnentafels and Ahnenlistes and even Ariernachweise that still exist from back then, along with older Familien-Stammbuchs which contains marriage, birth and death records of new families (some of those dating back to the time civil registration was introduced). The Ahnenpaesse booklet would be a different matter. Many of those were lost or destroyed at the war's conclusion, as I mentioned earlier. Others that were confiscated by the Allies are currently housed at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Keep in mind, their issuance was also less commonplace than the former types.

Some of the ones that survive - at least in some families - are of soldiers who died in combat, and are held as family keepsakes (even if most soldiers were not required to have one). They can also vary in elaboration, depending on whether one added to them or traced their lineage back further than what was required at that time. Others might have had a copy made to send to, say, another cousin if the second requested it due to an interest in their common family background. Since the Ahnenpa� was not required documentation for all, and for the reasons I stated earlier, it is well possible that one's relatives in Germany will not possess one of their ancestors.

From friends and acquaintances (to include some war veterans) and a few

distant cousins I have, those who still have an old Ahnenpass in their family possessions find them to be very interesting documents. I know of nobody who takes pains to hide these booklets, though perhaps some do. In the ones I have seen, you can sometimes find confirmations of the church while not one hint that the owner or his family was NSDAP or belonged to the SS (but then, you didn't have to belong to either of those organizations to have one created either). Some families and individuals had them made simply in the spirit of the times, and to document their family lines.

Jb