Ahnenpass

The Ahnenpass (literally ancestor passport) documented the Aryan lineage of citizens of Nazi Germany.

The investigation for lineage was not obligatory as it was a major undertaking to research the "original" documents for birth and marriage. Many Nazi followers had already begun to research their lineage even before law required it (soon after the NSDAP took power.) The law which was issued subsequent to the Nazi assumption of power was called the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, and it required all public servants to be of Aryan descent. : „Als nicht arisch gilt, wer von nicht arischen, insbesondere jüdischen Eltern oder Großeltern abstammt. Es genügt, wenn ein Elternteil oder ein Großelternteil nicht arisch ist. Dies ist insbesondere dann anzunehmen, wenn ein Elternteil oder ein Großelternteil der jüdischen Religion angehört hat.“: "Those are not Aryans who descend from non-Aryan parents and grandparents. It is sufficient (grounds for exclusion) to have one parent or grandparent that is not Aryan. This is reasonable to believe if a parent or grandparent adhered to the Jewish religion."

The applicable fields were later enlarged under different laws to include lawyers, teachers, medical doctors and finally requiring the Ahnenpass even to attend highschool. Usually the lineage was investigated four generations back.

Contrary to popular belief, the Ahnenpass was not public record - the document was shown where required and returned to the bearer. The term Aryan in this context was formally referencing Indo-Germanic tribes but the primary objective was to eliminate Jews from all high positions in German society. The requirements for Aryan descent differ among the different laws that were issued in Nazi times - the Reichserbhofgesetz (farmer land heritage law) notably required 100% for the lineage back to 1800 just as higher positions in the SS demanded a "pure" Aryan lineage back to 1750.

As a result, genealogical research particularly flourished in Germany during the Third Reich.

See also

* Nuremberg laws
* German Blood Certificate
* Nazi eugenics
* Racial policy of Nazi Germany

Literature

* "Der Ahnenpaß des Ehepaares". Verlag für Standesamtswesen, Berlin 1939.
* Erich Ehrenreich: "The Nazi Ancestral Proof: Genealogy, Racial Science, and the Final Solution". Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-253-34945-3
* Cornelia Essner: "Die „Nürnberger Gesetze“ oder Die Verwaltung des Rassenwahns 1933–1945." Schöningh, Paderborn 2002, ISBN 3-506-72260-3.
* Volkmar Weiss: "Die Vorgeschichte des arischen Ahnenpasses." in Genealogie 50. Jg. (2001) S. 417-436, 497-507 und 615-627.