Genealogical table for evidence of Aryan ancestry

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, the Aryan certificate or Aryan passport () was a document which certified that a person was a member of the presumed

Aryan race The Aryan race is a pseudoscientific historical race concepts, historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people who descend from the Proto-Indo-Europeans as a Race (human categorization), racial grouping. The ter ...

. Beginning in April 1933, it was required from all employees and officials in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

, including

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, according to the

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was enacted by the Nazi Party, Na ...

. It was also a primary requirement to become a Reich citizen for those who were of German or related blood (

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

) and wanted to become Reich citizens after the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935. A "Swede or an Englishman, a Frenchman or Czech, a Pole or Italian" was considered to be related, that is, "Aryan". After 1936, Iranians were also known as related blood (

) like the Germans. There were two main types: *''Kleiner Ariernachweis'' (Lesser Aryan certificate) was one of: **Seven birth or baptism certificates (or a combination of both) (the person, his parents and grandparents) and three marriage certificates (parents and grandparents) or certified proofs thereof: ***'' Ahnenpaß'' (literally

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

) ***''

Ahnentafel An ''ahnentafel'' ( German for "ancestor table"; ) or ''ahnenreihe'' ("ancestor series"; ) is a genealogical numbering system for listing a person's direct ancestors in a fixed sequence of ascent. The subject (or proband) of the ahnentafel is ...

'', a certified

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

table *''Großer Ariernachweis'' (Greater Aryan certificate) was required for compliance with the requirements of the '' Reichserbhofgesetz'' (land heritage law) and membership in the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. This certificate had to trace the family pedigree down to

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

(to 1750 for SS officers). According to the especially strict regulation of this law which included the goal of "Preserving the Purity of German Blood," the only eligible were those who could prove (reaching back to January 1, 1800) that "none of their paternal nor their maternal ancestors had Jewish or colored blood".

Legal relevance today

Like other documents issued by public authorities at the time, the Aryan certificate was an official government document. As such, it still has evidentiary value in legal proceedings today, similar to how an expired East German passport can be used to support a claim of German citizenship.

References

*Nicholas John Fogg, 'German genealogy during the Nazi period (1933-1945)', in '' Genealogists' Magazine'', vol. 30, no. 9 (London: March 2012) pages 347–362. {{Authority control Race in Nazi Germany Identity documents of Nazi Germany Aryanism

Legal relevance today

See also

References