Were Grandma and Grandpa Nazis?
What did our forebears do during the Nazi era? A subject long shrouded in silence in German families.
What did our forebears do during the Nazi era? A subject long shrouded in silence in German families. Now, the US National Archives has made millions of NSDAP membership cards available online.Now, more than 80 years after the end of the Nazi dictatorship, anyone can click through millions of index cards in the US National Archives without registering, and search for the names of their own grandparents and great-grandparents. The data contains information on 6.6 million Germans who were members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) until 1945, stored on more than 5,000 digitized microfilm reels.
But the records are incomplete: According to the German Historical Museum, in 1945 "one in five adult Germans was one of a total of 8.5 million party members" and thus, at least on paper, supported the fascist regime.
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A 'Nazi search engine' online
"It does indeed seem to be very appealing to a wider public to conduct their own online research," says historian Johannes Spohr. "But, in Germany, these sources have actually been accessible at the Federal Archives since 1994. And there, one can actually obtain much more information than just about these memberships."
The catch: In Germany, there are statutory restriction periods, meaning that information about an individual is only released 100 years after their birth or 10 years after their death. This data is not available online and it must be requested in writing. Furthermore, unlike with the US National Archives, private individuals can only access the files if they are searching for relatives, not neighbors or other people. "To this day, there is much more public awareness of the persecuted, the victims — even their names and identities. When it comes to the perpetrators, things are still rather vague," says Spohr.
Eyewitnesses are becoming scarce
For around 11 years, Spohr has been using his research service, "present past," to help people research their family histories during the Nazi era. He says that the people who come to him are aged between 20 and 90. "So really, all generations are represented. I believe what makes this special is that we are currently at the transition between communicative and cultural memory, where things can rarely be passed on orally anymore, and where it is also less common to be able to interview people. Now, personal interaction is no longer such a given for remembrance, and so archive research is much more relevant."
It is now not only the grandchildren's generation actively conducting family research, but the fourth generation as well. "Of course, it is often the case that they never even knew the people they are researching."
Looking at the family through rose-tinted glasses
According to one study, more than two-thirds of Germans believe that their ancestors were not Nazi perpetrators; almost 36% say their relatives were also victims, and more than 30% believe that their ancestors helped potential Nazi victims, by hiding Jews, for example. "These answers stem partly from feelings rather than concrete knowledge," says the historian. This has little to do with reality.
After the war, the crimes of the Nazi era — let alone anyone's individual role — went undiscussed within many families. Germany's culture of remembrance regarding the Nazi era is considered exemplary in many global regions, but "in reality, the culture of remembrance always becomes complicated when it gets specific, that is, when it actually concerns certain individuals whom one may have even known," says Spohr. "And I think remembrance must also take place where it hurts." That applies not only to the Nazi era itself: "Ultimately, today we are grappling with myths and distorted images that stem from the post-war period; one might even say: the post-war denial of guilt."
An index card doesn't address motives
Searching the archives can provide more clarity. The index cards contain names, dates and places of birth, dates when membership began as well as membership numbers. In some cases, they also include addresses and photographs of registered NSDAP members — but the archives reveal nothing on whether someone was a fanatic, an opportunist or a mere follower. Furthermore, only around 80% of these index cards have survived. So, even if a name doesn't appear in the archives, it's not entirely possible to know if one's relative was, in fact, a self-professed Nazi.
That is when the actual research begins, says Johannes Spohr. "Of course, there are members of the NSDAP who did not commit many offences outside their membership, and there are just as many non-members who were involved in cruel acts." One could, for example, check whether someone joined the party before 1933. "Perhaps as a particularly distinguished fighter for the Nazi cause, so to speak. Or whether the members also held offices. The descendants may then know a great deal about the stages of a person's life, but they still do not know why someone did what they did, or what they thought or felt."
Not all questions have clear answers
Whatever one ultimately discovers about one's (great) grandfather or (great) grandmother, Spohr believes that uncovering the truth is ultimately a responsibility one takes on for one's own sake and the sake of society.
The focus of the research still revolves around the question of whether the ancestors were violent; but it's also a question of whether forced laborers were exploited on the family farm, or whether they own items that were stolen from Jews during the dispossession. "It may be that you find little, and many gaps remain, leaving room for your own imagination. And of course, you may come across terrible things that contradict the family narratives."
Spohr attributes the recent growth in interest in part to the war in Ukraine. People want to know if grandpa was a Wehrmacht soldier in Crimea who just drove a truck — as he liked to tell his family — or whether he committed war crimes.
The rise of the far right, particularly the AfD, is also a concern for many: "They then want to investigate whether there might be a link between the party's rise and an unaddressed Nazi past — the silence surrounding ideologies may still be having an effect."
Destined for destruction
The card indexes compiled by the Nazis still exist thanks to the actions of one person. "They were earmarked for destruction at the end of the war. The Nazis wanted to destroy anything incriminating that the Allies could use against them," says Spohr.
However, Hanns Huber, who had been tasked with their destruction, defied the order. The managing director of a Munich paper mill hid the files under a mountain of wastepaper. In the autumn of 1945, the US military stored them at the Berlin Document Center in West Berlin — together with other documents from the Nazi era that were needed to prepare for the Nuremberg trials intended to prosecute war criminals.
NSDAP members in key posts
"The Americans tried as early as 1967 to hand the files over to the Germans, but they were not accepted until 1994," says Spohr. "They actually believed that making these documents accessible would be too sensitive and too risky for the Germans, because there were simply so many Nazis who were still active in professional life and held influential positions in politics."
In Spohr's opinion, the fact that the US National Archives has now made the files available online is primarily an administrative measure. Everything there is gradually being digitized. The German Federal Archives will likely make their files available online in 2028 — once all statutory data protection periods relating to individuals have expired.
This article was originally written in German.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2026 06:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).