New German Search Engine Helps People Check Nazi Links In Family

A new online tool from Germany is helping people learn more about their family history in a simple and direct way. The search engine allows users to check whether their ancestors were members of the Nazi Party, bringing hidden pasts into the open, reported BBC.

The platform lets people search through millions of Nazi Party membership cards, known as the "NSDAP-Mitgliederkartei". It has already helped many users uncover surprising details about their families.

One such user is Christian Rainer from Austria, who said he found his grandfather's name within seconds. He said that he found out that his grandfather became a member of the Nazi Party around April 21, 1938, just a few days after the Anschluss, when Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to Germany, reported BBC.

Rainer further said that his grandfather applied to become a member of the NSDAP (Nazi) Party just five days after it became legal in Austria. He added that he had always known his grandfather was close to the Nazis, but he was surprised that it only took him five days to join them. 

Rainer never met his grandfather, who died shortly before he was born in 1961. He said the search engine was important not only for what it revealed about his grandfather, but also because it helped clear other members of his family. 

He said he was happy he did not find anyone else from his family, especially not his father, and added that he had never suspected him of being a Nazi. 

About The Search Engine 

According to BBC, the search tool was created by the German newspaper Die Zeit in cooperation with archives in Germany and the United States. According to the organisation, the response has been overwhelming.

Judith Busch, spokesperson for Die Zeit, said that the tool has been accessed millions of times and shared thousands of times since its launch at the beginning of April.

Users have also shared emotional reactions. One user wrote that they had already found two close relatives, which destroys the myth that no one in their family was involved, and added that having their perspective changed at the age of 71 is a bitter shock.

Historical records show that around 10.2 million Germans became members of the Nazi Party between 1925 and 1945. The membership cards, originally stored at Nazi headquarters in Munich, were almost destroyed during the final days of World War Two. However, they were saved by Hanns Huber, a paper mill director, who later handed them over to the Americans.

These records later played an important role in the de-Nazification process in post-war Germany. For decades, they were kept at the Berlin Document Center before being transferred in 1994 to the German Federal Archives, with copies sent to the US National Archives in Washington DC.

Until recently, access to these records required a formal request. In March this year, the US Archives began making the records available online. Die Zeit said it obtained the data and backed up the documents to make them easily searchable.

Rainer said the information still has strong relevance today. He explained that earlier research mostly focused on higher-ranking individuals who later became politicians, judges or doctors, but now many people are searching for their own family members, making it a more personal process. 

He added that even eight decades after the end of the war, it is still possible to find truths that were not known before.