Displaced Persons -

CAPTURED GERMAN AND RELATED RECORDS ON MICROFORM IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

The National Archives holds over 70,000 rolls of microfilm reproducing captured German and related records, as described below. Reference copies of the microfilm may be viewed free of charge in the:

Microfilm Research Room,

Self-service copies from microfilm can also be made in the research room for $0.30 each.
RESEARCH HOURS: 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday and Wednesday
8:45 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Saturday

National Archives Microfilm Publications are not available via inter-library loan, but specific rolls or entire series, except those containing privileged material ("R" rolls), may be purchased at the current price of $34.00 (domestic) or $39.00 (international) per roll by contacting:

National Archives Trust Fund

For more detailed reference information concerning the records, please write to:

Modern Military Records (NWCTM),

A history of the American and Allied, public and private projects in which these records were created or assembled, exploited, described and microfilmed can be found in: Robert Wolfe, ed., Captured German and Related Records,
A National Archives Conference
(Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1974) 279 pp. [ISBN 8214-0172-6] [LC 74-82495] NATIONAL ARCHIVES COLLECTION OF FOREIGN RECORDS SEIZED RECORD GROUP 242

The microfilm publications in this record group are listed below according to the place where the records were filmed. Nearly all the original paper records have been returned to their respective countries of origin. A relatively small number of these papers may have been of private origin, but the fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission may be held liable for infringement of property rights. For suggestions on citing captured German and related records, see pages 14-16 below.

CAPTURED GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT WHADDON HALL, U.K.
Microfilm publications of records of the German Foreign Ministry, 1867-1945; papers of Some German diplomats, 1833-1931, and records of the Reichs Chancellery, 1919-1945, are listed immediately below, under the finding aids that describe them. (Descriptions of Microfilm Publication T120 are divided between two catalogs comprising five volumes). Finding aids: A Catalogue of Files and Microfilms of the German Foreign Ministry Archives, 1867-1920 (Oxford: 1959) (also available as Microfilm Publication T322, 1 roll);

A Catalog of Files and Microfilms of the German Foreign Ministry Archives, 1920-1945, 4 vols. (Hoover Institution, Stanford: 1962-1972).

Einwandererzentrale. Microfilm Publication A3342, Series EWZ. 7,320 rolls.
SS Officer Personnel Files. Microfilm Publication A3343, Series SSO. 909 rolls.
SS Enlisted Men Personnel Files. Microfilm Publication A3343, Series SM. 1,738 rolls.
SS Women Personnel Files. Microfilm Publication A3343, Series SF. 99 rolls.
SS Lists. Microfilm Publication A3343, Series SS. 26 rolls.
Rasse-und-Siedlungs-Hauptamt (RuSHA). Microfilm Pub. A3343, Series RS. 7,811 rolls.
NS Frauenschaft/Frauenwerk. Microfilm Publication A3344, Series FS. 2,418 rolls.
Miscellaneous Collections. Microfilm Publication A3345, Series B, DS, F, W. 1,393 rolls. (includes BDC Library collection; see also page 8 for other NSDAP records)
# Miscellaneous SS Records: Einwandererzentralstelle, Waffen-SS, SS-Oberabschnitte.
Microfilm Publication T354. 799 rolls. (GG 27, 75, 79, 95 and T176/rolls 19 & 24)

# Miscellaneous Lists and Registers of German Concentration Camp Inmates, Originated or Collected by the International Tracing Service. Microfilm Publication A3355. 189 rolls. (Roll List available)

# Miscellaneous Russian Records Collection. Microfilm Publication T88. 4 rolls.
# Records of the Smolensk Oblast of the All-Union Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1917-1941.
Microfilm Publication T87/rolls 1-69; Microfilm Publication T84/rolls 27-28;
Microfilm Publication T88/rolls 1-4.
Finding aid: Guide to the Records of the Smolensk Oblast of the All-Union Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1917-1941 (National Archives, 1980). See also T87/roll 1.

# Collection of Hungarian Political and Military Records, 1909-1945. Microfilm Publication T973. 21 rolls.
Finding aid: Guide to the Collection of Hungarian Political and Military Records, 1909-1945 (National Archives, 1972). See also T176/roll 33.

# Collection of Italian Military Records, 1935-1943. Microfilm Publication T821. 514 rolls.
Finding aid: Guide to Records of the Italian Armed Forces, Parts I-III (National Archives, 1967). Also available as Microfilm Publication T94, 1 roll.
# Papers of Count Ciano (Lisbon Papers) Received from the Department of State. Microfilm Publication T816. 3 rolls.
# Personal Papers of Benito Mussolini, Together with Some Official Records of the Italian Foreign Office and the Ministry of Culture, 1922-1944. Microfilm Publication T586. 318 rolls. (Finding aid: roll 1; see also Microfilm Publication T120).

OTHER RELATED RECORDS RECORDS OF U.S. ARMY COMMANDS, 1942- RECORD GROUP 338
# Records Relating to Spandau Prison, 1947-1987. Microfilm Publication A3352. 36 rolls. (Roll List available)

# Martin Gottfried Weiss et al., Nov. 15, 1945 - Dec. 13, 1945. Microfilm Publication M1174 (Dachau Concentration Camp Case). 6 rolls. (DP)

# Hans Joachim Georg Geiger et al., July 9 - Aug. 5, 1947. Microfilm Publication M1191 (Ebensee Outcamp Case). 2 rolls. (DP)

# Friedrich Becker et al., June 12, 1946 - Jan. 22, 1947. Microfilm Publication M1204 (Flossenburg Concentration Camp Case). 16 rolls. (DP)

# Ernst Angerer et al., Nov. 26 - Dec. 3, 1946. Microfilm Publication M1210 (Angerer Case). 1 roll. (DP)

# Valentin Bersin, et al., May 16-18, 1946. (Accessioned Microfilm 68-457) (Malmedy Massacre Case, 6-24) 6 rolls.

Captured German Records on Jewish Gen website

The National Archives EWZ Collection by Fay Jordaens and Laurence Krupnak, 2001

Below is a very brief description of the EWZ collection:

During the final months of World War II through October 1953, the Western Allies under US Army control consolidated the large caches of Nazi Party and affiliated government organization documents that were found throughout Germany. These documents were stored and examined in Berlin in a facility that was called the Berlin Document Center (BDC).

In 1993, an agreement was reached to transfer title and control of the BDC to Germany by July 1, 1994. One article of the agreement was that all captured German records would be microfilmed and that one complete set would be provided to the US. These records were given to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for archiving and making available to the public.

One wartime German agency whose records were captured was the EWZ. The EWZ, Immigration Control Center, was established in 1939 to coordinate the resettlement and naturalization of qualified ethnic Germans who resided outside of Germany. The EWZ processed more than 2.9 million persons during the period 1939-1945. Most EWZ records were found intact by Allied Forces - an estimated 70,000-80,000 files were destroyed before capture.

Screening (Durchschleusing) the eligible ethic Germans involved interviews and examinations by 6-9 EWZ offices. Families were generally processed together and all persons aged 15 and above were registered separately. Photographs were taken, medical examinations were performed, fluency in German language was tested, family histories and racial examinations based on anthropological evaluations of physical attributes were recorded, etc.

Some or all of the following documents were prepared by the EWZ for each ethnic German that was interviewed:

•EWZ-Kartei (or E-Kartei), a general information card;

•Gesundheitskartei (or G-Kartei), a health examination card, which included biographical data, a genealogical chart, and a photograph [Health Cards];

• Volkstumsausweis Certificat, an applicant's ethnic German background, birthplace, and residence, and Umsiedlerausweis, an applicant's resettlement status;

•Rasse-Kartei, cards that summarized the racial examination, including a photograph [Race Cards];

• Anträge, naturalization application case files, which are generally very thick files containing, among other items, a Stammblätter, a standard form which was used to summarize personal information, including spouse and children, and family history ["Family Form"]; Einbürgerungsanträge, (abbreviated as Vfg.), the naturalization application form; Umsiedler, which includes a description of property left behind; related correspondence; etc.

As stated above, the NA has a complete set of the EWZ records. The set of EWZ records is on microfilm and the microfilms are kept at the NA's facility in College Park, Maryland. This facility is called Archives II and is located near Washington, DC. The NARA microform publication number for the EWZ collection is A3342, "Documents Generated In Connection With Activities Of The EWZ."

Here are the major series of the A3342 collection that contain genealogically-useful information:

1. EWZ-50: Anträge (Applications)for naturalization of ethnic Germans from the USSR,

2. EWZ-51: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Romania [includes all of Bukowina and Bessarabia],

3. EWZ-52: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from 1939 Poland,

4. EWZ-53: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from the Baltic countries,

5. EWZ-541: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Yugoslavia,

6. EWZ-542: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from France,

7. EWZ-543: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Bulgaria,

8. EWZ-544: Applicants for Wehrmacht, Organisation Todt, SD, and SS,

9. EWZ-545: Anträge for naturalization of ethnic Germans from Sud-Tirol,

10. EWZ-56: Rasse-Kartei, and

11. EWZ-57: E-Kartei and G-Kartei (E/G Kartei).

E/G Kartei served as the central registry of the EWZ. The E/G Kartei collection contains approximately 2.9 million alphabetically-ordered cards.

NA staff do not perform research. They will however examine the available indexes to determine which microfilm rolls MIGHT contain records of individuals that you are interested in. [That is, the indexes only provide a range of names that appear on individual microfilm rolls.] Copies of NARA's EWZ microfilms can be purchased from NARA.

If you are unable to visit Archives II or do not want to take a chance of purchasing a roll(s) of microfilm that may not contain the person(s) that you are researching, consider hiring a professional who is very familiar with and can easily access the EWZ collection, such as Laurence Krupnak. Laurence is a member of the APG, the Association of Professional Genealogists, a peer-reviewed organization. Laurence frequently contributes to the Bukowina Mailing List. Laurence can be contacted by e-mail at Lkrupnak@erols.com, or by post at 1711 Corwin Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910.

Archives of Europe:

http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/euro1.html

EWZ question

Hi Olga,
Great info on these records. Do you know of any people that have purchased any of these films that might do lookups? Thanks, Rene'

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