Ahnenpass

The Ahnenpaß (literally, "ancestor pass") documented the Aryan lineage of people "of German blood" in Nazi Germany.

It was one of the forms of the Aryan certificate (Ariernachweis) and issued by the "Reich Association of Marriage Registrars in Germany" (Reichsverband der Standesbeamten in Deutschland e.

[2] The Ahnenpass could be issued to citizens of other countries if they were of "German blood",[3][4] and the document stated that Aryans could be located "wherever they might live in the world".

This is particularly assumable if a parent or grandparent adhered to the Jewish religion.The applicable fields were later enlarged under different laws to include lawyers, teachers, and medical doctors, and required a proven Aryan lineage even to attend high school or get married.

The Aryan proof had to be provided, for example, in the context of the South Tyrol Option Agreement, for which a special office was set up in Bolzano, a so-called Sippenkanzlei, under the direction of Franz Sylvester Weber.

Front page of an Ahnenpass , with a Parteiadler ( Eagle of the Party ) of the NSDAP , looking on its left
Inner page of the Ahnenpass of Dutch rower Tjapko van Bergen , with a Reichsadler ( Eagle of the Reich ) of the Nazi Germany , looking on its right
Pages of an Ahnenpass
Page 41