Source Information

Ancestry.com. Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019.

Original data: Arolsen Archives. Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees by Public Institutions, Social Securities and Companies (1939-1947). Bad Arolsen, Germany. 2.1.1.1 American Zone; Bavaria Hesse; 2.1.1.2 American Zone: Bavaria, Wurttemberg-Baden, Bremen; 2.1.1.3 American Zone; Bavaria, Hesse (Children); 2.1.2.1 British Zone; 2.1.3.1 French Zone; 2.1.3.2 French Zone: Hospital Files; 2.1.4.1 Soviet Zone; 2.1.4.2 Soviet Zone: Part 2; 2.1.4.3 Soviet Zone: Inpatients in Hospitals; 2.1.4.4 Soviet Zone: Hospital Files; 2.1.5.1 Other Zones: Berlin; 2.1.5.2 Other Zones: Inpatients in Hospitals, Berlin; 2.1.5.3 Other Zones: Hospital Files, Berlin; 2.1.6.1 Other Zones: Austria; 2.1.7.1 Other Zones: Poland; 2.1.7.2 Other Zones: Russia; 2.1.7.3 Other Zones, Czechoslovakia; 2.1.7.4 Other Zones: Yugoslavia; 2.1.7.5 Other Zones: Other Countries; 2.1.8.1 Other Zones, Various Zones; 2.1.8.2 Other Zones, Unknown Zones;.

About Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947

The Nazi persecution of both foreigners and German persecutees during the Second World War resulted in the forceable incarceration of these individuals throughout the German Reich and the territories occupied by Germany. Following the war, the Allies began a concentrated effort in both the occupied zones of Germany and Europe to document these individuals.

This collection consists of foreigners and German persecutees in Germany between 1939-1947 who were persecuted by public institutions, social securities and companies. The records may also include information on those who died, including burial information. The documents were assembled according to the Zones of Occupation - American, British, French and Soviet - by the Allied forces within Germany. Areas outside Germany were also recorded.

Information on what is included in each reference code can be found here.

Publication of these documents has been made possible through partnership with the Arolsen Archives (formerly the International Tracing Service, or ITS). The Arolsen Archives are an international center on Nazi persecution with the world's most comprehensive archive on the victims and survivors of National Socialism. Their collection has information on about 17.5 million people and belongs to the UNESCO's Memory of the World. It contains documents on the various victim groups targeted by the Nazi regime and is an important source of knowledge for society today.

For assistance in understanding abbreviations and document types found in the collection, see the Arolsen Archives e-Guide which offers in depth explanations into the different forms and terminology encountered in the collection.

Updates:
4 May 2020: Added the French and Other Zones, totaling 1,767,223 new records.

27 July 2020: Added the British and Soviet Zones, totaling 7,254,885 new records.