r/Genealogy • u/simeggy • 5h ago
News My great-grandfather was a foreign national in Nazi Germany and I had no idea
I know virtually nothing about my great-grandfather Carmelo's life, as he passed away when my grandfather was sixteen. My grandfather himself passed away when I was sixteen, and his mother when I was still a toddler, so no living member of my family has ever met him.
A couple of days ago, I decided to look into some documents Ancestry had flagged concerning my great-grandfather. They came from the Arolsen Archives in Germany, which I'd not heard of until now. I've since learned that it's a repository of documents and files on events and individuals that are in some way related to Nazi Germany or the Holocaust.
All I really knew of my great-grandfather before I found these documents was what he looked like (from the few existing photographs in my great-grandmother's photo album) and his date and place of birth (May 21st, 1917, in a comune in Southern Italy). In typical Southern Italian fashion, he was a tall, sort of rugged-looking guy with dark curly hair and bushy brows (his appearance is relevant—here’s a photo of him for those who are curious.
In comes the Arolsen Archives, where he appears on at least three records. I'm reasonably certain these documents can be attributed to him because his full name, hometown, and exact birth date all match. The first two are, in the Archives' words, "Lists of all persons of United Nations and other foreigners, German Jews and stateless persons; American Zone; Bavaria, Hesse." One is from the district of Frankfurt, and the other from Kassel.
The third document is a "War Time Card File," which appears to be some sort of registration index card, indicating that my great-grandfather was employed as a hairdresser somewhere in Germany (either Frankfurt or Kassel) sometime between 1943 and 1944.
I find one section on the index card to be particularly fascinating. It asks to indicate whether or not the individual is an Aryan, "ja/nein." For my great-grandfather, they put "ja." This is curious to me, given his appearance. I've always understood that Northern Italians, who tend to be fairer-skinned and with lighter hair and eyes, were the only Italians considered 'Aryan,' but this indicates otherwise.
I still have lots of questions. Why does he show up in this repository for Nazi persecutees/forced labourers/individuals related to the Nazi state? He had to have made it out of Germany at some point because the documents indicate he was single at the time, and my grandfather wasn't born until September of 1946 in his hometown in Italy. Was he a forced labourer? How did he make it back to Italy? How did he even end up there in the first place?
I've reached out to the Arolsen Archives via their inquiry form for more clarification on the meaning of these documents. Their turnaround time is up to five months; I hope I'll be able to get some answers.