Item HT 16983 Booklet - 'Der Ahnenpass', Third Reich, Germany, circa 1937

Summary

Booklet, Der Ahnenpass, which belonged to Othimar Wieser. An Ahnenpass was a standard booklet issued in the Third Reich in Germany. In it people recorded their Aryan ancestry, which they were required to trace back at least four generations to avoid being categorized as Jewish. Othimar brought the booklet with him when he migrated to Australia from Germany with his family in 1951. Every member of the family had one of these booklets. The Wieser family's migration experience, is one of statelessness and displacement, both during World War II and afterwards, and of continual movement and fracturing of the family upon their arrival in Australia.

Description of Content

Standard booklet of Third Reich Germany whereby people recorded their Ayrian ancestry (required to be 4 generations to avoid being categorized as Jewish). Belonged to donor's brother Othimar Weiser and brought to Australia by family in 1951. Every member of the family had one.

Physical Description

Small booklet, with forty-eight pages. It is inscribed on cover 'Der Ahnenpass ' (which translates as Passport of Ancestors) and with the eagle symbol of the Third Reich. The pages of the booklet are divided into sections where family histories are documented and officially stamped. The frontpiece page records the passport as being for Othimar Wieser, in Innsbruck.