March 18, 2026, 5:08 p.mMarch 18, 2026, 5:08 p.m
More than 80 years after the end of Nazi rule in Germany, the US National Archives enables historical family research via the Internet.
Anyone looking for their own grandparents can click through millions of entries without registering beforehand. There is also a classification and instructions.
Extensive archive holdings freely accessible for the first time
In contrast to Germany, the USA allows access to a complete digital copy of the microfilmed NSDAP central file and NSDAP local group file. This means that more than 16 million digital objects such as photos are freely available on more than 5,000 digitized microfilm rolls. These contain the data of millions of Germans who were members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) until 1945.
More than 80 years after Nazi rule, the USA makes it possible to research Nazis in one’s own family.Image: imago-images.de / Fine Art Images
According to the German Historical Museum, in 1945 “one in five adult Germans was one of a total of 8.5 million party members” and thus supported the injustice system, at least on paper.
It is not unusual for such holdings to be located in the US National Archives and accessible digitally, says historian Martin Winter from the University of Leipzig. “It has a transatlantic history – the documents were used for denazification and trials after the war.”
There are also digital copies of the material in the Federal Archives in Berlin. However, for legal reasons, their use is only possible to a much more limited extent.
Hitler, Himmler and Hess can be found in the archive data
The core of the US collection is the so-called “Master File”, which combines several central files. This includes the local group file with around 6.6 million membership cards, which contain detailed information such as name, date of birth, profession, party membership and place of residence. In addition, there is a central file with around 4.3 million cards that were created between 1929 and 1943 and also include leading Nazi officials such as Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess.
There are also more than 200,000 questionnaires from NSDAP members in the greater Berlin area and materials from affiliated organizations such as the National Socialist Teachers’ Association and the Reich Medical Association.
Paper factory manager saves evidence from destruction
It is thanks to Hanns Huber, managing director of a paper factory north of Munich, that the files of their party members, which were meticulously compiled by the Nazis, still exist. Shortly before the end of the Second World War, he resisted the order to pulp a total of 65 tons of paper. In this way he saved the extensive evidence from being destroyed.
Looking back, the Munich Central Institute for Art History describes this as a “courageous decision with political implications”. In the fall of 1945, the US military government finally recognized the relevance of the large piles of cards and files in the paper factory and housed them in the newly established Berlin Document Center (BDC).
Historian: It’s not a “Nazi search engine”
Researchers and private individuals can now use the archive online. Historian Winter emphasizes that it is about access to very extensive archive holdings: “It is not a “Nazi search engine” where you enter names and find out everything immediately.”
Such large data sets are very helpful for historians, for example, because you can search for names, but also use other search terms to find new people that you would otherwise not have come across, says Winter, who researches the subject of “Corporate culture, forced labor and the murder of Jews at the Leipzig arms company HASAG” at the University of Leipzig.
This is how the search in the database works
If you want to find NSDAP members on the US National Archives website, you must first activate the search on the homepage (“Search within this Series”). The user then receives access to the documents.
Similar, but more complicated than with a Google search, it is important to limit it – and it works like this: If you only search for “Müller”, for example, you will get almost 200 hits. What helps is to limit the search to the last name, first name and ideally the place of residence at the time. The machine delivers the best results by additionally entering the date of birth without the century at that time – i.e. around June 10, 2018.
If you ideally only have one hit left, you still won’t have achieved your goal for a long time: Behind the document there are often several thousand pages of digitized microfilm. Historian Winter describes the subsequent process of working through it as “much longer than you think”. Ideally, a list of search results should be displayed within the microfilm. This can be helpful: Cards with a green background should contain the search terms.
About the significance: Membership and its consequences
If you find a name in the archive, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Membership in the party initially only shows that someone has joined and says little about how the person behaved under National Socialism, explains Winter and emphasizes: “However, by joining you have definitely signaled your approval.” Conversely, it does not mean that someone without a hit in the archive had nothing to do with National Socialism.
Could it still lead to discussions at the family table? That would be “a welcome impulse, because there is certainly a responsibility to deal with one’s own family history,” says Winter. At the same time, the historian emphasizes: “Today, no one has to take moral responsibility for the actions of their great-grandfather.” (hkl/sda/dpa)