Fw: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Re:Zyrardow,church records and Amalia Meissner Dreger

[Klaus - Guenter Leiss]

Hello,
> 
> There was apparently some need to prove your background during the war
> because I remember a relative who was born in Zyrardow and had moved
> to Lodz, telling me that he once had to travel to Rawa Maz to get a
> copy of his grandfathers marriage record.
> 
Yes, it was called the "Ariernachweis". People in Germany that wanted to
become civil servants or obtain certain other occupations had to prove that
they belonged to what the Nazis called the "Aryan race". Later on more and
more occupations needed this. If you wanted to get a higher education you
needed it also. This "Ariernachweis" required the birth certificates of the
person self, his/her  parents and all his/her grandparent. Also required
where the marriage certificates of the parents and grandparents. Similar
requirements ( but I think only for the parents ) where needed by german
reimmigrants from the east. The latter documents are a valuable source
of information for all people searching their family tree, if some of their
ancestors or their relatives immigrated to germany between 1939 and
1949. Many of this documents have been preserved. See
http://www.genealogyunlimited.com/daveobee/ewzmain.html
for more information.

Klaus Leiss