Records of the Hauptamt Wissenschaft- series Kennkarten, Police Identification Cards assigned to German Jews (RG 222)

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 2010.378 | RG Number: RG-67.027M

Overview

Description: Contains 4689 administrative duplicates of police identification cards, called Kennkarten, issued to German Jews in the period c. 1939 – c. 1942 from several municipalities in Germany, including substantial numbers of cards from Mainz (Stadt & Land), Frankfurt A.M., Geissen, Darmstadt (Stadt & Land) and Worms.
Date: inclusive: 1939-1942
Collection Creator: Institut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt am Main
Biography: The Institut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt am Main, or the Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question, was founded in April 1939 with the objective of creating a Hohe Schule which would be a university dedicated to the study of Nazi philosophy especially the theories of racialism and the study of the Jewish question. The institute was opened on March 28, 1941 and was under the direction of Alfred Rosenberg, who was also the head of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) the Nazi pillaging unit which traveled to all parts of occupied Europe and ransacked and plundered homes, communal organizations and libraries, and removed original Jewish books, manuscripts, religious artifacts, and artworks. The ERR units transported the plundered materials to the Institute in Frankfurt as well as in Hungen.

Language: German
Genre/Form: Identification cards. Kennkarten.
Extent: 6,027 digital images : JPEG ; 30.4 GB.
5 microfilm reels (digitized) ; 35 mm.
System of Arrangement: The cards are arranged by place of residence and then by surname and first name. Each card has the following data elements: Surname and maiden name, first name, date of birth, occupation, physical marks (scars, etc.), signature, and photo for those over 10 years of age. The police authorities who maintained the card files noted on the back of the card if the person had died or if the person moved to another locality in Germany or out of the country.

Conditions on Access: This material can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations. No other access restrictions apply to this material.
Conditions on Use: For scholarly use only, no reproduction without permission. Files shall not be copied or shared in any way with another individual or institution. Information on these files of a personal or confidential nature shall not be shared with third parties, neither through hard copy printouts nor by making copied files. For permission to reproduce documents write to the Chief Archivist, YIVO Archives at: reference@yivo.org.
Copyright Holder: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research

Topical Term: Jews--Germany--History--20th century. Police--Germany--History--20th century. National socialism--Germany. Political persecution--Germany.
Geographic Name: Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) Frankfurt am Main (Germany)--History. Geissen (Germany)--History. Darmstadt (Germany) Worms (Germany) Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Corporate Name: Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question Nazi Party

Holder of Originals: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: From YIVO instytute, RG-222, Series Kennkarten, ca. 1939 - ca. 1942, a part of the records created by the Institut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt am Main. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in Dec. 2010.