DARK HISTORY:
A high percentage of Germans think their grandparents tried to help those persecuted by the Nazi regime, but the real figure is less than 1%, a historian said
AFP, BERLIN
Many German families have faced the uncomfortable question: What did grandpa do during World War II? Now, the answer might be just a few clicks away — but it might not be what they wanted to hear. In March, the US National Archives posted online the digital scans of about 12 million membership cards from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party. The records, seized by US troops after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, had previously only been available on microfilm.
A photograph of German lecturer Felix Puelm’s grandparents, Paul and Brigitte, a small picture of Paul in army uniform, their marriage certificate and a copy of Brigitte’s Nazi party membership card are pictured at Silpakorn University in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand on Tuesday last week.
