As Europe commemorates the 81st anniversary of the Allied victory over the Nazis this May 8, many in Germany are discovering long-buried family secrets. Nazi party membership lists – saved from destruction in 1945 – are now available online. In just a few clicks, the Nazi past of millions of German families is within reach.
Germans confront past with Nazi party membership lists available online Europe To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
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Try again FOCUS © FRANCE 24 05:05 Issued on: 08/05/2026 - 13:39 Modified: 08/05/2026 - 13:39 05:05 min Share From the show Reading time 1 min As Europe commemorates the 81st anniversary of the Allied victory over the Nazis this May 8, many in Germany are discovering long-buried family secrets. Nazi party membership lists – saved from destruction in 1945 – are now available online. In just a few clicks, the Nazi past of millions of German families is within reach.
This online access to Nazi party membership lists comes at a crucial time. As the generation that lived under the Third Reich gradually disappears, it is now their grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are daring to ask the long-taboo question: what role did my grandfather or and grandmother play under the Nazis ?
Germany is often held up as a model for its remembrance culture. But an intimate reckoning with its Nazi past remains far from complete. In 2020, only 3 percent of Germans surveyed by Die Zeit said their ancestors had supported National Socialism – a figure that speaks volumes about the silence that still lingers within families.
FRANCE 24's Anne Mailliet, Caroline du Bled, Leyla Sobler, Raphaël Kominis and Nick Holdsworth report.
By: Anne MAILLIET Caroline DU BLED Raphael KOMINIS Nick HOLDSWORTH Leyla Sobler Advertising Related keywords Nazis Germany history World War II Holocaust
