Stories Behind the Research

Paige's grandfather, Manfred, was Jewish and fled Berlin in 1939 after persecution intensified following Kristallnacht. His family had worked in the textile industry. Manfred, who had studied agriculture in Germany, found refuge at Hyde Farmlands in Burkeville, Virginia - a safe haven for German-Jewish students established by Jewish retailer William Thalheimer. He was formally denaturalized on November 25, 1941, under the Eleventh Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law.

Kristopher's grandfather, Dietrich, was born in 1934 in the Free City of Danzig - an independent state with its own government and citizenship at the time. He inherited his German citizenship through his father, Karl Johann, who came from East Prussia.

Michael's father Frank was born in Bavaria in 1945 and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1953. Frank acquired derivative U.S. citizenship through his parents' naturalization at age 13, but because he never naturalized himself, he retained his German citizenship.

Both of Corey's maternal grandparents were German citizens. His great-grandfather Heinrich Kneuer served as District Administrator in Upper Bavaria, and his grandfather later worked as a brewer in Dachau before emigrating. Both grandparents were still German citizens when Corey's mother was born in Wisconsin, so she acquired German citizenship by birth.

Daniel's mother, Freya Bärecke, was born in Kiel in 1934 and grew up in Berlin. She met Daniel's father while he was stationed in Germany. Daniel had always felt a deep connection to Germany and suspected he might already be a German citizen.

Jeffrey's maternal grandparents came from Saxony. His great-grandfather Fritz Willy Gustav Helbig was a communist activist who was imprisoned in concentration camps by the Nazis. After the war, he briefly served as mayor of Frankenberg before taking his own life in 1946.