Their first names were Therese, Lina, or Alexander, their last names Königsberger, Adler, or Heilbronner. Their roots lay in Munich – the city where they were born and where they lived and worked until they were persecuted on racial grounds during the Nazi era. They were robbed of their homeland, their familiar surroundings, and often their lives. As victims of racial persecution, like other persecuted groups, they were hardly able to take any personal belongings with them when they fled or were deported. As a result, families hardly have any personal documents such as letters or photographs left. In addition, survivors of the Holocaust usually spoke little about their persecution – the suffering they endured and their desire to look ahead were too great. Today, their descendants in the second, third, or even already fourth generation want to fill these gaps in their family history, at least in part.
08.04.2026
„Munich roots II“ – Descendants of Nazi Victims Exploring the Archives
Workshop on Original Sources
Descendants of victims of National Socialism can conduct research in archives where historically significant documents from various authorities are kept, such as files on Wiedergutmachung. These are applications for compensation for suffering endured either during Nazi persecution or for the restitution of confiscated cultural property. After several families from around the world participated in the “Munich roots” program organized in late 2024 and early 2025 by the Münchner Stadtmuseum („Munich roots” – Descendants of victims of Nazi persecution visit the Main Bavarian State Archives - Archivportal-D) and the Bavarian National Museum (Descendants of the families affected by the “Silver Levy” visit the Bavarian Main State Archives - Archivportal-D), more descendants of Nazi victims set out in October 2025 to trace their Munich family histories. They had travelled from Israel, England, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Mexico. In the workshop “How to find your family resources” hosted by the Bavarian Main State Archives, they first received an introduction to the structure of the archives, as knowledge of the origin of files is essential for further research.
Locating files I – Identifying the Right Archives
The introduction provided the descendants of Nazi victims with an understanding of the archives structure and organisation. Each archive has a specific area of responsibility, while state and municipal archives also have an Archivsprengel, meaning that in addition to their content-related responsibilities, they also have regional responsibilities. The authorities in each of these regions are legally required to offer their documents to the relevant archives for retention at regular intervals. The transferring authorities – municipal or city authorities, lower, intermediate, and upper-level authorities – are part of a hierarchical system that is also reflected in the archives. Knowledge of the competent authority where documents relating to a person were created, processed, and stored thus provides clues as to the archives where they are kept.
Following the introduction, the families were able to consult original files of their ancestors. Archivists and the “Munich Roots” team assisted the descendants in reading the manuscripts, translating them from German, and understanding the historical, bureaucratic, and legal contexts.
Locating files II – The Digitisation Project „Transformation of Wiedergutmachung“
Researching various archives is often difficult and challenging for descendants of victims of Nazi persecution living around the world, and travelling to Germany to conduct research is not always possible. This is where digitisation plays an important role. It enables global access to documents and provides the transparency that is essential for researching the fate of Holocaust victims. To this end, the Federal Ministry of Finance has launched the Online collection “Wiedergutmachung for National Socialist Injustice” and is supporting nationwide archival projects for the digitisation and indexing of the relevant holdings. Various authorities across Germany store the documents related to Wiedergutmachung, and these will be made available through the joint online collection. In Bavaria, the General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archives, the Bavarian Main State Archives and the State Archives Munich launched a project in 2023 entitled “Transformation of Wiedergutmachung – Making accessible archival documents of the Free State of Bavaria on restitution and compensation via the online collection ‘Wiedergutmachung for National Socialist Injustice’”. By 2030, approximately 52,000 archival files on Wiedergutmachung totalling an estimated volume of 6 million pages will be digitised and made available online with metadata, in compliance with legal requirements.
Locating files III – The Importance for Descendants of Victims of Nazi Persecution
One of the descendants who took part in the Munich Roots 2025 programme is Gloria Koenigsberger, a granddaughter of August Königsberger (1866–1907). She was able to learn a little more about her grandfather from the files available in the archives. At the same time, however, she was confronted with ambivalent feelings, also with regard to her identity and cultural heritage, as she reported afterwards. It was exciting for her to learn from the files where exactly the ancestors had lived and then to see their former homes in person. The efforts of provenance research to identify the descendants of victims of Nazi persecution are also said to be a benefit for the families, as they lead to the discovery of previously unknown family members and the establishment of new, close contacts. Throughout the trip, Gloria writes, she immersed herself in Bavarian culture and history. This gave her the feeling that the roots that had been severed in the 1930s had been revived. Now she wants to improve her German language skills and take another trip to Munich.
This perspective of descendants of Nazi persecution victims on the files and on the history of Wiedergutmachung was also one of the central topics of the colloquium held at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich on March 11, 2026: Colloquium on Provenance and Collection Research XVI – Wiedergutmachung and Provenance Research: Accessing and Comprehending the Paper Trail. Joint projects involving provenance researchers and descendants of victims of Nazi persecution were presented. The colloquium revealed the need for “translation” in a wider sense to decipher the unique characteristics inherent in this specific corpus of administrative narratives. It also emphasized that collaboration involving family members, heritage institutions, and experts in art, history, law, and market research is of great benefit. Through such transdisciplinary cooperation, the information contained in the files on Wiedergutmachung can be uncovered and explored to address the diverse questions of the 21st century, thereby making it accessible for the complex, ongoing process of coming to terms with Germany’s Nazi past.