Victory in Europe

In March of 1945, American troops crossed the Rhine into Germany.  It was the beginning of the end of the Third Reich, which would surrender to the Allies on May 8th.  In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, we’re taking a look at some of the records captured by American troops in the last months of the war.

Record Group 242 National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized consists of files from various countries that were collected throughout the twentieth century.  The seized German records include papers about the German military’s war plans, such as maps and lists of targets like this one showing an aerial photograph of a town in Kent, England along with a list of possible targets.

Target Dossier for Northfleet, Kent, England pages 1 and 3, National Archives Identifier 290660576

Among the papers in this record group that you can find in the Catalog are microfilmed records of American prisoners of war.  Some records, like the one below, even include photographs.

Zembrzuwski, Thaddeus, National Archives Identifier 475782248

While local records were returned quickly, various German documents stayed in the hands of the U.S. and British military for several years after the war, partly because there was no central government in Germany to receive them.  The redrawing of national boundaries and large scale population displacement also delayed the return of some records.  At the same time, the Allied countries wanted to use the evidence in the records to prosecute German leaders for war crimes.  To that end, the records from the concentration camps were microfilmed.

Camp Records - Inmate Cards - Mauthausen - Records on Prisoners, Boh-Gas, National Archives Catalog 88498560

In the 1950s, the US and its NATO allies worked out a framework for returning the papers.  Many in the historical community expressed worry that the records would disappear once they left American custody.  The military partnered with the American Historical Association to microfilm them.  The seized records included things from long before World War II such as the papers of generals who fought Napoleon, Otto von Bismarck’s son Herbert, and King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

[Material Related to Military Matters], National Archives Identifier 287346600

You can read more about the history of Record Group 242 in this 2016 series of blog posts from Pieces of History.  For a list of series in this collection, check out this page on our website: Captured German and Related Records on Microfilm.

Revolutionary War Pension Files Tagging Mission

Join us to tag Revolutionary War Pension records that have already been transcribed!

If you’ve spent any time working with these records, you’ve probably noticed that Americans were inconsistent spellers.  By adding a tag that uses a standardized version of a name or battle, you will help increase the chances of it being found by users. Adding tags also creates a link to all records with that tag.  Here’s an example of records tagged with Revolutionary War Substitute.  We ask that you add tags suggested in the Tags to Add list in the tagging mission instructions.

Watch our video tutorial How To Add Tags to Revolutionary War Pensions.

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