Today I Learned: In WW2, the Nazis awarded 'German Blood Certificates' (Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) to Jewish military officers that served in the Armed ForcesA German Blood Certificate (Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) was a document provided by Hitler to Mischlinge (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them deutschblütig (of German blood). This practice was begun sometime after the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, and allowed exemption from most of Germany's racial laws.
These certificates were 300 mm (11¾ in) by 210 mm (8¼ in), with a signature on the front and the red seal of the Office of Racial Research of the Nazi Party. The back listed the ancestry of the individual concerned, back to the grandparents of the father and the mother. Individuals awarded these 'Blood Certificates' were deemed 'Honorary Aryans'.
During the Third Reich, the status of Honorary Aryan was occasionally conferred to certain Jews out of pragmatic considerations. For instance, Jews who had been decorated in World War I by providing military service for the German Empire and who had maintained their support thereafter were unofficially commemorated as "honorary Aryans" and subjected to comparatively less discrimination than most other Jews were.
These were also awarded to currently-serving military officers and soldiers which achievements allowed their racial status as Jewish to be overlooked. A top example is Field Marshall Erhard Milch, who was one of the fathers of the Luftwaffe and who reported directly to Hermann Goering. He was one of the highest recipients of the award. Another Luftwaffe top officer was General Helmuth Wilberg.
Other high-ranking Jewish recipients of the Blood Certificates were Wehrmacht Generals Gottard Heinrici, Artur Zukertort and his brother Karl Zukertort. Others were Waffen-SS General Horst Heyer, Kriegsmarine Admirals Bernhardt Rogge, Harald Netzbandt and Paul Ascher (who was Chief of Staff and first officer to the battleship
Bismarck). Besides these high-ranking officers, numerous lower-ranking soldiers also was awarded these certificates. It is speculated that there are more than 150,000 soldiers of various ranks in the armed forces who are recipients of this award.
Werner GoldbergIronically, one of the most recognizable 'Blood Certificate' recipients was Werner Goldberg, the Nazi Party's poster boy for the ideal 'Aryan' Nazi soldier image. Although he was a strapping young man with dark blond hair and piercing blue eyes, he was actually half-jewish.