Ethnic German repatriates

Are you looking for family members from the former Soviet Union and its successor states, from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, including the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), who entered the Federal Republic after the end of the Second World War or had/have the intention to do so?

After the Second World War, families of German origin were often separated from each other. Flight, expulsion or resettlement, especially from the former Soviet Union and its successor states, as well as from Poland, Romania and other countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, still have an impact on their relatives today. Read more about the historical background of the ethnic German repatriates. »

Thanks to the extensive archive holdings of the GRC Tracing Service, we can provide you with competent support in determining the whereabouts of your relatives (with German ethnicity) and their (non-German) relatives. Your questions in connection with war-related naturalisations or earlier acceptance permits for entry into the Federal Republic of Germany can often be answered with the help of the documents and data available at the GRC Tracing Service. 

For families located in the above-mentioned regions, tracing their relatives in Germany is often the first step on the road towards obtaining permission for their own entry and permanent residence in the Federal Republic of Germany.

We will gladly deal with your tracing request. Does any of the following apply to you?

• You are an ethnic German repatriate, were separated from your relatives as a result of war or post-war events or due to emigration and are now looking for them.
• You are looking for family members who you have been separated from as ethnic German repatriates and as a result of war and post-war events or due to emigration.
• You are looking for witnesses in an admission and recognition procedure under the Federal Expellees Act.
• You are looking for assistance with administrative procedures.
• You are looking for reference persons in proceedings to establish German nationality.
• You conduct investigations into the whereabouts of ethnic German repatriates and their family members.

If so, you can contact us in one of the following ways:

1. You can contact us via our online tracing request form  or
2. You can submit your tracing request using our PDF form  or
3. You can send us your tracing request by post or by e-mail. You can find our contact details here »