Deported as an Austrian citizen
Case 3 is short, and its shortness is the point. Two limbs, no residence requirement, no question about why the ancestor left — because he/she did not leave. He/she was taken.
That makes it the most direct of the six, and it moves the entire weight of the file onto one document: proof that the ancestor was an Austrian citizen.
| Ancestor’s citizenship | Austrian only |
|---|---|
| Residence in Austria | None required |
| What happened | Deported out of Austria |
| Cut-off date | 9 May 1945 |
The statutory text
A descendant in direct line of an individual
- who had been an Austrian citizen; and
- who was deported out of Austria before 9 May 1945
- by organs of the NSDAP (i.e., the National Socialist German Workers' Party) or the authorities of the German Reich
- or because of his/her advocacy for the democratic Republic of Austria.
The words above are sec. 58c(2)(2) of the Austrian Citizenship Act. Read sec. 58c in full
What each limb means
“Who had been an Austrian citizen”
Austrian citizenship is the gate. If the ancestor held successor-state papers or was stateless, the deportation still counts — but under Case 4, which asks for a residence record as well.
“Who was deported out of Austria before 9 May 1945 by organs of the NSDAP or the authorities of the German Reich, or because of his/her advocacy for the democratic Republic of Austria”
Deportation out of Austria — the transports to Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Maly Trostinec, Riga and elsewhere. This is, painfully, among the best-documented facts in the whole field: the transport lists survive, and they are indexed and searchable.
What this case turns on
Case 3 carries no residence requirement at all, which means the file rests on proof of Austrian citizenship. That is the harder of the two documents to obtain, and it is where the work starts. The deportation itself is usually the easier half — the transport records are catalogued.
That you are descended from him/her in a direct line
- Your birth certificate, and the birth and marriage certificates of every person in the chain between you and him/her.
- Where a surname changed, the marriage certificate that changed it.
- For an adoption, the adoption order — and note that Austria set the age of majority at 21 until 1973 and 19 until 2001, so whether an adoption counts turns on the year.
Which citizenship your ancestor held before March 1938
- Old passports and travel papers.
- A citizenship certificate — Heimatschein or Staatsbürgerschaftsnachweis.
- The right-of-domicile record (Heimatrecht / Zuständigkeit) of the home municipality.
- For statelessness, a Nansen passport or an alien’s registration.
Why your ancestor was at risk
- IKG Vienna community records; Yad Vashem; the Arolsen Archives.
- Restitution and compensation files — Opferfürsorge, Hilfsfonds, Nationalfonds, Claims Conference.
- The 1938 property declarations (Vermögensanmeldung).
- For the political limb: party, Schutzbund or trade-union records, and police or court files.
Whether your ancestor was deported out of Austria
- The deportation database of the DÖW.
- The transport lists — Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Maly Trostinec, Riga.
- The Arolsen Archives; Yad Vashem; the IKG files.
Whether you have ever held Austrian citizenship yourself
- Any Austrian passport, citizenship certificate or registration among the family papers — people are sometimes citizens without ever knowing it.
- The naturalisation record of the country whose citizenship you took, and its date.
- Sec. 58c(5) keeps the route open for a person who did not know he/she was an Austrian citizen when he/she acquired the other citizenship, so what was known at the time matters as much as the dates.
How this case differs from the ones next to it
Case 4 — Deported — successor state or stateless
The same event, and the only difference is the citizenship the ancestor held at the time — Austrian here, successor-state or stateless there. Case 4 also requires a main home in Austria, which Case 3 does not. The documents show which of the two applies, and either way the route is open.