Perished as an Austrian citizen
Cases 5 and 6 exist because the four cases before them are written around a person who survived. A descendant whose ancestor was murdered would otherwise have had no route at all.
Case 5 is the Austrian-citizen version. It carries no residence requirement — but unlike Case 6, it carries a date: the death must have come before 9 May 1945.
| Ancestor’s citizenship | Austrian only |
|---|---|
| Residence in Austria | None required |
| What happened | Perished, in Austria or abroad, due to persecution |
| Cut-off date | Death before 9 May 1945 |
The statutory text
A descendant in direct line of an individual
- who had been an Austrian citizen; and
- who perished (in Austria or abroad) before 9 May 1945 due to persecution
- 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(4)(1) of the Austrian Citizenship Act. Read sec. 58c in full
What each limb means
“Who had been an Austrian citizen”
As in Cases 2 and 3, Austrian citizenship alone opens this case. Successor-state citizenship and statelessness lead to Case 6 instead.
“Who perished (in Austria or abroad) before 9 May 1945 due to persecution by organs of the NSDAP or the authorities of the German Reich, or because of his/her advocacy for the democratic Republic of Austria”
In Austria or abroad matters: a death in a camp outside Austria, or in hiding in another country, is inside this case. The date is the limb to watch. A death after 9 May 1945 — including one caused by what was done before it — falls outside Case 5.
What this case turns on
Case 5 carries no residence requirement, so the file rests on proof of Austrian citizenship and on a death record placing the death before 9 May 1945. Where no death certificate exists, a declaration of death (Todeserklärung) is the usual substitute, and the victim databases are where the date is normally established.
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.
What happened to your ancestor
- The DÖW victims' database.
- The Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims; the Arolsen Archives.
- A death certificate, or a declaration of death (Todeserklärung).
The date of your ancestor’s death
- The same records as above. Case 5 reaches only deaths before 9 May 1945; Case 6 has no date limit.
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 6 — Perished — successor state or stateless
The same ending, for an ancestor who was not an Austrian citizen. Case 6 asks for a main home in Austria — but it sets no date limit on the death at all. That difference runs the opposite way from the usual pattern, and it is the single most important thing to know about this pair.