As an American, would I have been allowed to emigrate to....

[WorldWarIIFanatic]

Germany? Let's say I wanted to move to Germany when their economy was rolling in 1936 while the economy in the US was in the toilet. For the purpose of this thread, I'm also "white" with European heritage. Did the government allow citizens from other countries to emigrate to Germany? From England? France? And so forth? If so, how did it work? I know they allowed tourists from these countries since a lot of color footage in these documentaries says it was taken by a "US Tourist" and I know they also allowed foreign exchange students since a few have been interviewed for said documentaries. But what about emigrating to Germany?

[Ali M J]

I do not know the answer to these question. But I do have my own opinions. I do hope some one with more knowledgeable proven source information answers you're questions, I am intrigued by you're questions and wish to know more.

Well,I do know if you wanted to join the Waffen SS, you had to prove you're German heritage by 4 generations. Maybe there were English,Americans etc that migrated to Germany in the said years but maybe it was to stop the Jewish from entering the Waffen SS.

[Politician01]

Why should it be forbidden?

If then you should ask: Did Germany allow thouse people to come and get in?

And by the later years of the war the SS was taking in EVERYONE - even muslims from the caucasus and the Balkan.

[Ali M J]

And by the later years of the war the SS was taking in EVERYONE - even muslims from the caucasus and the Balkan.

That was very true. However, these Muslims etc were not migrated migrants that entered Germany as civilians; they were simply used to make up the numbers that were lost during the end of the war since Germany had no more spare men to deploy in the German military. A man will except anyone in desperate measures. I think the OP was wondering if Germany allowed white British, Americans etc..... to become German civilians under the Hitler era.

The British free corps however was created during the war when Germany was still in command of WWII, so IMHO, I do think White British, Americans were excepted as Germans if they wanted to migrant to Germany. Didn't Adolf Hitler had a big interest in the British mighty empire and Hitler himself was quite fond of the British?

[LWD]

It may also depend if you wanted just to come over and work or wanted to become a citizen. If you could prove German ancestory then the latter would seem more likely. In the former case it would likely depend on the percieved need for your services.

[Ali M J]

Also I had recalled seeing a documentary that when Churchill decided not to bomb certain German cities that the Germans thought Churchill had relatives living in those German cities. It does suggest that Germans may be aware that there were English / British ect... living in Germany as permanent civilians of the 3rd Reich.

[uberjude]

Ali, I'm not sure about that Waffen-SS business; I think it was probably that they had to be "aryan" for four generations, or "German," in the sense of "not Jewish," not in the sense of "not from a foreign ethnicity."

There were certainly American Volkdeutsche who moved to Germany in the 1930's, some of whom ended up in the German military.

There were also just Americans who, whether sympathetic to the regime or just looking for opportunities, found their way to Nazi Germany.

Here's a nice list of Nazi collaborators who were born or lived in the US, including Axis Sally and the Brooklyn born Lord Haw-Haw, but these, of course, were just the famous emigres.

[Stevens25]

Personally,I wouldn't see a problem. The only way you wouldn't be let into Germany is if your were Jewish or some other undesireable. Then again,you may have been watched with the Gestapo maybe thinking you were a spy? Who knows?

[elizabethpwalker]

Personally,I wouldn't see a problem. The only way you wouldn't be let into Germany is if your were Jewish or some other undesireable. Then again,you may have been watched with the Gestapo maybe thinking you were a spy? Who knows?

Agree. And especially if you have "white" (as you called it) heritage - then you may present good gene pool for Arian race.