Contested Paternity: Seeking Reprieve from Anti-Jewish Persecution in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Contested Paternity: Seeking Reprieve from Anti-Jewish Persecution in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

Summary/Abstract: This article examines how Jews and their families sought reprieve from persecution by contesting their own or their children’s paternity in the Nazi Protectorate. The study’s three cases concern people, defined as “non-Aryan”, meaning Jewish or part-Jewish, according to Nazi racial laws, who pursued formal, legal challenges to their own or their children’s racial status. While the Czech and German civil courts resolved some cases quickly, others dragged on for years. Most importantly, “pending” cases delayed deportation for the individuals whose status was in question. Using a micro-historical lens on the legal process, this article shows how the persecuted exercised agency and how local non-Jews assisted or hampered their struggle to mitigate persecution and escape deportation.

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