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Q. I believe that my distant cousin was in the German army in World War II. Is there any way that I can verify this?
A: There are two divisions of the German Federal Archives that can be helpful. The general web address is www.bundesarchiv.de.
One division is a Personnel Records Center in Aachen that has military service records. The address:
Bundesarchiv
Zentralnachweisstelle
Abteigarten 6
D-52076 Aachen
Germany
There is also a Military Division in Freiburg that researches the individual fates of service members. The address:
Bundesarchiv-Militaerarchiv
Wiesenthalstrasse 10
D-79115 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
The e-mail address is barchiv@uni-koblenz.de.
If the cousin died or was missing in the war, the Wehrmacht Information Office at www.com-de.com/wast is the agency to contact in Berlin:
Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Eichborndamm 179
D-13403 Berlin
Germany
The e-mail address is wast@com-de.com.