This problem might be more common than we think:
My genealogy research client has an official copy of his birth record he
personally obtained May 14, 1980 while visiting his small hometown in
Hessen. Although the photostat of his original familienstammbuch page
was written in 1930 (and was attached to the official record), the town's
typewritten portion STILL has his Nazi era middle name 'Israel'
inserted. These additional middle names became mandatory for German
Jews in January 1939.
35 years after World War Two! Did all such official records still contain
these additions?
The answer should be no. But it is not!
I contacted his Town Standesamt (registry office) which keeps
their civil registers.
They promised to correct the forced "Israel" and "Sara" entries in their
birth registers. They agreed to send him a corrected document at no charge.
However, He had to email to the Standesamt, ask for his birth record and
give his postal address.
It is the first time that I was confronted with the fact that the Nazi
entries in the civil registers of a town have not been corrected. Actually,
all German Institutions were ordered to do this in the 1950s! I strongly
advised the person in the Standesamt to carry out these corrections for
all their Jewish residents, not only him alone.
Stephen Denker
Brookline, MA