Hello,

I was searching my great-great grandfather on JewishGen's databases,
and specifically in the Lithuanian section, and I found a (second)
internal passport application that he had in Vilnius, in August, 1925.
Anyway, the record also says in the comments, that "The German
Passport #39436 issued in Vilnius 29-Mar-1916 is in the file."

Historically speaking, I know that Vilnius was an occupied territory
by Germany in 1916, and that in March at the same year - the German
authorities conducted a census to determine the ethnic composition of
this area. So maybe this is the reason for the issuing of that
passport.

Now the question is, what was the meaning of that "German passport"?
Did it mean that a person was of a German ethnicity? Or did any
passport that was issued at that time and place (March 1916,
Lithuania) was German since it was a German (occupied) territory?

If you want to see it yourself, search for the exact terms at
LitvakSIG: Hirsh Gindin
The 3rd internal passport application record would be the relevant one.

Best Regards,

Gavriel Yadgarov