Since January 2021, Winter has been an Alfred Landecker Lecturer at the Historical Seminar of Leipzig University. His research focuses on “corporate culture, forced labour, and the murder of Jews at the Leipzig-based armaments company HASAG.” In the interview, he highlights the potential of these sources to deepen our understanding of individual responsibility and everyday participation in the Nazi regime. At the same time, he emphasises that independent research requires careful historical contextualisation — and that while digital availability creates new opportunities, it does not offer simple answers.
The NSDAP membership files are now fully accessible online for the first time. What does this new access change for society and for research?
MCW: Public interest appears to be enormous. This presents a major opportunity to revisit the Nazi past at a personal level—particularly within one’s own family. Even those who may previously have hesitated to submit a request to the Federal Archives now have the chance to take an initial look at these records.
For researchers, access has become significantly easier, as the materials can now be consulted anytime and from anywhere. The ability to search independently—not only by name, but also experimentally by places or keywords—enables entirely new ways of approaching the data. More broadly, the opening of these files can also be seen as a sign that, even decades later, the actions of historical actors are not forgotten.
The new data allows many people to explore their family’s Nazi past for the first time. What should be kept in mind when researching and interpreting the results?
MCW: The possibility of learning more about the Nazi past within one’s own family through source-based research has existed for a long time. Apparently, many have not made use of it and now hope to catch up — or even “tick it off” with just a few clicks. However, it is important to understand that this is not a database that delivers ready-made results, but a vast collection of sources that often requires considerable effort to navigate.
It is crucial to interpret both findings — and the absence of findings — correctly. What does it mean if a person is found to have been an NSDAP member — or if they are not? This requires historical context and, in most cases, additional sources not included in the collection. Professional guidance or a formal request to the Federal Archives therefore remains advisable.
What are the limitations of the data, and why is it important to interpret it in its historical context?
MCW: If you find an index card, it initially tells you that a person joined the NSDAP at a certain point in time. Regardless of possible motivations, this signals a degree of support for National Socialism—even if one assumes opportunism. The recorded date of entry can also indicate how early someone committed to the “movement.”
But this is really just the beginning of the questions: Why did they join? What other Nazi organisations were they involved in? How did they support the regime beyond that? An index card provides very few answers to these questions and is therefore more of a starting point for further research.
Conversely, if a person does not appear in these records, this is of course not proof that they had no connection to National Socialism.
What new insights do these sources provide for your research and for understanding perpetration at HASAG?
MCW: As no company archive has survived, there are no personnel records — neither for the tens of thousands of forced labourers nor for the German employees and workers at HASAG. All information must therefore be pieced together from other sources. Large, openly accessible datasets such as the NSDAP membership files add numerous pieces to this puzzle.
For example, I was able for the first time to clearly identify several notorious Nazi perpetrators within the company. Survivors of the company’s “Jewish camps” often knew certain names only by sound. Through the extensive search capabilities of the files, we now have their exact details, enabling further research. In some cases, the attached photographs have also given these individuals a face, making them more tangible.
What can these new sources and your research on HASAG — contribute to advancing and deepening engagement with Nazi violence and responsibility today?
MCW: In my initial research, I was able to identify index cards for more than 60 individuals connected to the HASAG complex — and there are certainly more. These materials allow us to broaden our perspective to include the Nazi “factory community” as a nucleus of the so-called “people’s community” (Volksgemeinschaft).
This shifts the focus away from well-known perpetrators or high-ranking officials to include the “ordinary” party members within the company. It represents an approach to studying National Socialism that examines social mechanisms and everyday participation rather than focusing solely on prominent individuals. At the same time, we must not limit our perspective to the NSDAP alone —after all, one did not have to be a party member to support the Nazi regime.