Volksliste

Volksliste

The Deutsche Volksliste (German People's List) was a Nazi Party institution whose purpose was the classification of inhabitants of German occupied territories into categories of desirability according to criteria systematized by Heinrich Himmler. The institution was first established in occupied western Poland. Similar institutions were subsequently created in Occupied France and in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine.

Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) were people of German ancestry living outside Germany. Though Volksdeutsche did not hold German or Austrian citizenship, the strengthening and development of their communities throughout east-central Europe was an integral part of the Nazi vision for the creation of Greater Germany (Großdeutschland).