This chapter reveals one of the longest and most insidious of all National Socialism’s projects to exploit the field of conservation and restoration. This has not been explored in any technical depth by other scholars. Lasting from November 1933 until at least the autumn of 1944, this project was linked directly to the regime’s efforts to clearly delineate the Volksgemeinschaft—the people’s community. The preservation of certain types of cultural material—documents listing births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths—came to be viewed by the authorities as essential to the process of scrutinising the ‘racial’ background of past generations. A formal declaration of ‘racial purity’—certifying that a person was a member of the ‘Aryan race’—was the key to membership of the Volksgemeinschaft. It governed whether a person would be eligible for a particular post or benefit. It was required from all employees and officials in the public sector, including education, according to the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. And it was also a primary requirement to become a Reich citizen after the Nuremberg Laws were passed.