Like many Germans, Adolf Hitler  had neither blond hair nor was he particularly tall. That didn't stop him and his Nazi party from perpetuating the ideal of so-called "Aryans," with roots in Northern Europe, as being a superior race. Desirable Aryan traits included blonde hair, blue eyes and a tall, athletic stature. Following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the notion of ancestry became more important. From 1935, all German citizens had to provide what was known as an " Ariernachweis " or "Aryan certificate" to prove that their ancestors did not include Jewish or Romani people for at least three generations. Civil servants, doctors and lawyers already had to start providing the " Ariernachweis " in 1933. Time-consuming research was often necessary before citizens could submit their documents to the Reich Office for Genealogical Research (in German,  Reichsstelle für Sippenforschung)  for verification.…