Editing Mischling (section)

===Reclassification procedures===
Nonetheless, reclassification procedures of ''Mischling'' were conducted within society. These requests for reclassification (e.g., Jew to ''Mischling'' of 1st degree, ''Mischling'' of 1st degree to 2nd degree, etc.) or [[Aryanization (Nazism)|Aryanization]] (see [[German Blood Certificate]]) were rarely given, as each had to be personally reviewed and concurred by [[Adolf Hitler]]. Once approved by the Nazi party chancellery and Hitler, it was recognized throughout the Nazi community as an act of grace (''Gnadenakt''). Other de facto reclassifications, lacking any official document, were privileges accorded by high-ranking Nazis to certain artists and other experts by way of special protection.<ref>Cf. for reclassifications by way of acts of mercy: Beate Meyer,'' 'Jüdische Mischlinge' – Rassenpolitik und Verfolgungserfahrung 1933–1945'' (<sup>1</sup>1999), Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz, <sup>2</sup>2002, Studien zur jüdischen Geschichte; vol. 6, simultaneously Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1998, {{ISBN|3-933374-22-7}}, especially chapter 'IV. Andere "Ehrenarier"' (Other "honorary Aryans"), pp. 152–160.</ref>

The second way of reclassification was through a [[declaratory judgment]] in court. Usually, the discriminated person took the action, questioning their descent from the Jewish-classified man until then regarded as their biological (grand)father.<ref>One action was recorded where the plaintiff questioned the parentage of his Jewish-classified mother, claiming he had been confused in the maternity clinic for another infant.</ref> [[Paternity law|Paternity suits]] aiming for reclassification ({{langx|de|Abstammungsverfahren|links=no}}) appeared mostly with deceased, divorced, or illegitimate (grand)fathers. They usually sought to change the discriminated litigant's status from Jewish-classified to ''Mischling'' of first degree, or from ''Mischling'' of first degree to second degree. The numbers of such suits soared whenever the Nazi government imposed new discriminations and persecutions (such as the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, [[Kristallnacht]] in 1938, and the systematic [[Deportation#Deportation during World War II|deportations of Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent]] to concentration camps in 1941).<ref>The "Institute for Genetics and Racial Hygienics" in [[Frankfurt]] delivered 448 medical evidences for paternity suits aiming for reclassification in Frankfurt and its environs. In December 1938 the Institute of Racial Biology of the [[University of Hamburg]] complained that since the Kristallnacht judges demanded every week 20 more medical pieces of evidence for paternity suits aiming for reclassification in [[Hamburg]]. Cf. Beate Meyer,'' 'Jüdische Mischlinge' – Rassenpolitik und Verfolgungserfahrung 1933–1945'' (<sup>1</sup>1999), Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz, <sup>2</sup>2002, Studien zur jüdischen Geschichte; vol. 6, simultaneously Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1998, pp. 112seq. {{ISBN|3-933374-22-7}}</ref>

The process was humiliating for the (grand)mothers who had to declare in court that they had committed adultery. The petitions were successful in the majority of cases. The high success rate recorded was a result of several factors. First, there was no risk in paternity suits since litigant classification cannot be downgraded. Consequently, lawyers were willing to represent litigants, though it was common practice to refuse hopeless cases. Some lawyers even specialized in this type of procedure. Second, usually, all the family members cooperated; including the sometimes still-living disputed (grand)father. Likely alternative fathers were often named, who either appeared themselves in court confirming their likely fatherhood, or who were already dead but were known as good friends, neighbors, or subtenants of the (grand)mother. Third, the obligatory and humiliating body examinations of those under suspicion were skewed by stereotypical Jewish perceptions. Expert witnesses would search for allegedly Jewish facial features, as conceived and understood by anti-Semites. If the doubted (grand)father was already dead, emigrated, or deported (as after 1941), the examination searched for these supposedly "Jewish" features in the physiognomy of the descendant (child). Since anti-Semitic clichés on Jewish outward appearance were so stereotyped, the average litigant did not show features clearly indicating their Jewish descent, so they often documented ambiguous results as medical evidence.<ref>Furthermore, many of the involved public health officers did not believe in the pseudo-scientific categories of Aryan and Jewish races, but considered it a farce, and would even tell this to their patients during the examination. So there exists the possibility that they delivered ambiguous medical pieces of evidence on purpose.</ref> Fourth, the judges tended to believe the accounts of the (grand)mothers, alternative fathers, doubted fathers, and other witnesses who had endured such public humiliation. They were not recorded for earlier perjuring, and judges would declare the prior paternity annulled, ensuring the status improvement for the litigant.<ref>Cf. for reclassifications by paternity suits the very instructive book: Beate Meyer,'' 'Jüdische Mischlinge' – Rassenpolitik und Verfolgungserfahrung 1933–1945'' (<sup>1</sup>1999), Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz, <sup>2</sup>2002, Studien zur jüdischen Geschichte; vol. 6, simultaneously Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1998, {{ISBN|3-933374-22-7}}, especially chapter 'III. Abstammungsverfahren vor Zivilgerichten' (suits on a descent in ordinary courts), pp. 109–151.</ref>