Honorary Aryan

Japanese women doing a revue during a visit by the Hitler Youth and Nazi officials
Wang Jingwei of the Japanese-puppet government in Nanking of China with German diplomats in 1941

Honorary Aryan (German: Ehrenarier) was a semi-official category and expression used in Nazi Germany and its territories to justify certain individuals who, according to the Nuremberg Laws, were not recognized as belonging to the Aryan race, but who were nonetheless spared persecution and granted equal rights, although they continued to be regarded as inferior to the Aryan race.

The bestowal of the status of "Honorary Aryan" upon certain "non-Aryan" people or peoples was typically not well-documented, due to the semi-official nature of the category. Rationales included the services of those individuals or peoples who were deemed valuable to the German economy or war effort, political considerations, and propaganda value. Some Mischling (individuals of mixed European and “Non-Aryan” ancestry) were granted Honorary Aryan status for their contributions to Germany and loyalty to the Nazi Party.

In the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi client state, this term was used by Ante Pavelić to protect some Jews from persecution who had been useful to the state.

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