Volksgenosse

thumb|Certificate of support for the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia|volksgenosse expelled from Czechoslovakia issued by [[Bayreuth City Council in 1955.]]

Volksgenosse (plural Volksgenossen) is a German language term meaning a fellow member of a community or compatriot (translated literally as ''people's comrade''). The word was recorded as early as 1798 and its usage grew within the Völkisch movement of German ethnic nationalism, which led to its use to denote a person of the same "blood community". The term became common parlance within the Nazi Party, then the Third Reich, as a way to distinguish ethnic Germans from other groups, such as Jews and Gypsies. Due to these associations, the word gradually fell out of use after Germany's defeat in World War II and subsequent denazification efforts.