Aris married Susanne Reinfeld in 1933. Two children were born to the couple, named Heinz-Joachim and Renate. In November 1938 Aris was arrested. This was a manifestation of the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi Party which had taken power in January 1933. Helmut Aris was Jewish. However, his wife Susanne came from an Evangelical Christian family and for this reason he was, at this stage released. A period of unemployment followed, after which, between 1940 and 1945, Aris was placed under a forced labour regime in a succession of businesses. His father died in 1940 and his mother was deported to Riga where she was murdered in 1942. Helmut Aris was scheduled to be deported on 16 February 1945, but it was never carried out on account of the very heavy bombing to which the city was subjected that week by British and American bombers.