Number of Nazi victims’ descendants given German citizenship jumped 61% in 2025
Federal authority figures show 12,000 people gained citizenship under restitution laws, though unclear how many were Jews; one in five people naturalized in 2025 was Syrian
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BERLIN — The number of people naturalized in Germany through restitution laws that restore citizenship to individuals who were stripped of it by Nazi Germany, and to their descendants, rose by 61 percent to 12,000 last year, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office on Wednesday.
The restitution laws enable Jewish descendants of Holocaust victims to gain German citizenship.
German authorities did not provide a breakdown of who gained citizenship under the system.
Overall, Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 people last year, a 14% increase, with Syrians making up the largest group for the fifth year in a row.
One in five people naturalized in 2025 was Syrian. However, compared with 2024, the number of Syrians gaining German citizenship dropped by 21%.
Many Syrians who arrived as refugees during 2015 and 2016 became eligible for naturalization during 2024.
The office attributed the increase to June 2024 reforms that reduced residency requirements for naturalization from eight years to five, as well as allowed individuals to hold dual citizenship.
After Syrians, the largest groups to naturalize were Turks (10%, or 34,100 people) and Russians (6%, or 19,700 people).
Particularly strong year-over-year growth was also seen for Bosnians (126%, or 8,800 people), the United States (100%, or 6,600 people), and Albanians (97%, or 6,100 people).
There has been a significant increase in the number of Holocaust victim descendants applying for citizenship, according to a Euronews report last month. It cited the German Interior Ministry saying that 2,485 Israeli citizens were naturalized in 2021, but that jumped to 4,275 by 2024.
The Times of Israel Community.