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German citizenship

Illustrative photo of a man holding a Nazi-era German passport that belonged to his grandparent, October 5, 2016. (Frank Augstein/AP)
June 4, 2026, 10:01 am
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
By Reuters and ToI Staff
Protesters hold Hamas flags during a demonstration organized by the Gaza Solidarity Platform, against Germany's military support for Israel, in front of the German consulate in Istanbul on November 10, 2024. (KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
November 19, 2025, 11:37 pm
Germany’s interior minister backs stripping citizenship from Hamas supporters
After Berlin stripped citizenship from Syrian immigrant who praised Hamas as ‘heroes,’ centrist minister says citizenship should be contingent on shared ‘system of values’
By Reuters
German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser attends a press conference, after meeting of Interior Ministers of Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), Austria and Germany, in Szeged, Hungary, November 27, 2023. (Darko Vojinovic/AP)
March 27, 2024, 9:13 pm
Germany to quiz citizenship candidates about Israel, Jews, to filter out antisemites
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser tells De Spiegel that ‘contempt for humanity rules out naturalization’; applicants will need to make commitment to protecting Jewish life in Germany
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Family members of those with German citizenship who are missing following the Hamas massacres on October 7, 2023, hold a press conference in Tel Aviv on October 17. (Screenshot)
October 18, 2023, 10:12 am
Family members of the missing with German citizenship thank Scholz, demand action
Families feel affirmed by chancellor’s solidarity visit, but want ‘a sign of life from them,’ with several elderly and ill
By Jessica Steinberg
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech during a plenary session at the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
June 26, 2021, 12:59 pm
Germany eases citizenship rules for Nazi victims’ descendants
Legislation approved by Bundestag also bars anyone convicted of an antisemitic or bigoted act from receiving German citizenship
By AFP
Illustrative photo of a man holding a Nazi-era German passport that belonged to his grandparent, October 5, 2016. (Frank Augstein/AP)
March 25, 2021, 4:54 am
Germany moves to ease citizenship for Nazi victims’ descendants
Measure helps close legal loopholes that caused rejection of many applications; German Jewish group calls move a ‘gesture of decency’
By AFP
An illustrative photo of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, Germany, May 19, 2020. (Uli Deck/dpa via AP)
June 18, 2020, 11:47 am
US woman whose father fled Nazis unfairly denied German citizenship, court rules
Berlin’s top court says authorities erred in rejecting applicant’s request on grounds she was born out of wedlock
By AP
Illustrative photo of a man holding a Nazi-era German passport that belonged to his grandparent, October 5, 2016. (Frank Augstein/AP)
August 30, 2019, 1:30 pm
Germany eases citizenship rules for descendants of those persecuted by Nazis
Changes close loopholes that previously shut out some claimants; second, third, fourth and in some cases fifth generation descendants can apply, says interior ministry
By AFP
The Association of Jewish Refugees' Michael Newman, right, and British politician John Attlee in London November 21, 2018. (Courtesy of AJR)
March 17, 2019, 5:23 am
Due to Brexit, Jews seek passports from countries that oppressed their ancestors
Concerned over losing valuable rights for traveling and staying in the 26-country Schengen Area, more Jewish Brits are turning to Spain, Portugal and Germany for citizenship
By Cnaan Liphshiz
The German embassy in London (CC BY-SA Sdrawkcab/Wikimedia Commons)
October 19, 2018, 2:31 pm
British relatives of Nazi victims seek German passport as Brexit looms
Number applying for documents has soared nearly 40-fold since UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016
By AFP
Illustrative: A masked Palestinian demonstrator holds stones during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bil'in, near Ramallah, Friday. (photo credit: AP/Majdi Mohammed)
March 4, 2018, 2:30 pm
German national arrested for throwing rocks at IDF during West Bank protest
Authorities say 24-year-old confessed, are seeking to have him deported
By Jacob Magid
Clockwise from left, 'Ritchie Boy' Werner Angress in his paratrooper uniform ca. 1944. Angress died in 2010 at age 90; The Holocaust Center at which Guy Stern still works in Farmington Hills, Michigan; Stern reenacting his old role. (Courtesy Henderson/Stern)
August 26, 2017, 2:31 pm
They fled the Nazis for the US, then served their new country to take down Hitler
In his new book, Bruce Henderson talks about the German-speaking Jewish soldiers who escaped WWII Europe, only to go back in uniform to collect intelligence
By Rich Tenorio
Illustrative: Man holding a US passport. (Shutterstock)
May 11, 2017, 1:25 am
German officials: Increase in US Jews seeking citizenship since election
Since Trump came to power, applications to consulates in US have swelled, though data on reasons lacking, officials say
By ToI Staff
In a tribute to the victims of the ramming attack in Jerusalem, the Israeli flag is projected onto the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, January 9, 2017. (AFP/dpa / Michael Kappeler)
May 3, 2017, 8:03 pm
Amid crisis, Berlin and Jerusalem urged to allow dual citizenship
‘Shattered porcelain’ in German-Israeli relations should be improved by reforming dual nationality laws, German MP Volker Beck says
By Raphael Ahren
German parliamentarian Volker Beck of the Green Party (Screen capture: YouTube)
February 12, 2017, 1:12 am
Over 33,000 Israelis have taken German citizenship since 2000
Green Party pol calls to expand dual-nationality rules to include citizens of Jewish state, some 13,000 of whom live in Germany
By ToI Staff
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