German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Thursday plans to ease the country’s Nationality Law to make descendants of Nazi victims eligible for German citizenship.
“Germany has to live up to its historic responsibility towards those who, as descendants of Jews persecuted by the Nazi regime, have suffered from disadvantages pertaining to Nationality Law,” Seehofer told Deutsche Welle.
“This is especially true for people whose parents or grandparents had to flee the country,” he continued. “With the decrees ... we will create an efficient arrangement allowing those affected to apply immediately for German citizenship.”
Similarly, effective Sept. 1, 2020, Austria will offer citizenship to British Jewish descendants of Holocaust survivors, thanks to changes to Austria’s nationality laws, which were approved unanimously on Thursday.
