An increasing number of Jewish-Americans in New England are reclaiming German citizenship
The number of Jewish-American citizens in New England seeking to reclaim German citizenship has increased so much that the country’s Boston consulate will now be holding regular naturalization ceremonies, WBUR reports. Ralf Horlemann, the general consul of Germany in Boston, told the radio station that in the first quarter of this year, 49 people of Jewish origin reclaimed German citizenship through the consulate. They did so under a law established following World War II that allows former German citizens and their descendants deprived of citizenship under Nazi rule to reclaim it. During the first quarter of 2016, only 13 people went through the process, according to WBUR.
“Although we don’t have any firm statistical data on the reasons behind the application for naturalization,” Horlemann told the station, “we have seen a considerable increase in applications since, well the autumn, or the end of last year.”
Today, I handed out certificates of naturalization to 9 Jewish U.S. citizens who reobtained their German citizenship. Welcome to #Germany! pic.twitter.com/PYlktZqhLm
— German Consulate BOS (@GermanyinBoston) April 26, 2017
Linda Heuman, whose great-grandparents died in concentration camps and whose father, aunt, and grandparents were Holocaust refugees, told WBUR she’d been considering reclaiming German citizenship for several years. The resident of Providence said it was the election of President Donald Trump that made her decision clear.
“I just instantly felt like I needed someplace else to go,” Heuman told the radio station. “I have that somewhere in my history, like that visceral knowledge. With racism on the rise and anything might happen so, so that was my motivation for finally getting around to filling out the paperwork.”
Read, and listen to, the full story at WBUR.
