German Citizenship for Israelis

Key Takeaways

Article 116(2) of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) gives citizenship back to people Germany took it from between January 30, 1933, and May 8, 1945. It also covers their descendants.
There is no limit on how many generations of descendants can apply for German citizenship restoration. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and later descendants can all apply.
Section 15 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) covers people who do not qualify under Art. 116(2) GG.
A 2021 law fixed old rules that once excluded some descendants of German mothers and unmarried German fathers.
You need three kinds of proof to apply for German citizenship restoration: your ancestor’s German citizenship, their persecution, and your family connection to them.

Who Qualifies for German Citizenship Restoration?

People deprived of citizenship between January 30, 1933, and May 8, 1945 qualify under Article 116(2) of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG). Their descendants qualify too, no matter how many generations have passed.

The Basic Law names three grounds for this restoration:

Political persecution
Racial persecution
Religious persecution

Jewish Germans lost their citizenship almost entirely under the racial-grounds category. German law of that era classified Jewish ancestry as a racial category, not a separate fourth ground.

Germany took citizenship away from Jewish people several ways:

Automatically, through the Eleventh Decree of November 25, 1941. This decree covered Jews who had their ordinary residence abroad when it took effect, or who moved abroad later.
Individually, through revocation orders issued under the Law on the Revocation of Naturalizations of July 14, 1933. Germany used these orders mainly against emigrants and political dissidents named in the Reichsanzeiger, the government’s official gazette.
By revoking naturalizations Germany had granted to Jewish people between November 9, 1918 and January 30, 1933.

Eligible descendants include:

Children
Grandchildren
Great-grandchildren
Later generations

A descendant born before their parent’s German citizenship was restored still holds an individual claim. That claim does not depend on whether the parent ever applied.

Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG, Which One Applies to You?

The German Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG) and the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) both offer a right to citizenship by restoration for people affected by persecution between 1933 and 1945.

The two laws apply to different situations. However, you do not need to determine which one fits before you apply.

Art. 116(2) GG

Art. 116(2) GG restores citizenship to people actually deprived of it. The law states:

Former German citizens who, between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945, were deprived of their citizenship on political, racial, or religious grounds and their descendants shall, on application, have their citizenship restored.

Anyone stripped of citizenship this way, and their descendants, can still acquire German citizenship today. Proving these conditions to the Bundesverwaltungsamt (Federal Office of Administration, BVA) usually means a formal denaturalization notice, emigration or deportation records, or other archival evidence of the persecution.

§ 15 StAG

§ 15 StAG fills a gap that Art. 116(2) GG does not cover. It applies to people who were never formally denaturalized, but were still excluded from citizenship because of persecution.

You may qualify under § 15 StAG if you, or the ancestor you are claiming through, fall into one of these situations:

Gave up or lost German citizenship before 26 February 1955
Were excluded from lawfully acquiring German citizenship through marriage, legitimation, or collective naturalization
Were not naturalized upon application, or were generally excluded from naturalization
Lost their ordinary residence in Germany, if it was established before 30 January 1933, or, for someone who was a child at the time, established after that date

Descendants of anyone in these situations qualify on the same terms.

You do not need to decide which route applies before you apply. Describe your ancestor’s full history in your application.

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Can You Claim German Citizenship Through a Jewish Grandparent or Great-Grandparent?

Yes, you can claim German citizenship through a Jewish grandparent or great-grandparent. Eligibility under Art. 116(2) GG is not limited to a persecuted person’s children. It also includes:

Grandchildren
Great-grandchildren
Later generations

Each of these descendants holds an individual claim. To use it, you need to trace your family line back to the person Germany deprived of citizenship.

Applying under Art. 116(2) GG has no deadline. German law treats this restoration as an entitlement, not a discretionary grant.

The government must restore your citizenship once you meet the criteria. This entitlement does not expire, even if an earlier generation in your family never applied.

A few common situations do not block your citizenship claim:

Marrying a foreign national does not disqualify a descendant.
Never having held a German passport does not disqualify a descendant.
Never having visited Germany does not disqualify a descendant.

You need documented proof of your family connection to the persecuted ancestor.

The 2021 Amendment Fixed Decades of Gender-Based Exclusion From German Citizenship

Before a 2020 ruling, German citizenship law used to treat mothers and fathers differently:

A child born to a German father automatically became a German citizen, no matter the date.
A child born to a German mother and a foreign father did not become a German citizen automatically, if the child was born before April 1, 1953.

A similar gap applied to children born outside marriage:

A child born to a German father and a foreign mother did not automatically become a German citizen if the child was born out of wedlock before July 1, 1993.
Legitimation by the father was the only way around this rule.

The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) ruled on May 20, 2020, that this exclusion was unconstitutional. The court found that it violated Germany’s ban on sex discrimination.

This 2020 ruling is registered as case 2 BvR 2628/18. Germany’s Fourth Act Amending the Nationality Act then wrote this ruling into law, effective August 20, 2021.

Two groups gained a path to citizenship as a result:

Children born in wedlock before April 1, 1953, to a German mother and a foreign father
Children born out of wedlock before July 1, 1993, to a German father and a foreign mother

If you fall into either group, you qualify directly under Art. 116(2) GG. This also applies if you are a descendant of someone in either group.

What Documents Do You Need for an Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG Claim?

You need three kinds of documents for an Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG claim:

Proof of your ancestor’s German citizenship
Proof of their persecution or loss of citizenship
Proof of your family relationship to them

Gather these specific documents before you apply for citizenship restoration:

Your own birth certificate
Your parents’ and grandparents’ birth and marriage certificates, tracing the family line back to your persecuted ancestor
Proof of your ancestor’s German citizenship, such as an old German passport, a Heimatschein (certificate of origin), or a pre-1933 naturalization certificate
Evidence of the deprivation itself, such as a formal denaturalization notice, a listing in the Reichsanzeiger (the Reich’s official gazette, which published denaturalization orders), or emigration records from that period
Compensation records, if your ancestor filed a claim under West Germany’s postwar Bundesentschädigungsgesetz (BEG, the Federal Compensation Law)

Request birth and marriage certificates from the office where the event took place:

If the event happened in Germany, request it from the German registry office (Standesamt).
If the event happened elsewhere, request it from that country’s civil registry.

Compensation records add real value to your German citizenship application. West Germany passed a family of compensation laws after 1945, known together as the BEG.

Someone who successfully claimed compensation under these laws already proved their persecution to a German authority once. Their compensation file becomes strong supporting evidence for a citizenship claim today.

Compensation records do not always survive. Even when they do, they are often scattered across different German state archives.

One document requirement differs between the two routes:

§ 15 StAG applicants may be asked, upon request, for a police clearance certificate from their country of residence. Depending on their history, they may need one from other countries too. Confirm the exact scope with the BVA.
Art. 116(2) GG applications do not require this certificate. Restoring a right you already held does not require the same character review as a new naturalization.

How to Apply for German Citizenship Restoration

Follow these steps to apply for citizenship restoration under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG:

Gather the documents described above: proof of your ancestor’s citizenship, their persecution, and your family connection to them.
Complete the official application form. The BVA provides this form in German.
Submit your application and documents to the BVA, either directly or through the German embassy in your country.
Wait for a decision. The BVA may request additional documents during review.
If approved, you receive a Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis, an official certificate proving your German citizenship.

If your application sits without a decision for an unusually long time, you may be able to file an Untätigkeitsklage (delay complaint under § 75 VwGO) to push for a response.

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Your Eligibility Does Not Disappear If Your Family Never Applied Before

Germany’s restitution laws have expanded twice this century:

In 2020, the Bundesverfassungsgericht expanded who counts as a descendant.
In 2021, § 15 StAG created a new route for people Art. 116(2) GG does not cover.

Neither expansion erased the earlier rules. A family that did not qualify under the original 1949 version of Art. 116(2) GG may qualify today.

Your claim under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG does not expire:

A grandfather stripped of citizenship in 1938 still passes that claim to his descendants today.
A grandmother who lost her citizenship by marrying a foreign national in 1935 still passes that claim to her descendants today.

Your claim stays open to you, and to your children after you.

Start now, even before you have every document. A name, an approximate birth year, and a city are often enough to begin tracing the rest.

Records get harder to find every year, as record holders and relatives who knew the family history pass away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are descendants of Jews from Danzig (Gdansk) eligible for German citizenship restitution too?

Eligibility for descendants of Jews from Danzig depends on the citizenship your ancestor actually held, not where they lived. Danzig was a free city with its own citizenship, separate from Germany, until its annexation in 1939.

An ancestor who held German citizenship and was then deprived of it through persecution can still give you a claim under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG. An ancestor who held only Danzig citizenship typically falls outside these routes.

Is German citizenship restitution the same as Germany’s Jewish immigrants admission program?

No, German citizenship restitution is not the same as Germany’s Jewish immigrants admission program. These are two separate programs.

German citizenship restitution under Art. 116(2) GG and § 15 StAG restores citizenship to descendants of people Germany persecuted. Germany’s Jewish immigrants admission program is different.

The BAMF runs this separate program under § 23(2) Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act). This program serves Jews from the former Soviet Union, not Israeli citizens.

Germany’s own guidance excludes anyone who has already immigrated to Israel or the United States. If you are an Israeli citizen, Art. 116(2) GG and § 15 StAG apply to you, not this program.

What are your options if you do not qualify under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG?

If you do not qualify under Art. 116(2) GG or § 15 StAG, you may still qualify for German citizenship through standard naturalization. Standard naturalization requires at least five years of lawful residence in Germany first, so it takes longer than restitution.

Your family’s persecution connection may also not fit neatly into the categories described in this guide. That does not automatically mean you are out of options.

References