(by Francesco Bongarrà)
(ANSA) - BERLIN, JULY 29 - Germany's Greens intend to present
to the Bundestag a bill to allow German naturalization, along
with the acquisition of citizenship, to Jews but also to all
those who have fled from Germany to escape the Nazi persecution,
as well as their descendants. The proposal will be presented
after the parliament's summer break. The law on citizenship in
Germany grants the Germans who were formally expelled by the
Nazi regime the right to repatriation. The most impressive case
is that of Willy Brandt, Social Democratic mayor of West Berlin,
who lived with his baptismal name, Herbert Frahm, during the
Third Reich as a dissident in Norway and was sent into exile by
the Nazi authorities. This right is not granted, however, to
those German citizens who, mainly because of their religious
affiliation, fled from Germany to other countries during the
Nazi regime and later acquired a new citizenship.
Most of these people are Jews, but some of them are members of
other religious and ethnic minorities persecuted by the Hitler
regime. "This is a regulatory gap which is completely
unacceptable", explained Filiz Polat, underlining that
"naturalization for those who have left our country because a
totalitarian regime threatened their life and that of their
families is only a reparation compared to National Socialist
injustice". The Central Council of German Jews welcomed the
initiative. "The government coalition should quickly accept this
proposal to determine a more equitable legal situation", said
the President of the Central Council Josef Schuster. (ANSA).
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