Article 116: The fight for German citizenship

Pictured is the state funeral of Geman CDU politician Paul Pagel. His British granddaughter Vivien Eliades was denied citizenship in 2018 because her father, Pagel's son, left Germany "voluntarily" in 1936. His escape was preceded by an attack by the SS youth, which left Eliade's father with a damaged kidney all his life. She's now applied a second time under the new decrees.

Berlin-born Stephan Feuchtwang, pictured above with his mother in 1938, applied for citizenship because of Brexit. His Austrian father and German mother fled Berlin in 1938. His application was rejected because his Jewish father was Austrian. In 2019, Feuchtwang submitted a second application under the latest decree that should take into account his mother's nationality. He's still waiting.

Memories of the Marx family. Georg Marx fled to Brazil in 1937 because, as a Jew, he was no longer allowed to study and feared worse was to come. Many relatives were murdered in the Holocaust. His granddaughter Marcella is now fighting for citizenship. Her application was rejected because her grandfather left Germany "voluntarily." It's been almost three years since she applied a second time.

Alice Berwin fled in 1935. Her niece survived Theresienstadt ghetto, but 32 other relatives were killed in the Holocaust. Berwin's British grandson Chris Nott applied for German citizenship over a year ago. Germany's embassy in London advised him that he wouldn’t be eligible because, in some cases, the Constitution doesn’t take the maternal line into consideration. He has yet to receive an answer.

Aged 10 in Berlin before fleeing to China in 1939. Her daughter Jeannette Kortz wanted to apply for citizenship from San Francisco 10 years ago, but was told she wasn't entitled because her mother was the Holocaust survivor and she was born before 1953. Kortz's application through the citizenship law was rejected because her German was too bad. Now she's trying again under the new decrees.

The 1935 Nuremberg Racial Laws restricted the rights of Jews like Annemarie Elkan. In 1938 she fled to the UK and married a British man. Her son John Yarnold was denied German citizenship because his father was British. In 2019, he applied again. His knowledge of German should suffice as his wife is German. Nevertheless, Yarnold hopes for a change in the law that will "honor his mother."

German-born Irmgard Kutscher married a Peruvian in 1939. In 1941, her eldest son was murdered by Nazis because he was "mixed race." A year later the family fled Germany because they were foreigners. Her second son, Mario Acha, who was born in Germany, has since applied for citizenship — but was refused because his mother "voluntarily" gave up her German passport by marrying a foreigner in 1939.