A lot has happened since I first posted about my Restored German Citizenship book project. I’ve cast about in different parts of the world-wide web — joining a number of Facebook and genealogy groups — and managed to capture a few people’s attention. Through countless hours of online searches I discovered quite a few Yekke groups around the world. It was especially helpful to join GerSIG, the German Jewish Special Interest Group that is part of JewishGen.org.
My cyber searches yielded many new contacts, but they also seem to have resulted in a deluge of Spam messages from Jewish dating services. I’m not looking for a JDate, just people of German Jewish descent who have reclaimed their citizenship and want to share their personal stories with me.
So here’s the book update:
- More than a dozen people in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Germany have expressed interest in making a submission for the book.
- I’ve already received two wonderful draft submissions.
- While fishing around online for potential contributors, I applied to join the Times of Israel blogging community. Here’s my first post: What Does Your Reisepass Mean To You?
- I met with the Research Director for the Leo Baeck Institute, a primary research center for the history of German-speaking Jews. He liked the idea for the book and gave me a few good research tips.
- I’ve received kind offers of help, suggestions for publishers, and expressions of support from many Full Circle readers. Thank you!
In the coming months I’ll do more outreach to potential contributors, especially in Israel, South America, and the UK. I’ll also send some feelers out to publishers and continue with research on the last 65 years worth of Article 116 citizenship applications. I’ll post occasional updates here and look forward to receiving your advice and support.
Donna Swarthout 
I have an unusual story. My father was a German Jew who was sent to safety in the UK (along with his two siblings) by his widowed mother in the 1930’s. He later went on to commit identity theft, join the Royal Air Force and fight against the Nazis as a bomber pilot. His plane was damaged by flak over Berlin, and he was forced to crash-land in a farmer’s field near Amsterdam on Sept 8, 1941. Captured the next day, he spent the following 3 years and 8 months as a POW in his own country, without any protection under the Geneva Convention. He went on to become one of the most ardent POW escapers of the war, and is mentioned in at least 15 books, including the biography I wrote:
http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol12/no4/page92-eng.asp
After the war, he became one of only 69 members of the RAF to be awarded Britain’s Military Cross for gallantry, a very high honour.
A few years ago, (perhaps in 2013, I visited the German Consulate in Toronto to enquire about reclaiming German citizenship. To my utter shock, I was told that I did not qualify, on account of the fact that my father had fought the Nazis under the British flag. I had never heard anything so outrageous in my life.
Have you ever come across a similar situation?
Sincerely,
Marc Stevens
Milton, Ontario
Dear Marc,
No, I have never come across a similar situation and it does sound totally outrageous! If your father left Germany after January 30, 1933 it seems that you should be eligible. Did you pursue the matter any further after your visit to the Consulate in Toronto? Per my original post about the book, I would like to include a chapter on people who were denied restored citizenship for seemingly unfair reasons. Your story is one that could be a part of that chapter.
I read the review of your book. It sounds fascinating!
Thank you for sharing your very unique story here.
Best wishes,
Donna
Thanks for that, Donna. I’m glad to know that I’m not alone in thinking the German Consulate’s reply completely outrageous in my case. I wanted to ask them if, perhaps, it would have been better for my father to have stayed in Germany and been murdered? As it was, his mother (my grandmother) exhausted most of the remainder of the family fortune in order to get her 3 children to safety between 1933 and 1938. Rather than submitting to the Nazis and being sent to a death camp, she took her own life on July 21, 1939. The bravest woman I never knew.
My father’s older brother left Hannover for London in the summer of ’33, and Dad himself left in January, 1934.
I have not yet pursued the matter, since I already hold a UK passport, thanks to my father’s heroism. But recently, my brother’s two adult children (who were born in the USA, but now live in Israel and are ineligible for British citizenship), have asked me to pursue the matter so that they would qualify. To this point, I have not yet done so, but am tempted to, for their sake.
Best regards,
Marc
By the way, Dad never told his Canadian family (he emigrated to Montreal, where he met and married my mother, in 1952) that he was Jewish. He had made his identity theft of a dead British schoolmate’s identity legal by then, and never looked back. He presented himself to the world as a British RAF veteran officer and businessman.
It was only in 1996, 17 years after his death, that I finally tracked down his younger sister (still living in London UK under her real German name), who confirmed to me that the family was indeed Jewish.
Coincidentally, my older brother had, in the early 1980’s (before I discovered our Dad’s Jewish roots) met and married a Jewish American, and had later converted to Judaism himself. That is why his two children have today chosen to live in Israel.
I have sent you my e-mail address as a PM on Facebook.
Best,
Marc
German Jews in British Mandated Palestine jointing the British Army
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In 1941 all German Jews who lived outside Germany lost their German citizenship (the 11th decree). My Uncle who immigrated to Palestine illegally in 1937 had joined the British Army and was later taken prisoner on the Isle of Crete. He spent the rest of the war years in Stalag VIII B Lamsdorf POW camps in Germany. He corresponded with his Mother and father who were at that time in Hamburg ( and survived the Allied bombings) through the Red Cross. He wasn’t protected under the Geneva convention despite the fact that he had technically stateless since 1941 ( he didn’t hold the status of British Protected person), but the Senior British Officer at the camp protected him. My step-grandfather, who had immigrated from Berlin, joined the British Army as a military surgeon and fought with the 8th Army in North Africa and later in Italy. He held the status of British Protected Person ( he was a legal immigrant who had been granted a British Mandate Palestinian Certificate), so he was protected under the Geneva Convention. Both my Uncle and my Step-grandfather never reclaimed their German citizenship, but a close relative of mine ( a she) who had served in the British Army with ATS reclaimed her German citizenship without any problem, and so did many other German Jews who served in British Army. There were literally thousands of German Jews who joined the British Army in Palestine. i never heard that they had any issues when reclaiming their German citizenship..
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Abraham, Thank you for posting this comment which directly relates to Marc’s situation. In case Marc wishes to further pursue a citizenship application, it’s also important to keep in mind that the Consulates do not decide on applications. They do an initial screening and offer opinions and advice. So Marc could file an application in Toronto and urge them to send it on to Cologne for processing.
Thanks again,
Donna
should read my mom’s uncle, not my uncle. That what happens when one tries to speak on the phone and writes at the same time, never mind editing the text (lots of typos, comma splices,, run- in sentences,,and missing words.) My apologies.
Marc, Your family story is incredible! Has your brother thought about submitting his own citizenship application? I’m not sure your brother’s children would be eligible if they are already adults. We can discuss further over email.
Best,
Donna
Sadly, my brother died in December 2014.
Donna, I can’t seem to find your e-mail address. But I wanted to let you know that I am working through the application process using a German lawyer.
Best regards,
Marc
Marc, I’m so glad to hear it! I enjoy following your travels and adventures on FB. Email address is dswartho@aol.com or dswarthout@ciee.org
Thanks, Donna!
I will keep you posted.
Best regards,
Marc