LETTER FROM BERLIN
At 103, Ruth Gruenthal was not especially enthusiastic about regaining the German citizenship that was taken from her before World War II. This Jewish retiree from New York, who arrived in the United States in October 1940 at age 17 after months on the run across Europe, had witnessed firsthand the persecutions of the Third Reich. But her analysis of the current political situation in the US convinced her, along with several family members, to use Article 116 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The provision allows descendants of victims of the Nazi regime to “have their German citizenship restored.” It is “not an application for citizenship,” she pointed out. “Two of my children, two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren have done it – eight people in total,” she said.
The German consulate in New York gave her a special welcome on May 6, 2025. “It’s the least we can do for you,” the consul told her. Since 2023, a growing number of American Jews have applied to reclaim German citizenship under Article 116 of the constitution. In 2025, there were 6,244 such requests, nearly three times as many as in 2023, according to the German Interior Ministry, which only tracks part of the total applications.
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