Article 116(2): citizenship stripped under Nazi rule

Understand Germany's Article 116(2) restitution route for former citizens deprived under Nazi rule and their descendants.

Does Nazi persecution create an Article 116(2) route?

Short answer: only when the ancestor was a German citizen whose citizenship was deprived under Article 116(2)'s conditions.

Persecution, Jewish ancestry, German birth, or emigration alone does not establish Article 116(2). Start with the ancestor's citizenship. Then prove the deprivation and its reason.

Article 116(2) of the Basic Law is a constitutional restitution process. It covers the former citizen and descendants.

What must the family show?

The core test has four parts:

1. The ancestor was a German citizen.
2. German citizenship was deprived between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945.
3. The deprivation was for political, racial, or religious reasons.
4. The applicant is the former citizen or a legal descendant.

Every part needs evidence.

A person who lived in Germany but never acquired German citizenship may have a different section 15 question. That is not an Article 116 deprivation case.

What counts as deprivation?

Deprivation means German citizenship was actually stripped under a qualifying measure.

Two common evidence paths are:

• an individual expatriation published in the Reichsanzeiger, the official gazette, or
• automatic deprivation under the Eleventh Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Law when the required citizenship and residence-abroad facts existed.

The 1941 rule cannot be applied from a departure date alone. You need to connect the correct person, German citizenship, ordinary residence abroad, and the legal measure.

Names often vary across passenger lists, civil records, and deprivation lists. Preserve spellings, dates, addresses, and family members that help confirm identity.

How is this different from section 15?

Article 116(2) starts with deprivation of citizenship already held.

Section 15 covers different listed disadvantages connected to Nazi persecution. These can include certain pre-1955 losses, exclusion from acquisition or naturalization, and loss of qualifying German residence.

The two routes may arise from the same family history, but they do not use the same legal test.

If you cannot prove that the ancestor was German before the Nazi-era event, read the section 15 guide.

Who counts as a descendant?

The constitutional term includes descendants and cannot be restricted by the same historic sex or marital-status discrimination that caused the problem.

In BVerfG decision 2 BvR 2628/18, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a narrow reading that excluded a child born outside marriage to a deprived German father.

This does not remove the need to prove legal descent. Adoption, changed parentage, or disputed paternity still needs case-specific review.

Does citizenship pass automatically after one application succeeds?

No.

Each living applicant generally applies and receives their own decision and certificate. An already-born child does not automatically become German because a parent completes restitution later.

A child born after the parent acquires German citizenship may acquire at birth under section 4. Current sections 4(4) and 4(5) contain special protections for restitution descendants. Section 4 of the Nationality Act

What if the deprived person later lived in Germany?

Article 116(2) has a separate rule for a deprived person who took residence in Germany after 8 May 1945 and did not express a contrary intention. That person is treated as if the expatriation had not occurred.

This can change the descendant's analysis. The family may need to check whether citizenship already existed and whether a section 30 determination is the correct process.

Which records matter?

Build two connected evidence files.

The deprivation file

Look for:

• old German passports or identity records,
• citizenship or naturalization records,
• residence-register entries,
• individual expatriation notices,
• 1941 residence and emigration evidence,
• persecution records, and
• documents showing the political, racial, or religious ground.

The descent file

Connect the former citizen to each applicant with:

• birth records,
• marriage and divorce records,
• name-change documents,
• paternity or parentage records,
• adoption records, and
• death records where requested.

A family tree helps organize the work. It does not replace certified or archive evidence.

Which forms and authority apply?

For applicants who normally live abroad, the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) generally decides. Its current packet uses form A for applicants aged 16 or older, AK for younger applicants, and an ancestor annex. Use the live BVA Article 116 forms page.

A German mission may receive and forward an overseas file. People who normally live in Germany generally use the competent local nationality authority.

The substantive procedure is generally fee-free. Records, certification, translations, archive research, and professional help can still cost money.

What should you do next?

Do not begin with a descendant's passport application.

First prove the ancestor's German citizenship and identify the deprivation instrument. Then connect the ancestor to each applicant with legal civil records.