Do Israelis Still Want to Become German?

Negotiating Ancestry-Based German Citizenship Against the Backdrop of Historical and Contemporary Politics in Germany and Israel

Migration Department

Project head: Dr. Lukas M. Fuchs ,  Dr. Ramona Rischke ,  Dr. Zeynep Yanaşmayan

This research project focuses on two main aspects: (1) The potential claim to so-called restitution-based naturalization under Article 116, para. 2 Grundgesetz or §15 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, which grants German citizenship to descendants of German-Jewish families whose citizenship was wrongfully revoked or who were persecuted under the Nazi regime. (2) The engagement of Israeli citizens with their own sense of belonging between Israel and Germany as well as the cultural heritage of their ancestors, who were either expelled from Germany or murdered during the Shoah.

Based on qualitative interviews with applicants for restitution-based naturalization, the project explores Israeli-German-Jewish perceptions of self, society, and belonging. We assume that Jews, while sharing certain commonalities with other groups of migrants, experience particularly complex and hybrid identity processes when deciding to migrate to or naturalize in Germany, shaped by the history of National Socialism. These processes may involve their ethnic affiliation or the cultural legacy of their ancestors. Additionally, the project aims to investigate how engaging with ancestry-based citizenship and potentially relocating to Germany affects the applicants' positioning between their country of origin and their new home.

Research Questions:

1) How do Israelis perceive of German citizenship, and what motivates them to pursue it? In particular, we are interested in the role of political circumstances in the region, within Israel, and in Germany.

2) How do Israeli applicants negotiate their Jewish identity and navigate their Jewish positioning between Israel and Germany? Here, we will especially consider the role of their German-Jewish family’s cultural heritage, which frequently involves first-, second-, or third-hand experiences of life in Germany.

3) How do migration motives, opinions about Germany and/or Israel, and self-definitions or identities shift after leaving Israel or relocating to Germany?

Funding: Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)