Things got off to a rocky start when Brian and I arrived at our local Rathaus to renew our German passports last month. With the stern tone of many a German bureaucrat, Frau O. admonished us that we needed two appointments rather than one to complete our business and that my passport photo did not meet German requirements. As we waited in stunned silence to see if our appointment would proceed, she delivered the final punch. She could not process our applications until she contacted the German Consulate in the U.S. to see if we had already requested new passports. What?
As my blood started to boil and my head spun with memories of the bureaucratic hurdles and delays from my first German passport application, Frau O. explained that she needed confirmation that we were not engaged in… I’m not quite sure what… subterfuge, identity theft, espionage??? Despite my proficient German, I could not understand the basis for this extra step in the process. This was a simple document renewal, not a claim for new rights or privileges.
As my emotional temperature rose and I tried to explain my family history through clenched teeth without crying, something happened that I’ve often observed with German officials. Frau O. became a lot nicer when she saw my distress and assured me that this was a routine procedure that would not cause a significant delay.
Bureaucratic rigamarole notwithstanding, it’s actually becoming easier for descendants of families persecuted by the Nazis to reclaim their German citizenship. Some of the exclusions which I’ve previously written about (see New Citizenship, New Responsibilities) have been eliminated and a new legal entitlement to citizenship for certain individuals and their descendants has been created. You can read about these changes on the German Consulate website.
Three weeks after our appointment with Frau O. and just before my birthday, we got the news that we were all clear for renewed passports. Time for a celebration at one of our favourite restaurants, Royals and Rice. Our documents still haven’t arrived, but my anxiety has abated and I trust I’ll have my new passport when I head to California to visit my sister next month.
Starting our second decade as German citizens reminds me of all the privileges and benefits we enjoy. Germany’s social democracy continues to provide citizens and residents with a strong safety net just as our family continues to have a higher standard of living than we did back in Montana. In fact, social benefits have gotten even better since we first moved here:
- Berlin provides free public transit passes for all school kids as of 2019
- no quarterly payments at the doctor’s office for people with public health insurance
- increase of monthly Kindergeld payment per child from 184 euros for your first two children in 2010 to 219 euros for your first two children in 2021
- free entrance to Berlin museums on the first Sunday of every month as of July 2021
German society still has many social ills to address and there’s much at stake in this weekend’s federal elections. In July I wrote about the need for the Jewish community to pursue a more inclusive approach in fighting hate and the role we can play in strengthening German democracy. Over the next year I will volunteer as a mentor for people at risk of dropping out of their educational programs. I can’t think of a better way to contribute than to support the educational pursuits of Germany’s increasingly diverse population.
Donna Swarthout 
After reading a few of your articles, I believe I understand your motivation, which is not uncommon among many Jews. You aren’t satisfied with your Jewish identity and want a different identity, in your case, an identity of those of whom you most admire (Germans), of whom you also want acceptance. However, you’re torn inside in the fact that you know that, due to your non-German ethnicity, you feel you can never be truly accepted (by many Germans but even by yourself as a true German). Therefore, you’re engaged in something that you hope, even subconsciously, will finally allow yourself to be accepted. If Germany were heavily populated by lots of non-ethnic Germans, who even eventually might mix with the native Germans, then the Germans won’t be “pure” ethnic Germans anymore either, they you might also be accepted. From one of your articles: “a sense of shared-belonging beyond one’s own group of origin, without which democracies can neither exist nor thrive” If you want to understand why many Germans (certainly, not all) have been resentful of Jews (and why some have gone to the extreme of antisemitism), is because of this effort on the part of Jews in history. It’s all about self-worth at any cost. If you can’t have the identity you want, you’re going to, by force, change the identity of the group you want to be a part of so that you can be accepted. Btw, I’m not antisemitic, just honest. In fact, Jews have an amazing history and identity of which to be very proud. Some Jews just wish they were something else (some of you have even internalized nazi propaganda to the point you actually believe it. Such a shame).
Arnold, your astounding ignorance deserves to be on public display which is why I have approved your comment. I am ethnically German and also Jewish. You just can’t accept that. Perhaps you should take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself why you are such a hater.
In my original comment, I simply addressed an issue that exists everywhere, not usually involving Jews. When a new separately identifiable group moves into an location with an existing population, with the same basic culture and background, or even just same basic ways of doing things, and if the new group tries to impose their ways of doing things on the original group, the original group becomes resentful. I’ve observed this phenomena, even when the new move in group isn’t very different from the original population, even the same basic ethnicity. They’re seen as arrogant interlopers. Where as the new comers see themselves as more enlightened and only trying to improve the area with new and better ways of doing things because the existing population is just backward, uneducated, and selfish. So, no need to be sensitive about my first comment. Instead of simply accusing me of ignorance, please identify something I said that was untrue. Thank you.
An example of your ignorance is that the history of the Jews in Germany dates back to before the 5th century.
I’m quite aware of Jewish history in Europe and that doesn’t change my premise any way. Jews have still always been seen as new comers no matter when they arrived (one reason is that they’re so different from native Germans, both in appearance, ethnicity, and customs. Even most Jews saw themselves as a people apart and continued to live apart). Also, not all Jews living in Germany arrived in the 5th century. In fact, most arrived much much later. In fact, a final catalyst that greatly contributed to the holocaust, was the increase in antisemitism as a result of the more recent influx of Jews from eastern Europe. Even assimilated Jews living in Germany, greatly resented their arrival because they believed their unassimilated nature reflected so negatively on them and that they’d be grouped together in the eyes of ethnic Germans. What I’m saying doesn’t excuse the holocaust (and other antisemitic treatment Jews have received throughout their diaspora) in any way (and I acknowledge that there were other causes as well). However, I think it’s useful for people to understand human nature in order to understand each other and avoid future problems (including the one right now being caused by the massive influx of unassimilatable refugees that will likely result in a fractured society and future clashes, even civil war).
For example, right now Germans are themselves suffering from an inferiority complex. After the extreme right (nazism) lost the war, the extreme left took control and, in order to better control the people and prepare them to be more accepting of the concept of no more sovereign nation states, made them to feel inferior for their identity as Germans, so much so, that the majority today prefer to be seen as European rather than German. In order to make the native Germans more passive in regard to the loss of their national sovereignty, Jascha Fischer once said that the purpose of immigration to Germany was “to dilute the native population.” Extreme nationalism is dangerous. However, extreme leftists and loss of national sovereignty are also. It’s all about power, and the loss of individual freedom, whether it’s from the extreme left or right. Btw, right now, I think you’ll find most antisemitism from the extreme left, rather than the right (I would recommend “Never Again, Is Now”). So, back to my original premise, I think a lot of Jews, in order to find acceptance in whatever country they find themselves, since any sense of native national identity is seen as an obstacle to being fully accepted, have made (and continue to make, as in your case) every effort to remove or destroy any sense of national or ethnic identity, which will often result in the natives going to the extreme right in order to counter your effort, which have horrible consequences as we know.
On a side note, the reason why most Germans are so welcoming to Jews now, is that they’ve been made to feel so much guilt for the holocaust, that they’re trying to assuage their guilt, even though they personally had nothing to do with it. I think a number of Jews now, are taking advantage of that. Thanks for reading and your replies.