Descendants of Holocaust survivors: You may be eligible for Austrian citizenship

In recent years, more and more families are discovering that after their liberation from concentration or labor camps, their relatives did not immediately immigrate to Israel and did not emigrate directly to another country. Many of them stayed for months, and sometimes even years, in displaced persons camps in Austria. Could such a stay lead to eligibility for Austrian citizenship today? In some cases, the answer is yes.

Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act is intended to allow victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants to obtain Austrian citizenship. Over the years, the provisions of the law have been expanded, and today it may apply to cases that were not previously perceived as establishing eligibility.

Many families first check their eligibility for Polish or Romanian citizenship, depending on the family members' country of origin. However, in some cases, after checking documents and family history, it turns out there is room to examine the Austrian path as well. This may be especially relevant when a family member stayed in a displaced persons camp in Austria after World War II. The fact that one citizenship path is not suitable does not necessarily rule out eligibility through another.

For example, families examining Romanian citizenship may encounter language requirements, while the Polish path may involve different legal restrictions depending on the circumstances. In such situations, a broader examination of family history may reveal additional possibilities previously unknown to the family.

It is important to note: living in a displaced persons camp in Austria does not automatically create eligibility for citizenship. However, in some cases, the stay in the camp may be a significant component in the eligibility check when examined as part of the totality of the Holocaust survivor's life circumstances. Each application is checked individually, so a general comparison to another family's case is not sufficient.

Many assume that if a family member was born in Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, or another country and did not previously hold Austrian citizenship, there is no possibility of obtaining it. In practice, the picture may be more complex. In some cases, the period of stay in Austria after the war may be significant. Therefore, when it is known that a family member stayed in a displaced persons camp in Austria, it is worth examining the family history, the path of wanderings, and existing documents.

Even when two Holocaust survivors stayed in the same camp during the same period, it is possible that the outcome will differ, as each file is examined according to its specific historical and legal circumstances. Sometimes a detail that seems marginal may be relevant to a citizenship path that was not considered before.

• The article was prepared in cooperation with the Israeli legal website PsakDin.

• Advocate Hila Pinko from the office of "Pinko Alfasi & Co. – Attorneys and Notaries" deals with checking eligibility for Austrian citizenship and accompanying families of Holocaust survivors and their descendants. The check includes a legal and historical examination of family documents, the path of wanderings, and the circumstances after World War II.

• The article is courtesy of the Israeli legal website PsakDin.

• Ynet is a partner of the PsakDin website.