Austrian Citizenship — Nazi-era Persecution

Summary

Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act (Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz, StbG) grants a right of acquisition to Austrian citizens who fled persecution by the Nazi regime — and, since the October 2019 amendment (effective 1 September 2020) and the expansion of 1 May 2022, to all their direct descendants. It is Austria's parallel to Germany's Article 116(2) restoration path, and it has been used by over 37,000 people since September 2020, with 4,352 acquisitions in the first half of 2025 alone.

The core requirements:

• Austrian-citizen (or Austro-Hungarian-subject) ancestor who was a citizen of Austria or of a successor state of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the time of persecution
• Principal residence in Austria (or in some cases abroad between 30 January 1933 and 9 May 1945)
• Persecution by the NSDAP, the German Reich authorities, or in defense of the democratic Republic of Austria — covering racial, religious, political, and other Nazi-targeted grounds
• Flight from Austria between 30 January 1933 and 15 May 1955 — a deliberately wide window covering both early pre-Anschluss flight (rare) and post-war stateless or displaced cases (common)

For most descendants today — particularly in the U.S., U.K., Israel, and Australia — the overwhelmingly common case is a Jewish ancestor who fled Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, or another Austrian city after the March 1938 Anschluss. Austria's Jewish community of about 190,000 in 1938 was largely destroyed — most Austrian Jewish descendants today trace back to the ~126,000 who escaped between 1938 and 1941. The §58c process is designed specifically to repair this community's severed legal connection to Austria.

Procedural advantages:

• Declaration (Anzeige), not naturalization — the applicant is asserting an entitlement, not requesting a favor
• No Austrian-language test (German is not required)
• No residency requirement in Austria
• Dual citizenship explicitly permitted — no renunciation of foreign citizenship required; this is the single major exception to Austria's otherwise-strict rule against dual nationality
• No application fee
• No generational cap on direct descent — children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren all qualify

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) in Vienna is the deciding authority. Once granted, the applicant is an EU and Schengen citizen.

Eligibility

• Direct descent from an Austrian citizen (or former subject of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy who held Austrian citizenship at the time) who fled persecution between 30 January 1933 and 15 May 1955
• Persecution by the NSDAP, German Reich authorities, or in defense of the democratic Republic of Austria — racial, religious, political, or other targeted grounds
• No generational cap — children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.
• Apostilled and officially translated records establishing ancestor's Austrian status, the persecution, and the descent chain
• No German-language requirement
• No residency requirement in Austria
• Dual citizenship is permitted — no renunciation of foreign citizenship required

What This Route Allows

This route can help confirm or document citizenship in Austria when the citizenship-creating facts named above are proven. For many people in this category, the main work is evidence: civil records, family-link records, prior citizenship records, and any registration or restoration paperwork needed to show the claim.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a shortcut around documentation. Even when the citizenship claim is based on a right, you still need records that prove each required fact and family link.

Next Steps

1. Identify the persecuted Austrian ancestor — name, Austrian (or Austro-Hungarian) citizenship status, place of principal residence at time of persecution, date and circumstances of departure
2. Document the Austrian status — search for pre-1938 Austrian passports, Meldezettel (residence registration), Heimatschein (Austro-Hungarian citizenship certificate), Austrian school or military records. The Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) and the Vienna Municipal Archives (Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv) hold many of these
3. Document the persecution — ship manifests or visas showing departure from Austria, refugee records from receiving countries, post-war restitution files (the Austrian National Fund for Victims of National Socialism, the Austrian Restitution Fund), Yad Vashem records, IKG Wien (Jewish Community of Vienna) archives, and resettlement-agency records (e.g., HIAS, JDC)
4. Gather civil vital records — certified long-form birth, marriage, and death certificates for every generation between you and the persecuted ancestor
5. Apostille each civil record under the 1961 Hague Convention (or have it legalized via your country's procedure)
6. Obtain certified German translations from a sworn Austrian or German translator (gerichtlich beeideter Dolmetscher)
7. File the Anzeige (declaration) at the Austrian embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over your country/state of residence — the consulate forwards to the BMI in Vienna
8. Wait for BMI review and respond to any follow-up document requests
9. Once confirmed, apply for an Austrian passport at the consulate

Sources

• BMEIA — Citizenship for Persecuted Persons and their Direct Descendants (Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs)
• BMEIA Washington — Declaration pursuant to § 58c StbG
• Austrian Citizenship Act (StbG) — consolidated text (RIS)
• Austrian Embassy Washington - Consular Section
• Austrian State Archives
• Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv — Vienna Municipal Archives
• IKG Wien — Jewish Community of Vienna Archives
• Yad Vashem — The World Holocaust Remembrance Center
• Apostille Convention (HCCH) — U.S. competent authorities