eos Rechtsanwälte

In a groundbreaking judgment, the Vienna Administrative Court has recently held that descendants of former concentration camp inmates and forced labourers who were nationals of successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were deported to Austria during WWII, and remained in Austria after the liberation of concentration camps on Austrian territory in spring 1945, if only for a period of a few months, are entitled to Austrian citizenship in privileged ancestry proceedings if there are indicators that they tried to establish a centre of vital interests in post-WWII Austria.

In September 2020 and May 2022, the Austrian Citizenship Act was amended to allow Holocaust survivors, as well as descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors, to acquire Austrian citizenship in fast-track ancestry proceedings, without being required to have resided in Austria or to relinquish their current citizenship(s).

Applicants must show that their ancestors:

• Were Austrian citizens, citizens of a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or stateless, had their main domicile in Austria, within the post-WWI borders set forth in the Treaty of St. Germain, after January 31, 1933, and before May 15, 1955, and moved abroad "voluntarily" (meaning not as a result of deportation) because they feared or had suffered persecution at the hands of the Nazis or because they were part of the Austrian resistance movement against the Nazi regime;
• Were Austrian citizens and had their main domicile outside of Austria between January 30, 1933, and May 9, 1945, and were unable to return to Austria (or move to Austria for the very first time) because of fear of Nazi persecution;
• Were Austrian citizens and deported abroad from Austria by Nazi agents before 9 May 1945; or
• Were citizens of a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or stateless, had their main domicile in Austria, and were deported abroad from Austria by Nazi agents before 9 May 1945.

Since May 2022, Austrian citizenship is also available for descendants of Holocaust victims whose ancestors were Austrian citizens, citizens of a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or stateless, and were killed by agents of the Nazi regime in Austria or abroad (citizens of successor states and stateless persons must also have had a main domicile in Austria prior to 9 May 1945).

There are still several gaps in the legislative framework, one of which has until recently concerned descendants of Austrians, citizens of successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or stateless persons who were deported to and imprisoned in concentration and forced labour camps on Austrian territory. Citizenship authorities and administrative courts have taken the view that such imprisonment would not create a main domicile within the meaning of the Citizenship Act.

The Vienna Administrative Court has recently rejected this argument and, in line with the arguments put forward by eos, held that descendants of former concentration camp inmates and forced labourers who were nationals of successor states of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, were deported to Austria during WWII, and remained in Austria after the liberation of the camps in spring 1945, if only for a period of a few months, are entitled to Austrian citizenship in privileged ancestry proceedings if there are indicators that they tried to establish a main domicile in post-war Austria. In its judgment, the court for the first time acknowledged the continuing effects of Nazi persecution even after the end of WWII due to widespread Nazi sentiment in Austria’s population until 1950 and beyond, and the right to Austrian citizenship for descendants of tens of thousands of former concentration camp inmates and forced labourers who were deported to Austria and, following liberation by Allied troops in spring 1945, were prevented from establishing a main domicile in Austria, at least for a few months, and were forced to leave post-war Austria before August 15, 1955. 

For more information, see http://www.verwaltungsgericht.wien.gv.at/Content.Node/rechtsprechung/152-099-8601-2022.pdf (in German).