Test to obtain German citizenship will now include questions about Israel and the Jewish community

Anyone wishing to obtain German citizenship will have to answer various questions about the Jewish religion and the state of Israel. The latest update to the citizenship test is part of the new nationality law approved in mid-January by the German Parliament.

The measure adopted by the German government has as main The objective is to prevent possible anti-Semites from obtaining nationality and thus control the permanence in the country of people who could pose a threat to the Jewish and German people. “Anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of contempt for humanity preclude naturalization,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. in statements to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

What act related to the State of Israel is prohibited in Germany? What countries do most of the Jews currently living in Germany come from? Which cities have the largest Jewish communities in Germany? These are questions which make up the list of the various issues that, according to the Der Spiegel, It will be necessary to answer the test to obtain German nationality.

The same test will also have questions about the Holocaust during the Second World War, considered one of the greatest war crimes in the history of humanity. Nancy Faeser made a point of remembering the crimes committed by the Nazi regime, responsible for the deaths of at least six million Jews: “Our special responsibility for the protection of Jews and for the protection of the State of Israel arises from the crime against humanity committed by Germany.”

Changes to the nationality law also made it possible to reduce the number of years needed to obtain German nationality, from eight to five. Dual citizenship is also now permitted, meaning New German citizens do not need to renounce their nationality of origin.

According to El País, the test to obtain citizenship consists of a set of 33 questions covering the most varied categories such as “Living in democracy”, “History and responsibility” and “People and society”. For an individual to pass, they must answer a total of 17 questions correctly – more than 90% of those who take the exam pass, according to the Ministry of the Interior, cited by the Spanish newspaper.

Article by Mariana Jerónimo, edited by Mafalda Ganhão