Foreign citizenship a way for descendants to claim due benefits

In response to Choni Davidowitz’s letter, “Why seek citizenship of murderous Lithuania” (SA Jewish Report 18 June 2021), both my parents were fortunate to have narrowly escaped the clutches of Hitler, and managed to build a modest life for themselves in South Africa, bereft of their loving family consumed in the fires of the Holocaust.

I grew up with a strong admonition from my parents never to buy German goods or befriend the German girl in my class. One day, my mother received an invitation from the mayor of Weiden, Germany, her home town, inviting her back for a holiday, all expenses paid. She tore up the letter.

Although they both became naturalised South African citizens, they still retained their German citizenship and diligently made the annual visit to the German consulate in Johannesburg and then Pretoria to ensure that their papers remained updated. For them, it meant that they were able to claim restitution (wiedergutmachen) and with this money, they were able to live comfortably and see out their latter years free from any economic angst.

It also enabled myself, my children, and grandchildren to obtain German/European Union passports, which subsequently allowed my son and his family to relocate to England in order to obtain the best medical treatment for their son. This wasn’t available in South Africa.

Nothing can make up for the six million Jews whose lives were brutally cut short and the unspeakable horrors perpetrated on the victims, but the survivors and descendants are now able to reclaim what was rightfully theirs – Lithuanian or German citizenship – and by so doing, realise benefits long overdue.

The only way to keep this reprehensible part of history alive is by educating the world and particularly its youth by way of educational programmes, visits to museums, and journeys to the scant remains of a vanished world.