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ANTI-SEMITISM

‘Special responsibility’: Why Germany is shaking up citizenship test questions

As part of its efforts to crack down on anti-Semitism, the German Interior Ministry will add multiple questions on Israel, the Holocaust and Germany's 'historic responsibility' to the citizenship test.

Published: 26 March 2024 18:00 CET
German citizenship test
An applicant for German citizenship fills in the citizenship test. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Lino Mirgeler

Almost everyone who goes through the naturalisation process in Germany has to pass what’s known as a citizenship test, or Einbürgerungstest. This German-language exam contains 33 questions that are selected from a catalogue of 300 general questions, plus 10 questions related to your home state.

The topics cover everything from German history, politics and the German way of life, and applicants have to get at least 17 questions right in order to pass.

Soon, however, the topics will get even broader. According to reports in German news magazine Der Spiegel, the Interior Ministry has drafted 12 new questions that they want to add to the test in the near future, tackling the prevalent issue of anti-Semitism and Germany’s relationship with Israel.  

These new questions will be made official by a new ordinance from the Ministry of Interior, and will then be added to the range of questions that can be selected as part of the 33-question test.

The list of questions revolve around Germany’s Jewish community, with topics such as the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and the history of Israel all set to be included in the test. 

One question, for example, asks how long ago the first Jews arrived in what is today known as Germany, while another questions how Holocaust denial is punished in Germany. 

To see the full list of questions obtained by Spiegel, see our explainer below:

REVEALED: The new questions being added to Germany’s citizenship test

Why is Germany adding new questions to the citizenship test?

Since the terrorist group Hamas carried out its brutal attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7th, 2023, anti-Semitism has been firmly in the spotlight in Germany. 

As well as clamping down on pro-Palestinian demonstrators, the German government has been under pressure to tighten up its citizenship rules in order to prevent anti-Semites becoming naturalised as Germans.

This was one of the key issues that held up Germany’s sweeping reform of citizenship rules in autumn last year.

Politicians from the right-wing CDU and CSU parties have repeatedly argued that anti-Semitism was “imported” into Germany by Turkish and Arab communities, and have called for anti-Semites to be stripped of citizenship and barred from ever obtaining it.

In response, the government opted to give citizenship offices new powers to contact public prosecutors and investigate whether crimes committed by foreigners had any racist or anti-Semitic motives.

READ ALSO: Could Germany strip citizenship rights from foreigners over anti-Semitism?

The coalition also pointed to a clause contained in the new law that is designed to exclude people who commit “racist, anti-Semitic and dehumanising acts” from naturalising as Germans. This represents a significant tightening of the law, they argued.

Alexander Throm Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm gives an impassioned speech in the Bundestag during a debate on the new citizenship law. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marco Rauch

Speaking to Spiegel on Tuesday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) revealed that the new citizenship questions were designed with the same aim in mind.

“Our special responsibility to protect Jews and the state of Israel stems from the German crime against humanity of the Holocaust,” she said. “This responsibility is part of our identity today.”

Anyone who wants to become German must know “what this means and acknowledge Germany’s responsibility” and must make this commitment “clear and credible”.

That is why the naturalisation test is now being changed in line with the law on citizenship, Faeser explained. 

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DISCRIMINATION

‘I knew it would happen’: Iranian mum suffers abuse after winning Miss Germany

As a mother who is almost 40 and who was born in Iran, the new Miss Germany Apameh Schoenauer stood out at the beauty pageant. But those traits also exposed her to a wave of online abuse.

Published: 26 April 2024 09:55 CEST
'I knew it would happen': Iranian mum suffers abuse after winning Miss Germany

“I knew I would get a bit of blowback, but not like this,” Schoenauer, 39, told AFP.

Many of the hateful messages aimed at her over her looks and ethnicity after her coronation in February were “superficial”, she said.

But it was also her unconventional profile that drove her to sign up for the contest.

“I took part in Miss Germany because I wanted to change something,” said Schoenauer, an architect and mother of a toddler, who moved to Germany aged six.

It was after the birth of her daughter that Schoenauer decided she wanted to do something to be more of a “role model” for young girls.

Schoenauer’s own roots were a source of inspiration.

The images of “strong Iranian women, taking to the streets every day to fight for their freedom” after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 moved her to do something, Schoenauer said.

A wave of protest erupted in Iran after the death in custody of the 22-year-old, who was arrested by the morality police for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Besides being an architect, Schoenauer is the founder of the Shirzan network — “lion woman” in Farsi — which campaigns for women’s rights.

Most Iranians, she said, were “proud” to see her crowned Miss Germany.

“They gain hope from the fact that, as an Iranian woman, you can make a difference in a different country where you grew up and have lived for more than 30 years.”

Assert yourself

Since being overhauled in 2019, the Miss Germany pageant is less about waist measurements and looks, and more about the character and achievements of the contestants.

The most recent edition of the competition, which is not linked to the Miss Universe contest, also lifted the upper age limit, opening up to older women.

The angry response online to Schoenauer’s coronation showed that her campaign “could not be more important than it is right now”.

Attacking her for the way she looks or her background was “very sad”, Schoenauer said.

“If they have the courage, they should sit down at a table and talk to me constructively,” she said.

“But when someone hides behind their screen, behind an anonymous name… I don’t waste my energy on this.”

After getting a degree, Schoenauer said she had a shock when she stepped into the male-dominated world of architecture.

“I learned what it means to assert yourself, to battle through as a woman in a man’s job and then also as an Iranian woman, as a migrant.”

Schoenauer said her mission as Miss Germany was to “inspire young women to become the best version of themselves” whatever their story.

“You can never forget about your origins, but you have to look now to your future to do the best you can,” she said.

By AFP’s Claire MORAND

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