Passport Fraud in the Name of Nazi Victims: Politicians Demand Swift Clarification
32 suspects allegedly obtained German passports through forged ancestry documents. Federal parliament members are pressing Interior Minister Dobrindt for answers.
Politicians Under Pressure Following Disclosure of Alleged Passport Fraud
Several federal parliament members from governing and opposition parties have sharply condemned the alleged fraud involving German passports. As DER SPIEGEL (Justice & Crime) reports, the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office and the Federal Criminal Police Office are currently investigating 32 suspects.
"It is not only criminal, but despicably ruthless," said Sebastian Fiedler, domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group. Fiedler spoke of a case of "transnational, organised economic crime" and a "fraudulent network" that the Interior Ministry and Federal Administration Office (BVA) must now address.
DER SPIEGEL revealed on Thursday that alleged fraudsters — mainly from China — obtained German passports by falsely claiming to be descendants of Jewish Nazi victims. They exploited Article 116 of the Basic Law, which permits the naturalisation of Nazi victims and their descendants. The BVA in Cologne, which falls under the Federal Interior Ministry of Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), is responsible for processing such applications.
For their deceptions, the suspects invented family relationships to real Nazi victims and apparently submitted forged documents to the BVA. For instance, an alleged family with the Chinese surname Wong was supposedly descended from a Jewish couple named Süßkind. Karl Siegfried and Gertraud Süßkind did in fact exist; the couple had to leave Germany during the Nazi dictatorship and fled to Palestine.
Investigators believe the number of suspects could increase further. CDU politician Alexander Throm, domestic policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, called for swift action in remarks to DER SPIEGEL: "Where naturalisations were obtained through deception, they must be revoked as quickly as possible. The authorities must not lose time." Throm also demanded "a comprehensive account of how many other cases show comparable irregularities".
Marcel Emmerich, domestic policy expert for the Greens, called it "abhorrent" that criminals had exploited the fates of Nazi victims. The Federal Interior Ministry must explain how long the weaknesses have been known and whether warning signs were overlooked. His party colleague Konstantin von Notz raised the question of whether "legally prescribed safeguarding and verification mechanisms were not adequately observed or were even deliberately disregarded". Attempts to obtain naturalisation rights through deception must be "severely punished".
Fiedler also stressed that Article 116 retains its justification despite this abuse: it is "right and important" that this avenue for naturalisation continues to exist.
The Federal Interior Ministry initially left a DER SPIEGEL enquiry unanswered. The BVA had already stated before publication that it would not comment on ongoing investigations.