A moving moment at the Austrian embassy in Israel this week when Ben Zion Lapid, who is originally from Vienna, became the first Jew to receive Austrian citizenship back due to the new citizenship law that came into force on September 1st.
In 2019, the Austrian National Council adopted an amendment that would enable “those who were persecuted by the Nazi regime and their direct descendants (including children adopted as minors) to obtain Austrian citizenship without giving up their current passports — that’s still mandated of new Austrian citizens outside of this law.’’
Thousands of Jews across the world are thought likely to take advantage of the change and apply for Austrian citizenship as the country continues to reckon with its dark past.
‘’Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz deserves great recognition for this initiative and I am grateful that I was able to make a contribution to this historic law and that I was now able to be present at the ceremony at the embassy,’’ said MP Martin Engelberg, a member of the Austrian Parliament for the governing Austrian Peoples Party (ÖVP) and an active member of the Jewish community.