Austrian Roots
Helping descendants of people persecuted by the Nazi regime understand their Austrian family history, identify the right historical sources and navigate the documentary foundations of a possible path to Austrian citizenship.
Citizenship can be restored. The history often has to be reconstructed first.
Descendants of people who were persecuted by the Nazi regime in Austria may be eligible to acquire Austrian citizenship without giving up their existing citizenship.
For many families, however, the path begins with history: proving who the persecuted ancestor was, reconstructing the family line, locating the relevant Austrian records and understanding the circumstances of persecution, flight or exile.
Austrian Roots explains where these records can be found, how they fit together and what historical documentation is typically relevant. We do not provide legal advice or individual legal assessments. Detailed information on the citizenship process and the applicable rules can be found below.
From family story to documentary trail
Start with what the family knows
Names, dates, places, passports, letters, photographs and oral history can provide the first clues.
Identify the Austrian sources
Parish registers, civil records, residence files, citizenship records, address directories and archival holdings may establish identities and family relationships.
Document persecution and departure
Historical records may establish flight, expulsion, loss of rights, deportation, expropriation or emigration.
Assemble the documentary chain
The evidence must make the relationship between the present-day applicant and the persecuted Austrian ancestor understandable and verifiable.
Prepare the historical documentation
Applications may require a professional genealogical and historical report that brings the evidence together, explains the historical context and provides a neutral expert assessment.
More than a bundle of certificates
A good report turns scattered records into a coherent, verifiable historical account.
In straightforward cases, civil-status documents may be enough to establish the line of descent. In more complex cases, however, simply collecting birth, marriage and death certificates can leave important gaps unresolved. Names change, records are missing, families moved across former borders and the circumstances of persecution are not always visible in a single document.
A professionally prepared genealogical-historical report can reconstruct the family line, identify and evaluate archival evidence, explain historical inconsistencies and place persecution, flight or displacement in its proper context. Its purpose is not to replace the legal assessment of the Austrian authorities, but to present the historical facts and sources in a clear, neutral and verifiable form.
Austrian Roots itself does not prepare individual reports and does not provide legal advice. Our role is educational: we explain what strong historical documentation can contain, which Austrian sources may be relevant, how archives work and when independent professional assistance may be useful.
Finding professional help
Where a case requires deeper research, applicants may choose an independent genealogist or historian with experience in Austrian archival sources, historical migration and the documentation of Nazi persecution.
These links are provided as examples only. Austrian Roots does not require applicants to use any particular provider and receives no commission or remuneration for these references.
Where family history survives
Parish & civil records
Births, baptisms, marriages and deaths are often the backbone of a documented family line.
Residence records
Meldezettel, address directories and municipal files can reveal where a family lived and when it moved.
Citizenship records
Historical citizenship, Heimatrecht and municipal files may help clarify legal and administrative status.
Persecution records
Files relating to persecution, confiscation, deportation and restitution may document what happened to a family.
Emigration sources
Passports, border records, passenger lists and foreign registrations can help reconstruct the route out of Austria.
Archives & databases
Knowing which archive holds which record is often more important than knowing a document exists.
Historic archival records are often the starting point for reconstructing family histories and documenting persecution, flight and descent.
Getting oriented
Who is eligible?
In general, direct descendants of a person who was persecuted by the Nazi regime in Austria and falls within the requirements of § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act may be eligible. This includes children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and further direct descendants. Persons adopted as minors may also qualify. Eligibility ultimately depends on the legal requirements and the individual historical circumstances of the persecuted ancestor.
Can my whole family and my descendants get Austrian citizenship?
Potentially, yes. Each direct descendant has an individual right to file a declaration if the legal requirements are met. Parents or grandparents do not have to apply first. Each person who is already born before citizenship is granted normally needs a separate declaration. Children born after a parent has acquired Austrian citizenship are generally Austrian citizens by descent under the usual rules. A spouse or partner is not eligible under § 58c merely through marriage.
Is this dual citizenship, or do I have to give up my UK or US citizenship?
Austria allows people acquiring citizenship under § 58c to keep their existing nationality. According to current information published by the Austrian authorities, acquiring Austrian citizenship under this provision is not expected to result in the loss of British or US citizenship. Rules differ between countries, however, so applicants holding other nationalities should check the position with the competent authority of that country.
How long does the process take?
There is no fixed official processing time. The Austrian authorities state that the duration depends on factors such as the documents submitted and whether additional archival research is required. A complete and well-structured file can make the procedure more efficient. Once citizenship has been granted, applying for an Austrian passport is a separate procedure.
What are the costs?
Filing a declaration under § 58c is exempt from Austrian federal fees. For applicants for whom Vienna is the competent provincial authority, the Province of Vienna currently does not charge an additional fee for the citizenship procedure. Applicants may nevertheless incur costs for obtaining civil-status documents, apostilles, certified translations, historical or genealogical documentation and any professional assistance they choose to use. After citizenship has been granted, passports and other documents are subject to separate fees.
Can I research my family myself?
Yes. A central aim is to make Austrian sources, archive structures and terminology understandable enough for descendants to carry out their own research and recognise when specialist help is needed.
Is Austrian Roots a government service?
No. It is an independent Austrian non-profit initiative.
Does Austrian Roots decide whether I qualify for Austrian citizenship?
No. Eligibility and legal consequences are matters for the competent Austrian authorities or qualified Austrian legal professionals.
Does Austrian Roots carry out individual family research?
No. Individual commissioned genealogy is not part of the association's activity. The association may conduct academic research on broader historical questions.
Professional genealogists can nevertheless be extremely helpful in the citizenship process, particularly when Austrian records and archival documents have to be located and obtained or when a structured expert genealogical and historical opinion is required. For applicants without experience in Austrian archives — especially those who do not speak German — carrying out this work independently can in practice be very difficult and, in complex cases, virtually impossible.
Does Austrian Roots provide legal advice?
No. We reproduce and explain information published by official authorities. We do not provide individual legal advice, legal representation or assessments of the prospects of a particular case.
When specialist legal advice matters
Austrian Roots explains official information; it does not interpret the law for individual applicants. Straightforward cases may not require a lawyer. Complex questions involving citizenship status, foreign nationals law, restitution, inheritance or historical legal status can make specialist Austrian legal advice essential.
Useful starting points
Examples of specialist legal providers
Independent listing: organisations and professionals are listed as examples and sources of further information only. Austrian Roots does not recommend or endorse any particular legal representative and receives no commission or remuneration for these references.
§ 58c Austrian Citizenship Act
For descendants, paragraphs 3 and 4 are the central provisions.
Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act created a special route to Austrian citizenship for people persecuted by the Nazi regime and, crucially, for their direct descendants. The provision covers children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and further descendants in the direct line; adopted children may also be included if they were adopted while minors.
For descendants, the law requires evidence of the direct family relationship and of the historical circumstances that bring the persecuted ancestor within the scope of § 58c. The statute expressly allows proof not only through formal documents but also through other suitable and equivalent evidence. That is one reason why careful genealogical and historical documentation can be important when records are incomplete or contradictory.
This website provides general information only. The official German-language text published in the Austrian Legal Information System (RIS) is authoritative.
Independent, educational and international
Austrian Roots is being developed as an Austrian non-profit association focused on historical education, source literacy, remembrance and scholarly research. Its work is directed especially at descendants whose connection to Austria was broken by Nazi persecution.
Future resources will include archive guides, downloadable checklists, historical glossaries, case studies, official links and guidance on the structure and purpose of professional historical documentation.
austrianroots.org
Austria: history, memory and reconnection across generations.