Germany To Strip Hitler Of Citizenship?

Sixty-two years after his death, Adolf Hitler risks being stripped of his German citizenship in what a politician said would be a "symbolic step" against the nazi leader and the horrors he unleashed.

German media reported Sunday that a deputy in the State legislature of Lower Saxony, Isolde Saalmann, had convinced her fellow social democrats to file a motion to review whether the citizenship extended in 1932 can be rescinded.

Hitler, born in Austria, needed to become German to advance his political career in the much larger country. His wish was granted in the city of Braunschweig on February 25, 1932, less than a year before Hitler became German Chancellor.

Saalmann, who represents Braunschweig, said she wanted to sever the city's notorious connection with the Nazi leader with her motion. "If the State of Lower Saxony as the legal successor of the then free State of Braunschweig distances itself from it, it could be helpful," she told the daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. "We want to clear this up once and for all."

Hitler requested release from his Austrian citizenship in 1925 on the grounds that he had been living in Germany since 1912 and served in the German Army in World War I. Austria agreed and Hitler was stateless until officially becoming German seven years later.

When locals congratulated him on the step, Hitler replied, "It is not me but Germany that you should congratulate," the online version of Der Spiegel newsweekly said. (Newindpress.com)
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