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The Nuremberg Laws were the antisemitic legislation of Nazi Germany (1935), including the Reichsbürgergesetz that stripped German Jews of citizenship, and whose victims are eligible for Article 116 restitution.
In depth
The Nuremberg Laws were two antisemitic laws enacted by Nazi Germany on September 15, 1935: the Reichsbürgergesetz (Reich Citizenship Law) and the Gesetz zum Schutze des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre (Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor).
The Reichsbürgergesetz stripped German Jews of their citizenship, reducing them to 'subjects of the state' without citizenship rights. This is the primary legal basis for Article 116 restitution claims.
The Blood and Honor Law prohibited marriage and extramarital relations between Jews and non-Jews, and was used to identify and persecute mixed marriages (Mischehen) and mixed-race individuals (Mischlinge).
Related terms
Article 116 of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) restores German citizenship to those deprived of it by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945, and to their descendants.
The Reichsbürgergesetz (Reich Citizenship Law) of 1935 was the Nazi-era law that stripped German Jews of their citizenship, and whose victims are eligible for Article 116 restitution.
The Grundgesetz (Basic Law) is the German constitution, adopted in 1949, which includes Article 116 on citizenship restitution for Nazi-era persecutees.
StAG (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz) is the German Nationality Act, which includes §15 providing for naturalization of victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants.
The BVA (Bundesverwaltungsamt, Federal Office of Administration) is the German authority in Cologne that processes Article 116 citizenship restitution applications.
The Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives) is the German national archives, which holds the Reichsbürgergesetz deprivation records needed for Article 116 cases.