2010/04/23 by Stephanie Wolfe · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #European history and politics #Race, History, and American Society #Citizenship #Injustice #Political science #Law #Deportation #Legislation #Genocide #Population #Immigration #Sociology #Politics
paper · doi:10.1163/9781848880290_012
openalex publication_date 2010/04/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Citizenship laws have been utilized throughout history in structuring state and society and as the legal basis on which acts of atrocity and/or injustice are perpetrated. Revocation or denial of citizenship is often a first step on the path to injustice. This chapter will explore the use of citizenship laws by the United States and Germany during World War II to separate ethnic populations. This chapter will compare the treatment of Jews in Germany with the treatment of Japanese- Americans in the United States. Germany’s implementation of citizenship revocation for its Jewish population was a vital component of subsequent removal of their rights, which led to their eventual relocation and genocide. Similarly leading to World War II, Japanese-Americans in the United States were refused citizenship rights and were subject to restrictive legislation. During the war, citizens and residents alike were forcibly relocated to internment camps, and held there throughout the war. Many felt that had no choice but to renounce their citizenship, which resulted in their deportation to Japan. After the war citizenship rights were restored, but not without difficulty in the United States, as the post-war legal proceedings reveal.