Polish newspapers today interpreted the new citizenship law, under which nationals residing abroad more than five years may be denationalized, as applying only to national minorities and not to persons of Polish extraction.
The new law, the papers contend, does not alter the 1920 citizenship law, under which persons of Polish extraction may never be deprived of their nationality, even when committing acts abroad inimical to the Polish State. According to the papers, the 1920 law and subsequent regulations never properly defined the term “Polish extraction.”
The new law, drafted by the Cabinet after annexation of Austria by Germany in anticipation of claims by thousands of Polish citizens residing in Austria, was published yesterday in the official gazette.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
