New German Citizenship Test Includes Questions on Holocaust Denial, 'Special Relationship' With Israel

Questions around Jewish life in Germany, the Holocaust and Berlin's relationship with Israel will soon form part of Germany's naturalisation test, the country's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Tuesday.

"Antisemitism, racism and other forms of contempt for humankind preclude naturalisation. There is no tolerance whatsoever," Faeser told the German magazine Der Spiegel.

"Anyone who does not share our values cannot obtain a German passport."

Germany's citizenship test currently comprises 33 questions, and requires at least 17 correct answers for an applicant to pass.

Nine new questions will be added to the revised test, including asking the participant what a Jewish prayer house is called, when Israel was founded and who is allowed to become a member of the German-Jewish sports club Makkabi.

The candidate is also required to know how Holocaust denial is punished in Germany and to list the reasons behind the country's "special relationship" with Israel.

"Anyone who wishes to obtain German citizenship must know what that means and acknowledge Germany's responsibility. This commitment must be 'clear and credible'," Faeser said, adding that the ministry is looking to change the regulation soon.

The additional citizenship questions are part of a larger overhaul of the country's immigration law. In January, the Bundestag, the German parliament, passed a law to facilitate naturalisation by lowering the number of years that a person must have lived in Germany in order to obtain a passport, from eight to five years.

"The German crime against humanity of the Holocaust results in our special responsibility for the protection of Jews and the protection of the State of Israel," she resolved. "This responsibility is part of our identity today." She argues that anyone who wants to be a German citizen must know "what that means and acknowledge German's responsibility."