The Expansion of so-called Reich Citizenship in the Czech Territories during the War Years and its Post-war Consequences

The gradual Nazi German occupation of the territories of pre-war Czechoslovakia, during the years of 1938 to 1945, resulted in an extraordinarily broad institution of German citizenship in the Czech lands. Approximately 3, 500, 000 pre-war Czechoslovakian citizens, mainly ethnic Germans, attained German citizenship. During the period of occupation the guiding legal provisions for attainment was based on Nazi ideology. As such, ethnic Germans, who were citizens of Czechoslovakia, became citizens of the Third Reich. Initially, the declaration of this new citizenship by those affected was a marked privilege.