Timelines

From the late 1980s onwards, millions migrated from the former Soviet Union to Germany. In the process, two groups were given privileged treatment: In order to protect Jewish people from the growing anti-Semitism in the successor states of the Soviet Union and as a symbolic reparation for the Shoah, they received an unlimited residence permit as so-called “quota refugees” without an asylum application. In 2005, the conditions for admission were tightened. Now Jews must prove their knowledge of German and the willingness of a Jewish community to accept them before they can enter the country. So-called "(Spät-)Aussiedler" were granted the right to enter Germany as early as 1953, although they were rarely allowed to leave the country during the Soviet era. They received German citizenship, access to language courses and social benefits. While this was intended as reparation for persecution under the Stalinist regime, it was also based on the racist assumption of "German ethnicity". Until the end of 1992, the migrants were classified as "Aussiedler" (ethnic German immigrants/repatriates), from 1993 onwards they have the legal status of "Spätaussiedler" (ethnic German immigrants/(Late) repatriates).