General structure of Russian-speaking immigration
It is divided into subgroups that are unequal in size. In descending order of population, these are the so-called "late resettlers" (Spаtaussiedler) and their family members; ethnic Germans (recognized as such by German state authorities), who have a "right of return" similar to that in force in Israel and, from the moment of their arrival in Germany, possess all the rights of German citizenship; Jewish emigrants from the countries of the former USSR (until 2005 called "contingent refugees", Kontingent Fluchtling); citizens of the former Soviet Union living in the Federal Republic of Germany permanently or temporarily on other grounds (political refugees, illegal migrants, those who have come to Germany for a long-term stay for reasons related to professional activities or marriage to native Germans).
It should also be noted that in official German statistics, resettlers of German origin are considered citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany, thus not affecting immigration statistics, so state research services do not collect or systematize data on them in this regard. There have been isolated attempts to create such a systematization at the level of public organizations, but so far the information collected is very approximate and cannot serve as a solid basis for any conclusions.
There is also another, relatively small group of Russian-speaking immigrants in the Federal Republic of Germany who have obtained the right to reside in the country not on the basis of one of the above possibilities. These are those whose ancestors or they themselves were included in the so-called "German people of the occupied territories" lists compiled by the Nazis in 1939-43. In fact, at that time, being included in the lists meant granting citizenship of the Third Reich on the principle of collective naturalization. The Federal Republic of Germany has always considered itself the legal successor of all German states that existed on German soil. Therefore, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, as early as the 1950s, recognized the validity of the naturalization acts carried out during the Second World War by separate decrees. Nevertheless, this decision of the Bundestag was never publicized, and those who know about it and have the right to claim relocation to Germany (according to this document) still try to prove their German origin by other means.
The distribution of Russian-speaking German resettlers across the country can be called even: recently, migrants from villages in the Volga region and Kazakhstan often settle in East German villages, but the majority of both this category and Jewish migrants still gravitate towards cities. The largest state in terms of Russian-speaking population is North Rhine-Westphalia, where about one and a half million of them live. The largest city with a Russian-speaking population is Hamburg, where more than 280 thousand people have settled. In Berlin, about 250 thousand Russian-speakers live – both German resettlers and Jews.
In recent years, there has been a rapid development of the Russian-language information structure: more than 400 Russian or Russian-German print publications are officially registered in the country. In addition to weekly Russian-language newspapers at the federal level, the first daily Russian-language newspaper "Reynskaya Gazeta" appeared in Düsseldorf - its main shareholder is the well-known publication Westdeutsche Zeitung. In Berlin and Hamburg, local private Russian-language radio stations operate, and in addition, there is a private local Russian-language television channel in the capital of Germany. In the near future, it is planned to introduce the first all-German open Russian-language television channel, similar to the Turkish television channel TRT, which has long been operating in Germany with its main editorial office in Munich.
The main interest is the fact that, according to research (in particular, the monograph by V. Kurennoi "Structural Analysis of Russian-Language Print Media in Germany"), the basic social unit to which all Russian-language press in Germany is addressed without exception is the family, and not social groups formed on the basis of professional, property or political interests. The family, in turn, is the basic structural element of both ethnic and cultural macro-social groups.
In addition, there are more than 20 private Russian-language schools and kindergartens in different German cities. All this suggests that the development of the Russian-speaking population of Germany has entered an automatic mode and the loss of the Russian language due to generational change is unlikely to occur. Despite the increasingly full integration of children and adolescents from Russian-speaking families into German society, complete assimilation should not be expected in the foreseeable future.
Mixed families: national definition
As is known, the concept of "mixed family" has two main definitions: national and religious. The first case refers to a marriage of two people of different nationalities, the second to different religions. Speaking of the national aspect, mixed marriages among Russian-speaking migrants in Germany prevail over mono-ethnic ones, and in this case it does not matter whether the group of German resettlers or Jewish migrants is considered.
According to various studies, the total number of mixed families exceeds 52%, and this is mainly influenced by the number of mixed marriages already contracted in Germany by young representatives of the Russian-speaking migration. The main role in this case is often played not by the national or religious considerations of young people, but by the fact of having a common native language – Russian. Nevertheless, as some studies show, mixed marriages often turn out to be much less stable than mono-ethnic or mono-religious ones.
From a legal point of view, three main types of mixed families can be distinguished in the Russian-speaking environment of Germany: a) families of ethnic German resettlers and representatives of other nationalities whose marriages were concluded before arriving in Germany; b) the same – families of Jewish migrants and representatives of other nationalities formed before arriving in the country; c) families of native Germans and representatives of other nationalities. Mixed German-Jewish families and other types of marriages that arose already in Germany should preferably be left aside in this case, since their issues are usually not related to the peculiarities of the legal status of the members of these families.
According to the German Law on the Right of Return, all family members of ethnic German resettlers who came to Germany together with these Germans immediately receive the rights and obligations of a German citizen. Their social status is regulated separately by two paragraphs of this law (§4 and §7). Briefly touching upon these differences, it is worth saying that those who were accepted into the country under §4 have the right to have their work experience credited, and their work experience in the country of origin is equated to the experience of corresponding work in the territory of the GDR, after which all amounts accrued according to GDR tariffs are divided in half. Those who entered Germany under §7 do not have the right to have their work experience credited and must either earn pension contributions in Germany or are forced to make do with social benefits.
Nevertheless, it should be emphasized once again that representatives of other nationalities who arrived with an ethnic German resettler accepted under §4 receive civil status under §7, that is, husbands and wives of late resettlers are also considered late resettlers, regardless of their nationality. In the same case, if adult children (late resettlers under §7) arrived together with a late resettler, for example, the father, their spouses no longer have the right to immediately obtain a German passport. §8 of the Law on the Right of Return, which interprets their situation, provides them with the right of permanent residence, which may be lost in the event of divorce if it occurs within three years from the date of arrival in Germany. Moreover, until 1994, the spouse of such a resettler could even lose the right to reside in Germany in the event of the death of the spouse if it occurred within three years from the moment of arrival in Germany, but the German Federal Constitutional Court declared this provision illegal.
Spouses of Jewish migrants, like the Jewish migrants themselves, receive permanent residence permits – but only if the marriage was concluded before obtaining permission to move to Germany. Otherwise, spouses of Jewish migrants receive a three-year residence permit, and representatives of the Federal Office for Foreigners have the right to supervise such a family. If it is proven that the marriage is fictitious, both spouses may lose the right to reside in Germany. The same applies to marriages concluded after obtaining permission to move for ethnic German resettlers.
The rights of spouses after the birth of a child are regulated separately. If a German citizen or a person with the right of permanent residence in Germany divorces a foreign spouse after the birth of a child and the court awards parental rights to that spouse, the latter receives the right of permanent residence. After seven years from the date of arrival in the country, he or she has the right to apply for citizenship. To do this, he or she must have conversational knowledge of the German language, have a permanent income, renounce or officially declare the intention to renounce citizenship of other countries, and confirm, in the presence of officials, his or her commitment to the "Basic Law of Germany".
All this, of course, also applies to foreign spouses of native Germans. Although, in this case, since 2005, some changes have been made to migration legislation: an age limit has been introduced for foreign spouses, and for German citizens wishing to marry a foreigner who is not a citizen of the European Union, a property requirement has been introduced. As for children born in such families, they receive a residence permit until the age of 18, after which they have the opportunity to independently decide whether to be citizens of Germany or the country from which their parents came. Dual citizenship is provided for by German legislation only in exceptional cases. At the same time, they retain the right of permanent residence.
As for direct relatives who did not arrive in Germany as part of a family of ethnic German resettlers or Jewish migrants, they also generally have the right to come later and live in Germany. This right is provided for by the law "On Family Reunification", but it should be emphasized that the federal law of Germany only sets the legal framework for this status, and the details are interpreted differently in various German federal states. Without going into details, it can be said that the most liberal legislation regarding family reunification is that of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the most strict is that of Bavaria. Thus, in this case, the place of residence of the immigrant with whom his or her direct relatives wish to reunite plays a special role.
I would like to separately dwell on another issue unrelated to the topic of this study: many Russian-speaking emigrants from the former USSR, born in the territory of the GDR in families of Soviet military personnel who served in the Limited Contingent of the Soviet Army in Germany, mistakenly believe that they have the right to claim German citizenship. The fact is that in Germany, the right to citizenship is not determined by the American system: children of foreigners born in Germany do not automatically become German citizens. In other words, their citizenship is determined not by territory, but by blood.
Mixed Families: Religious Definition
It should be noted immediately that the religious aspect in mixed Russian-speaking families in Germany does not play the role that it does in Israel – this applies to all types of mixed families presented above. There are two main reasons for this. First, unlike in Israel, in Germany the church is not only separated from the state, but is also not monolithic. There are two main Christian congregations - Catholic and Evangelical - which, unlike the religious movements of Judaism, are much more distant denominations from each other. Second, religion does not play a fundamental role for the majority of Russian-speaking residents of Germany, regardless of their affiliation with one group or another. Those who actually observe the canons of one or another direction of Judaism, Christianity, or other religions in their daily lives, as a rule, prefer to marry co-religionists. Therefore, in this case, we should only dwell on some features of the religious affiliation of Russian-speakers, most of whom belong to families of ethnic German resettlers.
The majority of ethnic German resettlers officially profess Evangelicalism, the second largest religious group is Christian Mennonites, followed, in descending order, by Baptists, Catholics, and Orthodox. At the same time, there are frequent cases where, for various reasons, Orthodox Christians are recorded as Evangelicals during document processing. At the church level, this confusion is easily resolved, and believers go to the church they prefer in life. However, at the administrative level, the so-called religious (or cult) tax (Kultussteuer) collected from these people goes to the treasury of 'not their' denomination. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize once again that the difference in religions in mixed Russian-speaking families in Germany does not have the same impact on marriage, child rearing, and cohabitation as it does in Israel.
The same applies to mixed married couples of 'Russian-speaking – native German'. However, there is one exception to this rule. In the last five years, several cases have been recorded where mixed (in national terms) Jewish marriages broke up on religious grounds: this happened because the 'non-Jewish' spouse, who decided to undergo conversion, did so in a synagogue of a different movement than the Jewish spouse. But such cases are few, and these marriages are not mixed from a religious point of view anyway.
General problems and conclusions
The conclusion that can easily be drawn from all of the above is as follows. Despite differences in social and legal status, as well as in religious and everyday mentality, the problems arising in mixed Russian-speaking families in Germany are similar to each other and are largely different in structure and direction from the problems common in Israeli mixed families. This is due, as already noted, to the difference in the relationship between church and state in Germany, as well as differences in the overall migration concepts of Germany and Israel. Without claiming a deep analysis of the situation, it should be noted, however, that the similarity of these problems lies more at the everyday, 'intra-family' level, rather than at the level of social relations, the so-called 'external' one. This material did not address the issues of joint child rearing, the difficulties of the integration process, and the features of divorce proceedings – each of these topics is itself the subject of a separate study.
The following conclusion can be drawn: the experience of mixed families in Germany may be useful to Israeli specialists if the social and public systems of the two countries become more similar over time than they are at present. The change of generations can also introduce new aspects to the current situation. Until then, however, data should be observed and systematized.
Boris NEMIROVSKY.
IA Rosbalt