Optant

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Optants are, in the literal sense of the word, people who can exercise an option, i.e. have a choice at their disposal.

In the sense of international law , the term optant has a special meaning after the incorporation of a territory of state  A by state B. Here, optants are people who, after the annexation or cession of the area of ​​state A, in which they live, in give the other state B the opportunity to secure the citizenship of state B or to keep the old citizenship without having to leave their home territory. The exercise of this option is usually associated with a deadline. From optants they said u. a. in the following specific cases:

  • 1872: After the incorporation of Alsace and Lorraine, the French-speaking inhabitants of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine could choose whether they wanted to become German or remain French.
  • 1864–1920: After the end of the German-Danish War in 1864, the Danish-minded population in Schleswig / Sønderjylland received the right to opt for Danish citizenship through Article 19 of the Vienna Peace Treaty . In 1880 there were still 25,000 Danish citizens without local voting rights in Schleswig. The open question of the nationality of the approximately 4,000 children born between 1871 and 1898 by Danish optants led to the conclusion of the optant contract in 1907 .
  • 1921: The Germans and Poles in the areas ceded by the Peace Treaty of Versailles or referendums after the First World War exercised the right to decide to retain their original citizenship or to leave the area ( resettlers ) up to a certain time . Compulsory deportations do not seem to have been ruled out, as z. For example, on August 4, 1925, with a view to alleged expulsion of German optants, the Munich city council decided to temporarily deny Polish citizens the naturalization of the city.
  • 1939–1943: The German-speaking South Tyroleans who opted for the latter when choosing between resettlement in Italian-speaking areas or “Heim ins Reich” , see option in South Tyrol .
  • After 1945: After the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , part of the Italian population decided to move to Italy. The term optant is seen as controversial in Italy, instead it is spoken of as an expulsion of the Italians in exile (Esuli).

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jan Asmussen: We were like brothers , Hamburg 2000, p. 361/362
  2. ↑ Der Volks-Brockhaus , 10th edition, Leipzig C1 Querstraße 16, in the spring of 1943, p. 500
  3. ^ Entry in Chroniknet , accessed on October 21, 2018