Frenchman becomes German at 81
As a child, Thierry Soudan feels like an outsider. As an adult, he wants to know why. He discovers that he is the son of a German occupation soldier. Now, at 81, Soudan becomes German and sees himself at the end of a lifelong journey.
On the way to the German Embassy in Paris, the Frenchman Thierry Soudan lost all his identification papers in a taxi. "Luckily, he now gets German documents," his wife Liliane smiles. For the Frenchman, there was an appointment this week to become a German citizen. It was a special naturalization ceremony, as the 81-year-old had only learned in retirement that he was the son of a German occupation soldier.
"Here, a few years ago, the search for my father began," says Soudan, as he enters the embassy building. A neighbor from his hometown had told him, after the death of his mother, what she had kept hidden from him all his life: That the man he considered his father had adopted him. And that his mother, after the war, had been shaved bald by the village mayor because she had had a relationship with a German soldier.
The German Embassy could only help him with the sad news that his father had already passed away. But Soudan's daughter continued the search. With the help of the organization "Hearts Without Borders," which engages for war children, they found his father's grave in Munich.
"Dad looks down from up there"
A handwritten note in a clear plastic cover on the gravestone led to a surprise: In 2019, Soudan received a call from Waltraut Maurer, who, in a rush of French, explained that she was his half-sister and that he also had a half-brother.
For the naturalization ceremony, the two Munichers have traveled to Paris. "Our Dad looks down from up there," Waltraut Maurer says. Shortly after the first phone call, the three siblings had met for the first time on the Ile d'Oléron, where Soudan lives. It was a moving experience.
"We recognized so many things of our father in Thierry, his hands, his gestures," recalls his half-brother Manfred Christ. What surprised everyone the most: The son, who had not known his father, had become an equally enthusiastic beekeeper, just like his father had been.
Manfred Christ shows on his mobile phone a photo of Thierry as a child, which was found in his father's photo album. "We didn't know who it was. When we learned of Thierry's existence, we took it out of the album and his name was written on the back," he says.
"What a burden for our father, that he didn't tell anyone," adds his sister. Their father had tried several times to contact his son in France, but was prevented by his mother.
100,000 "Enfant de boche"
According to estimates by historians, about 100,000 children were born from relationships between Wehrmacht soldiers and Frenchwomen. "Enfant de boche" was a term used in the post-war era for them. In many cases, the mothers kept their children's origins hidden to protect them.
Since 2009, these war children have been able to apply for German citizenship, Steinmeier had hinted at this back then. Sudan's portrait now stands in Ambassador Stephan Steinlein's office, where he warmly welcomes Sudan and his siblings.
"I solemnly declare that I respect the Basic Law and the rights of the Federal Republic...", Sudan reads slowly from a sheet, with a French accent. Tears run down his cheeks.
"This is a moving moment for me as well", says the ambassador, whose father had also served in France as a soldier. "Your story highlights how important it is to know the past in order to build the future", he adds.
The naturalization is an act of reparation and a symbol of German-French friendship. "It's important, especially in these times, when hatred is on the rise", the ambassador emphasizes, looking at the electoral success of the right-wing populists in France's parliamentary election.
He hands Sudan a blue folder containing the naturalization certificate. With this, France now has a new dual citizen. For this group, the right-wing populists plan professional bans, as they suspect Frenchmen with a second nationality of loyalty conflicts. "That's just ridiculous", says Sudan.
For him, German citizenship means the end of a lifelong search - a search that had begun when he felt like an outsider as a child. "Now I have found my father", he says and smiles, as if a great burden has been lifted from him.
In light of the discovery of his roots, Thierry Soudan's application for German citizenship was significant, given that historians estimate around 100,000 children were born from relationships between German soldiers and French women during the Second World War, often referred to as "Enfant de boche." With his new German citizenship, Soudan became a dual citizen, a decision that defied the perceived loyalty conflicts towards foreign nations, often associated with having a second nationality.
