GERMAN "OBJECTORS"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 250, 16 July 1919, Page 6

GERMAN "OBJECTORS"

* THE PROCESS OF DENATIONALISA--1 TION. Military objectors, conscientious or otherwise, vvero not one of the problems of the German authorities during the war. T!io Germans did not draw any distinction between insubordination and refusal of service on conscientious evminds. The usual practice, it has been stated authoritatively, was to send tho objector to tho front,- whero the penalties for disobedience of orders were very drastic indeed. It has not been generally known, however, that beforo the war, and possibly during tho early stages of the war, tliera was one process by which a'young German might escape military service for his country. He could apply for papers of denationalisation, and liaving received tlie.'e documents, he could leave lbs country that no longer owned him as a citizen. The issue of. the papers was conditional on his departure. Once denationalised by this process, tho man could never revert to German nationality under German law. Ho could not even take out nationalisation papers in Germany. At least one case of tins kind came under .the notice of the military authorities in New Zealand during tho war. A man of German birth was interned. lie was able to show that he had .secured papers of denationalisation when'he left his own country, and ho claimed that he had become, by adoption, a loyal citizen of;tho British Empire, The official view in this country was that lie was still a German.