UK Eurovision hopeful in German passport bid after grandfather’s escape from Nazis
Mae Muller - who will perform the UK"s Eurovision Song Contest entry - confirms her family have applied for a German passport in the reconciliatory process giving citizenship to descendants of Nazi persecution.
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The UK’s Eurovision Song Contest singer Mae Muller has confirmed she in the middle of a process that will give her a German passport because her Jewish grandfather had fled Germany to escape the Holocaust.
Muller, who grew up in a Jewish family in Kentish Town, north London, has previously mentioned in interviews that her grandfather Robert had fled Germany as a 12 year-old, eventually moving to Wales to escape the Nazis.
Now in an interview ahead of the Eurovision final in Liverpool she revealed that along with her two aunts, four brothers and father, Matt she has begun the application process for a German passport, thanks to their reconciliatory process of giving citizenship to descendants of Nazi persecution.
Muller, 25, told The Times the new passport would allow her to continue to perform in the EU with “minimal paperwork.”
She added it would also mean the family “can live in Spain.”
Muller was first signed to record label Capitol when she was just 19 after uploading a song to an online music platform.
At Eurovision she will perform the song I Wrote A Song, and is expected to be among the leading contenders at the event, which takes place in Liverpool because last year’s winners Ukraine were unable to host because of the on going Russian invasion.
In July 2020, responding to antisemitism in the music industry, Muller had posted on Instagram: “To all my Jewish friends and followers, I love you. There is no place for anti semitism in this world. I’m very proud of my Jewish roots and so should you.
“My grandad fled from nazi Germany to the UK when he was 12 years old on his own. I always find myself trying to imagine how scared he must have been.
“So f**k Wiley and f**k anyone who shares those views. I stand with all my Jewish friends, family, supporters and always will.”
She says she is “honoured” to be representing the UK this year at Eurovision and that it is “extra special” as it is taking place here.
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