If you're French, you're stuck with your name

[Joel S. Berson]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-france-jews-20100718,0,307074.story

 From the LA Times, July 17.

"After WWII, officials urged Jewish emigres to
change their names to sound more French. Two
generations later, Jews are feeling a need to
reconnect with their roots."  This was not
required, but many felt under pressure to do so.

The descendant of one such emigre from Poland,
"Fazel — or as he would prefer to be known,
Fajnzylber — is one of an increasing number of
French Jews trying to persuade France's State
Council to allow them to return to the family
names their parents and grandparents gave up when
they arrived here after World War II."

But "The civil code allows "foreign sounding"
names to be changed to those considered more
French-like, but declares the "impossibility" of reverting."

One Jewish immigrant from Tunisia (in the 1960s)
"Masson[,] has set up an organization called La
Force du Nom (The Strength of the Name) with
French lawyer Nathalie Felzenszwalbe — whose
family retained its name — representing more than
30 French Jews who want to change their names to
reflect family origins. ...Last month the
organization submitted its first requests for
reversions of names to the State Council, which
has said it will deal with them *one by
one*.  [Emphasis added.] Masson and Felzenszwalbe
have been told there is no chance of repealing
the law, but they still say that the challenge
remains worthwhile.  Although only about 30
French Jews have demanded the right of name
reversion, and other ethnic groups such as
France's large African immigrant community have
made similar applications en masse, La Force du
Nom believes just one decision in its favor could result in a flood of cases."

["One by one" -- designed by a bureaucracy to
discourage others.  But if one case is decided in
favor of change, I trust the French State Council
will be bogged down for decades.]

Joel

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