Obtaining German citizenship

[rella]

This question is for a friend.

I have been to the German Embassy website, but I was hoping someone might know more about the potential for discretion and may know something that I'm not seeing.

My friend has a German mother who married an American soldier shortly after WWII. Her mother has been living in the U.S. since then and my friend was born in the U.S. in 1962. All of her mother's family are German citizens, living in Germany.

From what I read, she cannot obtain German citizenship by decent, because those born prior to 1975, whose parents were married at the time of their births, must have a German father. German mothers don't seem to count towards citizenship.

The other route is for decendents -- children and grandchildren -- of German citizens stripped of their citizenship due to race, religion or political affiliation during the Nazi years. I'm pretty sure my friend's mother does not fit into any of these categories.

So, does anyone know of any route where she might gain German citizenship? She also has a son, who may be interested in getting German citizenship, if it's possible.

Thanks for your insight.

[rella]

Just thought that I'd add that my friend's mother is terminally ill and would like to live in Germany for some time before she dies. My friend would like to accompany her mother, so this is why she's looking into the possibility of getting her own German citizenship.