German Parliament Passes Regulations on Indemnification Payments

The third and final of the basic implementation regulations to the Federal Indemnification Law for individual claimants has been approved without change by the upper house of the West German parliament 20 months after the law itself was adopted.

The new regulation affects only those who were residents of West Germany prior to the onset of Nazi persecution. Under its terms, a Nazi victim is entitled to a specified amount of compensation if his employment was terminated, his professional career interrupted or his business wrecked due to discriminatory measures taken because he was Jewish. Property losses are not covered by the present regulation, which deals solely with “impairment of the utilization of working power.”

Formerly independent professional men, businessmen, artists, artisans and farmers may apply for repayable loans up to $7,000, and in special cases $10,000, if they live in Germany or return there and want to take up their profession, trade or business again. The rate of interest on the loans is three percent.

For loss of earnings due to Nazi persecution, both employees and employers may claim lump-sum compensation up to a maximum of $6,000.

In lieu of the lump-sum compensation, an eligible Nazi victim, provided he can no longer earn his living, may choose a monthly pension calculated with the aid of a complex formula based on his former annual income, his educational and professional training his economic position, his social standing, his age and the pension due a “comparable” civil servant. His own pension is computed as a certain percentage of two-thirds that civil service pension. The minimum pension for former employees of private firms, provided other monthly income from public funds does not exceed $24, has been set at $24 per month, and the maximum at $119.

The new implementation regulation will enter into force when it is published in the Federal Legal Gazette, probably next month. Its 50 articles are hedged about with a variety of additional restrictions. Thus, 75 percent of any compensation obtained by a Jew because of maltreatment in a concentration camp will be deducted from payments for economic or professional damage. On the other hand, a considerable improvement is seen in the fact that the pension will be computed on the basis of the applicant’s present age. Lump-sum compensation is computed on the basis of the age of the applicant at the time of persecution.

Furthermore, only compensation up to $2,400 has so far been “called up” for payment, and this authorization applies exclusively to Nazi victims more than 60 years old, indigent or suffering from invalidity that has reduced their earning power by at least half. If their claims exceed $2,400, even they will have to wait, no one knows how long, before payment can be authorized; in the meantime, many will have died. As for Jews under 60 and neither indigent nor invalid, years will go by before a penny is paid in indemnification for the injuries they suffered 15 and more years ago.