The West German Government has agreed in principle to consider a second payment for Greek Jews who suffered during the German occupation of Greece. The new fund is sought for 1,400 claims for material damage totaling about $37,500,000.
The agreement in principle was reached yesterday by Gerhard Schroeder, West German Foreign Minister John Toumbas. Such claims for victims of Nazism in occupied countries are normally conducted between the West German Government and the government of the affected country, and funds are then distributed by a special committee of Jews of the country concerned.
West Germany has paid Greece $32,500,000 for “moral reparation” for Greeks who lost their families or their freedom during the occupation. The term “moral reparations” refers to situations in which few victims survived the occupation, and those funds are generally transmitted to the Jewish communities. About 42,000 of the 60,000 pre-war Greek Jews were killed during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation.
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