Israelis who were at one time members of the German employees’ insurance system, or their widows, have been declared eligible to participate in a general pension boost by an amendment introduced at the last minute by the Social Democratic Party.
In the draft of the government bill, the increase was limited to beneficiaries who reside in Germany or in countries with which Germany has concluded treaties on reciprocal pension rights. Since no such treaty exists between the German Federal Republic and Israel, residents of the Jewish State, who formerly lived in Germany, would have been excluded even though they paid their contributions faithfully for many years. After an appeal by parliamentary spokesmen of the Social Democratic Party, just prior to a Bundestag vote on the measure, the restrictive territorial clause was dropped with respect to Nazi victims.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
