A federal court in Kassel has ruled that service in the units of the Waffen SS, the military branch of the Nazi SS during the Third Reich, could not be considered as a military service. But the court decided that the time in which members of the Waffen SS served as soldiers on the front should be counted for pension rights.
The court decision may be important in thousands of cases of former members of the Waffen SS, who have been lobbying for years for improved pension rights.
In Germany there is a widespread opinion that the Waffen SS and the SS were two separate organizations.
pension rignrs.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
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.
