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Remaining Holocaust Claims Stalled

Many survivors, heirs still stymied on stolen property, lost wages

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 25, 2007 5:09 AM CST
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(Newser) – Six decades and $100 billion in reparations later, tens of thousands of Jews say Germany still owes them for Holocaust crimes, the Washington Post reports. A 2002 law promised pensions for ghetto dwellers forced to work for little pay, but officials denied benefits to 60,000 for lack of documentation, leading many to decry bureaucratic stinginess.

Owners of stolen artwork say German museums have stonewalled attempts to reclaim their collections, and the situation is even more more muddied on 76,000 unresolved claims of property sold under duress. Claimants generally agree that while Germany has done much to atone for Holocaust wrongdoing, bureaucrats are reluctant to do more. “We have had the door slammed in our face and our history denied,” said one.

Poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, looks at photographs of Jewish Holocaust victims during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. During his visit at Yad Vashem Yevtushenko read the poem Babi Yar, a poem against antisemitism he published in 1961. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)
Poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, looks at photographs of Jewish Holocaust victims during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. During his visit at Yad Vashem Yevtushenko...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Ambassador to Romania Nicholas Taubman, right, stands in front of a monument commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Romania, during a memorial service at the Coral Temple synagogue in Bucharest Tuesday Oct. 9, 2007. Official commemorations of those killed in the Holocaust in Romania were first...
U.S. Ambassador to Romania Nicholas Taubman, right, stands in front of a monument commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Romania, during a memorial service at the Coral Temple synagogue...   (Associated Press)
Pope Benedict XVI pays tribute in front of a memorial to Holocaust victims in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007. Pope Benedict XVI is on a three-day visit to Austria. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, Pool)
Pope Benedict XVI pays tribute in front of a memorial to Holocaust victims in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007. Pope Benedict XVI is on a three-day visit to Austria. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, Pool)   (Associated Press)
  (Associated Press)
Concentration camp survivors are shown in this file photo
Concentration camp survivors are shown in this file photo   (Archive Photos)
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Deutsche Welle (Germany)

Germany says nein to more reparations
Associated Press

 
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