The payment of compensations to Holocaust survivors in the former Soviet Republics, which have not integrated into the European Union (EU), begins on November 1.
The total sum of compensations
will be around 245 million euros, and the receivers are 80,000 Jewish
people living in the countries of the post-Soviet space.
This
decision was made as a result of talks between representatives of the
German government and the International Commission on Holocaust Era
Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) that was set up by the Conference on Jewish
Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, Head of the
Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies Anatoly Podolsky said.
"This
is repentance and the acknowledgement of the fact that an odious
dictatorial regime that killed people was in power in Germany in the
period from 1933 to 1945. Speaking about Jewish communities, we should
stress here that all those people were eliminated simply because they
were born Jewish, not for their political views or armed resistance.
This was a racial theory, where anti-Semitism - to be more exact,
radical anti-Semitism, reigned supreme."
The Claims
Conference Commission is an organization that represents the interests
of Holocaust Survivors. Its board of directors includes representatives
of 27 Jewish organizations in various parts of the world.
Germany
has been paying compensations for many years now. The last group
covered by this programme includes Jewish people from the former Soviet
republics. The Director of the Moscow Museum of the Russian Research and
Educational Holocaust Centre Leonid Tyorushkin says:
"The
majority of Holocaust survivors live in the former Soviet Union. The
Holocaust Survivors category comprises ghetto and concentration camp
prisoners. Most of them were children or teenagers at that time. Today
they are around 80 or over 80. Of course, we should also mention here
all those who were evacuated from the territories occupied by the Nazi
troops and from the near-front territory."
Beginning
from November 1st, each Holocaust Survivor living in the former Soviet
republics will receive a compensation of 2,556 euros. Special centres
will open in big cities to help them with their applications.
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