Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., September 01, 2008 Elul 1, 5768 | | Israel Time: 22:56 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 14:20 19/08/2008
70 years on, children who fled Nazis for U.K. to receive German pensions
By Ofer Aderet
Tags: Israel, Holocaust, Germany 

A historic amendment to British law will now allow hundreds of Jews who escaped Nazi Germany as children on the eve of World War II to receive German National Insurance pensions.

"After many years of struggle, we have solved the legal entanglement that prevented [those who were part of the] Kindertransport from receiving the payments," Herman Hirschberger, 82, of London, who spearheaded the campaign, told Haaretz last week. "It's a breakthrough. Justice has prevailed."

Following a Haaretz query, the German government is now checking to see whether the several hundred Jews who left Germany with the Kindertransport and who now live in Israel will also be eligible for German pensions.
Advertisement
The Kindertransport ("children's transport" in German) was a rescue mission that brought about 10,000 children, most of them Jews, out of Nazi Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain on the eve of World War II. The children, aged 3 to 17, left their countries, homes and families and sailed to Britain between December 1938 and September 1939, where they were received by Jewish organizations.

Britain's Jewish leaders had obtained Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's consent to take them in, provided they paid for the refugees' travel and absorption expenses.

Until now, people who left Germany as part of the Kindertransport could not receive full German pensions, because they stopped paying German National Insurance fees upon arriving in Britain.

The German government offered compensation only for the years spent in Germany before the escape.

Hirschberger saw this as an injustice, since the children had migrated to Britain against their will. Had they not been persecuted, they would have remained in Germany and been eligible today for full National Insurance pensions.

Following the amendment to British law, some of the National Insurance fees the Kindertransport members paid Britain will be written off retroactively. Germany agreed to consider this period as one in which the survivors paid German National Insurance fees - and will increase their pensions accordingly. The average German pension is four times greater than the average British pension.

This breakthrough followed a long persistent struggle Hirschberger launched 15 years ago.

"Most of the time I was alone. Everyone had given up and thought it was impossible. Even my wife told me it would never happen," he said.

Hirschberger arrived in Britain from Germany in March 1939 at the age of 13. His parents, who were stuck in Germany, were murdered in Auschwitz.

"We're doing justice to this group of people, many of whom lost their families in the Holocaust and survived only because they were brought to Britain as children," said Mike O'Brien, British Minister of State for Pension Reform. The legislation is expected to be approved by the Queen in the next few months. With its enactment, the members of the Kindertransport will join other organized groups, such as former inmates of forced labor camps, who demanded and received pensions from Germany for the time they spent in labor camps out of Germany as well.

An estimated 150 people who came on the Kindertransport are still living in Britain. The government will act to locate them and has set up a hotline - +44(0)-191-218-7777 - in the Department for Work and Pension.

"I'll be very surprised if I get anything," said Inge Seden, 78, in her apartment in Jerusalem last week. "I haven't received anything from the Germans, except 1,000 pounds because my studies were interrupted."

Seden left home in Munich at the age of 9 and was brought to a village in England a few months after her brother and sister. English soon became her new mother tongue and remains so to this day. Seden is one of 3,000 Kindertransport children who immigrated to Israel after the war. She applied for German citizenship a few years ago, but changed her mind after a visit to Yad Vashem.

Hundreds of the Kindertransport children are still alive today, mostly in old-age homes. And in the wake of the British amendment, they are now wondering if they, too, might benefit from the increased German pensions.

  • More Jewish World stories
    Related articles:
  • Polish investigators tie World War II partisans to Naliboki massacre
  • Were Jewish partisans depicted in new Hollywood movie murderers or heroes?
  • Holocaust, history and hoops
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Weathering the storm
    Israel and the U.S. prepare to tackle Hurricanes Mahmoud and Gustav.
    Taking the high ground
    Actress Helen Mirren stopped using cocaine to prevent Nazis from profiting.
      1.   This should NEVER have been in question!!! 03:18  |  Akiva P 19/08/08
      2.   Human decency prevails 03:34  |  Morris Valentine 19/08/08
      3.   Not enough!!!! 04:58  |  Proud Jew 19/08/08
      4.   @Proud Jew 11:00  |  Sarah 19/08/08
      5.   Reparations. 13:44  |  Buick from Boca 19/08/08
      6.   Silly Sarah 15:24  |  ChanahS 19/08/08
      7.   Buick from Boca 15:26  |  ChanahS 19/08/08
      8.   Good news for all the Palstine refugees 16:54  |  Dav 19/08/08
      9.   Dav #8 19:57  |  Angus 19/08/08
      10.   German pension for Kindertransport survivors 23:58  |  Selmar Hubert 22/08/08
      11.   KIndertransport to England 01:53  |  Marion Walters 25/08/08
      12.   70 years on,children 04:52  |  Sel Hubert 01/09/08
     Read & React
    CIA papers show Arafat ordered murder of U.S. diplomats in Sudan
    Responses: 107
    Ex-Ambassador to U.S.: Israeli Arabs in Galilee are secessionist threat
    Responses: 114
    Israel to U.S.: We're ready to consider leaving northern Ghajar
    Responses: 104
    Akiva Eldar: Labor collapsed after party's leaders sold its soul for trappings of power
    Responses: 16


    More Headlines
    21:39 Officials: Israel foiled two Hezbollah kidnap attempts abroad
    20:12 UN human rights chief tries to sway Israel, U.S. on anti-racism summit
    22:29 Nigeria gunmen release Israeli hostage after 6 days
    17:50 Iran: We haven't bought Russian anti-aircraft missile batteries
    22:24 IDF: Soldiers who fired at mentally ill man in Na'alin acted appropriately
    16:45 Bradley Burston / Hurricane Mahmoud
    17:35 Actress Helen Mirren: I gave up cocaine when I heard Nazi war criminal profited from it
    12:14 ANALYSIS / Olmert racing against clock for deal with Palestinians
    16:32 High Court: Ex-MK Bishara will continue to receive his pension
    12:29 Police believe they've exposed Haredi modesty patrol
    16:22 Cars allowed into Rachel's Tomb area for first time in years
    10:32 VIDEO / NBA's finest train women basketball hopefuls in East Jerusalem
    22:14 Israel to U.S.: We're ready to quit Lebanon border village
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    JMG your online solution
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    MBA in Israel in English
    APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available
    Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
    www. israel-property.com
    Hebrew Summer courses
    From $39.95
    ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel
    Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
    Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
    birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved