Germany eager to contribute to Holocaust survivors' welfare - Haaretz

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Thu., September 13, 2007 ,

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Last update - 23:02 09/09/2007

Germany eager to contribute to Holocaust survivors' welfare

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent

The German government is anticipating a new Israeli request for a contribution to welfare payments for Holocaust survivors, and is eager to make such a contribution, senior officials in Berlin told Haaretz recently.

Officials in Berlin have closely followed developments in the debate in Israel over the survivors' pensions, with concurrent meetings held on the subject by the German foreign and finance ministries.

Berlin has expressed willingness to finance pensions at least for survivors who were previously overlooked and did not receive reparations.

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While Germany has not yet made any public statement on the matter, one official told Haaretz "this issue is of the utmost importance to us, first because of our historic responsibility but also due to the fact that Chancellor Angel Merkel has decided to deal with this personally and she is very concerned with it."

Until now, survivors' organizations have made demands of the Israeli government, but in recent discussions Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he expects Germany to help financing the new pension scheme devised. The new scheme grants survivors at least NIS 1,200 per month after bitter protests forced the Israeli government to retract and revise its previous offer of NIS 83 per month for each person.

Israel has not yet officially requested Germany participate in financing the pension scheme, and Berlin officials would not address the matter on the record. Even so, one official told Haaretz anonymously that "there will be a willingness to help, especially with those survivors who should have received [payments] in the past, but for various reasons fell between the cracks and have not yet received anything".

Germany is, however, awaiting an official request from Israel, and does not intend to take the first step.

In addition, Berlin has closely monitored the landmark petition filed at Tel Aviv District Court two months ago, which demanded Germany pay for psychological treatment of the "second generation," namely, the children of survivors who have been adversely affected by their trauma experienced by their parents. German officials expressed concern that the lawsuit may place result in a whole new generation of people seeking compensation for the Holocaust.

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1.	stupid	00:37	\|	wh	10/09/07

2.	stupid	00:38	\|	wh	10/09/07

3.	"The holocaust industry"	00:58	\|	nobodysacred	10/09/07

4.	Israel, you have no shame	01:31	\|	Elisabeth.	10/09/07

5.	BLAME THE ADL and other Vulture Organizations!!!	02:19	\|	Samy	10/09/07

6.	`Sorry`	02:39	\|	jjvanka	10/09/07

7.	"the holocaust industry" book by Finkelstein	02:56	\|	nobodysacred	10/09/07

8.	RE: #3	03:28	\|	Evan	10/09/07

9.	This is good	03:51	\|	Nechama	10/09/07

10.	fool Germany	03:58	\|	Axel Springer	10/09/07

11.	It surprises none	04:08	\|	Marcus Agrippa	10/09/07

12.	dont want their money	04:27	\|	sweis Melbourne	10/09/07

13.	#5 Merkel / Germany still helping Iran / not so Angelic	04:57	\|	Laila	10/09/07

14.	Transparent Crocodile Tears	05:40	\|	Blue	10/09/07

15.	No favors, only revenge	09:10	\|	Holocaust survivor	10/09/07

16.	Why not 30 or 40 years earlier??	10:19	\|	Aaron	10/09/07

17.	#12 I understand your anger and hatred but....	10:26	\|	Maria	10/09/07

18.	#12 "Holocaust survivor"	10:43	\|	MTC	10/09/07

19.	#12 survivor	11:00	\|	D	10/09/07

20.	GERMANY WILL HELP.......	11:03	\|	Robert	10/09/07

21.	stupid wh	11:05	\|	Robert	10/09/07

22.	Germans	18:48	\|	Leser	10/09/07

23.	RE: No favors, only revenge	21:46	\|	Dominik	10/09/07

24.	# 16 why not...	01:12	\|	Bernd	13/09/07

25.	We are not STUPID !!!	01:32	\|	Bernd	13/09/07

26.	#15 No favor ?????	01:58	\|	Bernd	13/09/07

27.	Dominik	02:01	\|	sweis Melbourne	13/09/07

28.	#27, also ordinary Soldiers ??	00:45	\|	Bernd	14/09/07

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