Moroccan Jews who suffered under the Nazis and their allies during World War II
– will, for the first time ever – receive compensation from Germany.
The
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (better known as the Claims
Conference), said on Wednesday that Berlin has agreed to provide a single
payment of 2,556 euros to Jews whose freedom of movement was curtailed by the
Axis powers.
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“Restricting the freedom of movement to the domestic area,
or a specific region, was an effective means to the goal of seizing the Jewish
population in Germany, and the regions under German influence,” said Julius
Berman, Claims Conference chairman. “By clarifying this element of persecution,
we obtained recognition for the persecution suffered by those who lived under
these restrictions.”
About 7,000 Jews who lived under Axis regimes in
Romania, Bulgaria and North Africa are expected to be eligible for the
payment.
In the past, Germany has compensated Tunisian and Libyan Jews
who were interned at Nazi labor camps. However, Moroccan Jews who were subjected
to a series of discriminatory laws were not included.
The Claims
Conference, which is the body in charge of negotiating compensation for
Holocaust survivors, recently negotiated an increase by 15 percent, from 110
million euros in 2011 to 126.7m. euros in 2012. On Wednesday it called on
would-be recipients of the payment to read more about the terms of payment on
its website at www.claimscon.co.il.
“To qualify for a payment, applicants
need to meet all other criteria of the Hardship Fund,” it added. “Nazi victims
who received certain payments from a German source – including a pension from
the Israeli Ministry of Finance under the Disabled of Nazi Persecutions law
5717-1957 – cannot receive a one-time payment from the Hardship
Fund.”
The full criteria for the Hardship Fund are on the Claims
Conference’s website.
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