Berlin to pay Moroccan Jews who suffered under Vichy

Claims Conference: Germany agrees to make payment to Moroccan Jews whose freedom of movement was curtailed by Axis powers.

By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER
311_Libyan Jews (photo credit: Courtesy)
311_Libyan Jews
(photo credit: Courtesy)
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.
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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
“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.