Belgians Who Collaborated With Hitler Still Get Pension From Germany For Services To Reich

Nine Belgian citizens who collaborated with the Nazis still get their pension from Germany for “services to the Third Reich”.

The nine citizens, who are convicted of collaborating with the Nazi regime, still receive their pension for services to the Third Reich, according to an investigation carried out by the German authorities after it was commissioned by the Belgian government.

Belgian politician Sophie Rohonyi, 35, of the social-liberal DeFI party, had asked the government exactly how many Belgian citizens receive money from Germany for having served the Nazis.

This prompted the Belgian government to commission an investigation, with the Belgian Secretary of State responsible for Science Policy, Thomas Dermine, now saying: “Nine cases have been identified.”

The result reportedly concerns Belgian citizens living in Belgium but could also include some Germans living in Belgium, according to local media.

Belgian media reported that because there are only nine cases, the German government will probably not take any further action.

However, Dermine said that the Belgian Study and Documentation Centre for War and Contemporary Society (CEGESOMA), will reportedly launch an extensive study on relations between Belgium and Germany after 1945.

Rohonyi has criticised the response, saying that it is insufficient to identify the beneficiaries of the pensions “without being able to take the next step, which would have been to end the system”.

The Nazis occupied Belgium from 28th May 1940 to 4th February 1945, when the country was liberated by the Western Allies.

Over the course of the Nazi occupation of Belgium, over 40,000 people were killed, half of them Jews.


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Newsflash

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