Compensation for Nazi Persecution Victims in Belgium

The German Wehrmacht attacked Belgium on 10 May 1940. After the capitulation on 28 May 1940, the Belgian government went into exile in London. King Leopold III remained in Belgium as a prisoner of war and signed the unconditional surrender of Belgium without consulting the government in exile under Hubert Pierlot.

This led to a political and social division of the country. The occupation by the German Reich was traumatising for a large part of Belgian society. 300,000 Belgians, 3.75% of the total population, were deported to Germany as forced labourers or prisoners. 25,000 of the 90,000 Jews who had lived in Belgium in 1940 were deported and murdered.

On 2 September 1944, the Allies reached the Belgian border and quickly liberated most of the country from German occupation. It was not until 4 February 1945, that the entire country was liberated.

In the post-war period, Belgium faced new challenges. The population suffered from hunger and poverty. Politically, the country was unstable. While the Belgian government in exile returned to Brussels, King Leopold III remained a prisoner of war in Germany. After his liberation by American troops, royalists demanded his return, while his opponents accused him of collaboration. The composition of the government also changed frequently in the early years.

Even in exile, the Belgian government created initial regulations for war victims. After the end of the war, new regulations gradually came into force between 1945 and 1948. These reflected the political climate, as debates about compensation sparked disputes between different political factions. Various “statutes of national recognition” eventually designated the following groups as Nazi persecution victims: civilian resistors and conscientious objectors; deported forced labourers; political and foreign political prisoners, and underground press resistance fighters. These statutes also regulated compensation for resulting imprisonment, deportation, etc. Not all statutes were associated with financial benefits. The statute for political prisoners included the most extensive benefits and was controversial. To receive the title, “patriotic or selfless reasons” were necessary, which excluded, among others, those persecuted for racial reasons. Additionally, there were pensions to compensate Nazi victims for physical damage. The amount of compensation depended on the degree of disability.

This map of concentration camps and penal prisons was sold in post-war Belgium for 5 Francs as a sign of solidarity with political prisoners.

Privatbesitz Danny Vanhouwe

A newspaper article from August 1961 informs about the payment of one billion Francs to former political prisoners.

Le Peuple, 25.08.1961

It was only in the mid-1950s that the Federal Republic of Germany was willing to compensate foreign Nazi persecution victims and entered into negotiations with Belgium, among others. One difficulty was determining which groups of people should receive benefits. While Belgium primarily demanded compensation for resistance fighters, these were not considered eligible from the perspective of the FRG.

Nevertheless, Belgium presented a list of 129,077 people to be considered in the initial negotiations, consisting of concentration camp inmates, resistance fighters, holders of the so-called Yellow Star, deceased individuals, and non-citizens on Belgian territory. The Federal Republic recognised only 30,000 of this group as eligible for compensation. After lengthy negotiations, representatives of both states agreed on a payment of 80 million DM. This corresponded to one billion Belgian Francs and was therefore referred to in Belgium as the Fond du Milliard. Payments could be applied for by beneficiaries of the status of political prisoner, which again excluded those persecuted for racial reasons.