Germany to pay $1.4 billion to Holocaust survivors next year, “this suffering is still being felt deeply”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Continuing its commitment to making reparations for the Holocaust, Germany is set to pay $1.4 billion in 2024 to fund welfare programs and one-time direct compensation payments to survivors, USA Today reports. 

Germany’s new compensation payment was announced in a press release Tuesday by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany following a meeting with the German Federal Ministry of Finance, USA Today reports.

Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, said in the press release that the monies are necessary to support elderly Holocaust survivors. “Being able to ensure direct payments to survivors in addition to the expansions to the social welfare services we are able to fund is essential in making sure every Holocaust survivor is taken care of for as long as it is required, addressing each individual need,” Schneider said.

“These survivors fled the Einsatzgruppen—Nazi mobile killing units charged with murdering entire Jewish communities. More than 1 million Jews were killed by these units, which operated largely by shooting hundreds and thousands of Jews at a time and burying them in mass pits,” the press release reads.

“By expanding payments to these survivors, the German government is acknowledging that this suffering is still being felt deeply, both emotionally and financially. While symbolic, these payments provide financial relief for many aging Jewish Holocaust survivors living around the world,” the press release added.

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