Children at Auschwitz
Photo: Reuters
Holocaust children to sue Germany
Class action lawsuit demands compensation equal to that given to orphans of Nazi soldiers. Organizers: 'They cared for the murderers' children while we were forgotten'
Tens of thousands of adults who survived the Holocaust as children are planning a class action lawsuit against the German government demanding compensation for their ruined childhoods.
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While quite a few of these survivors have privately sought reparations from Germany, there has never been a comprehensive lawsuit unifying their demands.
But that may change soon as the Yesh organization for Children and Orphan Holocaust Survivors in Israel sets into motion preparations for such a suit.
Prior to filing the lawsuit several professional committees will be convened to examine and put together the various clauses of the survivor's demands. Headed by leading experts in their fields, the committees will present the medical, psychological, economic ramifications suffered by the survivors.
"Among other things we intend to sue them for the orphanhood we suffered, these are people whose childhoods were abruptly and cruelly severed and their development suffered as a result. Many were unable to rejoin society after the war and found it difficult to provide for themselves and their families," said Yochanan Ron, a senior official on Yesh's board.
According to Ron the survivors intend to demand at the very least the equivalent of the compensation given to the widows and orphans of German soldiers who died during WWII.
"It is absurd that the families of the murderers are cared for while the victims are forgotten," said Ron.
Yesh plans to launch a campaign in the near future calling on child survivors living in Israel and abroad to join the lawsuit, which will be filed once the committees submit their opinions.
