Belgium will not offer personal compensation to Holocaust survivors despite its national railway's role in deporting Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp, according to a recently published report. From 1942 to 1944, the Belgian National Railway (SNCB) operated 28 trains that deported 25,843 individuals, mostly Jews, to the Auschwitz concentration camp — of which only 1,195 survived.
Belgian Supreme Court Justice Sidney Bernmann, a committee member and son of Polish Holocaust survivors, declined to endorse the final report. "The report disrespects the memory of thousands of Jews," Bernmann said. "With great bitterness, I must say the report is a resounding failure and I cannot approve it with a clear conscience."
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Jewish refugees in 1939 in Antwerp, Belgium
(Photo: Gerry Cranham / Fox Photos / Getty Images)
The committee argued against compensation, citing Nazi Germany’s tighter control over SNCB compared to railways in France and the Netherlands, which have compensated deportees.
Instead, the report recommended the railway issue an apology, fund memorial initiatives and promote Holocaust education through innovative tools like podcasts, virtual tours and exhibitions. It also urged the government to support projects to improve survivors' well-being.
The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which has led efforts to investigate SNCB’s role, criticized the lack of compensation. "Survivors' mortality rates are 8–10% annually. As we approach Auschwitz’s liberation anniversary, urgent compensation for survivors and their family members is vital," said WJRO President Gideon Taylor and COO Mark Weitzman in a statement.
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Brussel train during the 1930s
(Photo: Herbert Felton / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
In 2019, the Belgian Parliament unanimously called for an independent inquiry into SNCB’s role in deporting over 25,000 Jews and 350 Roma. While the report stressed education and remembrance, WJRO leaders lamented the absence of concrete measures addressing survivors' needs.
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"To reject compensation from the perpetrator to the victim denies the moral obligation by SNCB to those it wronged; instead it would allow the railroad to dilute and evade the necessity of taking any current action by permitting it to spread the blame widely across Belgian society," WJRO said in a statement. "We remain committed to ensuring justice for Holocaust survivors and preserving the lessons of history."