German slave fund wants money back

berlin (jta) | The German foundation compensating Nazi-era slave laborers wants unclaimed funds returned for distribution to other Holocaust survivors.

The Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future, a joint creation of the German government and industry groups, presented its proposal to the German Parliament’s Committee on Internal Affairs.

Under the plan, the Claims Conference and other organizations distributing the funds would be required to return unpaid money after 30 months.

In the past, some organizations in Eastern and Central Europe entrusted with the task of distributing funds to survivors have been overwhelmed with claims, and some funds reportedly have been squandered. Germany pledged roughly $5 billion to the fund in 2001.

Clashes over Nazi army art exhibit

berlin (jta) | Neo-Nazis and counterdemonstrators in Germany clashed over a controversial exhibit on the German army’s actions during World War II.

Several arrests were made after police in Hamburg were unable to keep right-wing and left-wing demonstrators apart.

Neo-Nazis have protested, sometimes violently, against the “Crimes of the Wehrmacht” traveling exhibit since its release in 1995, claiming that it wrongly criminalizes German soldiers.

Hamburg is the last stop for the groundbreaking exhibit, which documents war crimes committed by the Nazi army.