German Labor Ministry Denies Paying Pensions To Belgian Waffen-SS Veterans

Germany does not pay pensions to former members of Waffen-SS units in Belgium, the Federal Labor Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2019) Germany does not pay pensions to former members of Waffen-SS units in Belgium, the Federal Labor Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

A Belgian parliamentary committee urged the government earlier in the day to seek an end to pension payments by Germany to former Nazi collaborators in Belgium.

"Those mentioned in the chamber's resolution ... are apparently covered by the Federal War Victims Relief Act (BVG). The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for payments to BVG recipients in Belgium. It said there are no former Waffen-SS members among them," the ministry said.

Their Names are protected by German laws, but Alvin de Coninck, a Belgian researcher with the Remembrance society, said there are 2,500 ex-collaborators on the German pension rolls, including former concentration camp employees.

The Waffen-SS was founded as an armed wing of the Nazi party. It fought alongside the German regular army in World War Two and provided guards for concentration camps in Germany and abroad. It was ruled a criminal organization at post-war Nuremberg trials.