The German Wiedergutmachung

Episode 2: A question of territory – Looking west

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The second episode takes a look at the international perspective on Wiedergutmachung, with a focus on the allied Western European states. How did compensation come about in these countries? What were the procedures? How did foreign nationals – whether persecuted themselves or immigrated later – experience the German Wiedergutmachung policy?

In order to find answers, we will consult another file from the Federal Archives and we will talk to various experts. The historian Tim Geiger will inform us about the foreign policy history of Wiedergutmachung, and Nicole Immler from Utrecht/Netherlands will help us find out what people abroad thought of Wiedergutmachung. Moreover, Britta Weizenegger from the city of Saarburg will tell us about the daily business of a Wiedergutmachung office of today, and about how the German bureaucracy and the applicants perceived the Wiedergutmachung proceedings.

About the events and people

  • History gallery of the Federal Archives on the Luxembourg Agreement of September 10, 1952: Link
  • Audio recording of Herbert Wehner's statement in the German Bundestag on March 11, 1960: Link
  • Verbal note from Denmark to the Federal Government, June 21, 1956 (BArch, B 136/3306, pp. 8–9): PDF
  • Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel of September 10, 1952 (BGBl. 1953 II, pp. 35–97): PDF
  • Global Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Denmark of August 24, 1959 (BGBl. 1960 II, pp. 1233–1335): PDF

    • Links

    • Online Collection „Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts“: Link
    • Bundesarchiv: Link
    • Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (AAPD) Link
    • Amt für Wiedergutmachung in Saarburg Link
    • Zeitzeugenprojekt „Zwangsarbeit 1939-45“ Link

      • Literature on the topic

      • Reuveni, Gideon: The Phantom Giant, the No-Key Gate, and the Beauty Salon of History. The German-Jewish Reparation Settlement and the Holocaust, in: S:I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation 10 (2023) 3, S. 86–103. Link
      • Schrafstetter, Susanna: The Diplomacy of Wiedergutmachung: Memory, the Cold War, and the Western European Victims of Nazism, 1956–1964, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies 17 (2003) 3, S. 459–479. Link

        • More information about the podcast episode: https://www.archivportal-d.de/content/themenportale/wiedergutmachung/podcast?lang=en

        Presented by: Nora Hespers, edited by: Lukas Fleischmann, Jörn Petrick, Ralph Würschinger and Mirjam Sprau. Script and production: Escucha - Kultur fürs Ohr. Cover: Kreativagentur Atelier Hauer+Dörfler GmbH. Cover picture: Applicant to the URO (© bpk) | Federal Archives

        The podcast “The German Wiedergutmachung” is a production for the online collection “Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts” - the online platform for compensation files, conceived and commissioned by the Federal Archives. Escucha - Kultur fürs Ohr was responsible for the realization. Funding was provided by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

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        The German WiedergutmachungBy Bundesarchiv