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German pension for Belgian Nazis

Just under 2,500 Belgians receive a pension from Germany as they or their deceased husband fought in Hitler’s army during the Second World War. The discovery was made by the son of a Fleming that fought in the resistance against the Nazis. The details are published in Saturday’s edition of the daily ‘De Morgen’.

Alvin De Coninck started his investigation into recipients of German war pensions after last year’s controversy surrounding the German government’s decision to levy 17% tax on pensions paid out to those deported and forced to work in German factories during the occupation.

Mr De Coninck wanted to find out if foreigners, including Belgians, that fought in the German army during World War II also received a pension from Germany.

He discovered that 2,500 Belgian  collaborators or their widows were still in receipt of pensions from Germany. At one time this figure is thought to have been a high as 38,000.

Mr De Coninck told ‘De Morgen’ that on the basis of the cases that he has investigated the former collaborators receive between 425 and 1,275 Euro a month from Germany.

This compares to an average of just 50 Euro a month for those that were used as forced labour by the Nazis.

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