Remaining Holocaust Claims Stalled

Six decades and $100 billion in reparations later, tens of thousands of Jews say Germany still owes them for Holocaust crimes, the Washington Post reports. A 2002 law promised pensions for ghetto dwellers forced to work for little pay, but officials denied benefits to 60,000 for lack of documentation, leading many to decry bureaucratic stinginess.

Owners of stolen artwork say German museums have stonewalled attempts to reclaim their collections, and the situation is even more more muddied on 76,000 unresolved claims of property sold under duress. Claimants generally agree that while Germany has done much to atone for Holocaust wrongdoing, bureaucrats are reluctant to do more. “We have had the door slammed in our face and our history denied,” said one. (More Holocaust stories.)