Oldest Third Reich victims to get compensation soon, despite legal snags

A group of the oldest survivors of Nazi concentration camps and World War Two slave laborers will begin receiving compensation payments as soon as in one month's time, decided the Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation. The German compensation foundation agreed to the Polish proposal to pay out an advance to the oldest victims, despite the fact that the official launch of compensation payouts has just suffered another setback. Namely, on Wednesday U.S. judge Shirley Kram deferred ruling on whether to dismiss a major class action lawsuit against a group of the largest German banks. Meanwhile, compensation payments cannot begin until all outstanding suits against German firms over their Nazi past are dismissed. Advances to surviving victims over 80 years of age, totaling zl.80 million, will be paid out from reserve funds of the Reconciliation Foundation, which will later be reimbursed by the German compensation fund, when it is officially launched. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.12, Reuters) T.J.