'Small measure of justice deserved': Germany to compensate 25,000 Nazi-persecuted Algerian Jews

Jews from Algeria, who now live mainly in France and Israel, will be entitled to around 2,500 euros as compensation for persecution they suffered at the hands of the Nazi-led Vichy regime which governed the North African country during World War Two. 

"This is a long overdue recognition for a large group of Jews in Algeria who suffered anti-Jewish measures by Nazi allies like the Vichy Regime," said Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), who negotiated the compensation with the German authorities.

"The Vichy government subjected these people to restrictions on education, political life, participation in civil society and employment, abolishing French citizenship and singling them out only because they were Jews."

It is estimated that 25,000 Algerian holocaust survivors are living around the world today; the compensation being available to any Jewish person residing in Algeria between July 1940 and November 1942, and suffered from Nazi persecution.

This payment is a small measure of the justice these survivors deserve, but the recognition is important and we will continue to fight until every survivor has been recognised

"Our goal is to help survivors with the registration, a process which is completely free of charge," said Ruediger Mahlo, Claims Conference Representative in Germany.

"This payment is a small measure of the justice these survivors deserve, but the recognition is important and we will continue to fight until every survivor has been recognised."

Registration centres are set to open around France in early February, where claimants can register for the one-time compensation pay out of €2,556.46.

The Claims Conference is a non-profit organisation that works to secure material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world, including returning Jewish property stolen during the Second World War.

Since its establishment in 1952, the organisation has negotiated $70 billion worth of compensation to victims of Nazi persecution from the German government. Algerian Jews however are one of the last of such groups to be identified.