30 No. 69 JUSTICE community, the Federal Republic of Germany was obliged to settle new national debts owed to the victorious countries, in addition to what remained of its post-WWI national debt. The debt was so considerable that the Federal Republic was forced to negotiate and consolidate it under a special debt agreement, which was finally concluded at the end of 1953.6 In light of these events, internal and external processes propelled Germany to understand that in order to be accepted by the international community, it needed to implement measures that showed the world that it was now ready to repair Nazi wrongdoing. Germany was pressured by the Jewish world, mainly through Dr. Nachum Goldmann, founder of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), to hold talks with the State of Israel and Jews at large, to find a way to allow Germany to conclude an international binding agreement with the Jewish state. This was to be done even though Israel did not exist at the time of the Nazi wrongdoings.7 The first steps were filled with obstacles. The German Chancellor offered a rather small sum as compensation. This led many to question Germany’s willingness to resolve this issue in a dignified and honorable way. The proposal was immediately rejected by Israel.8 The Federal Chancellor’s speech of December 1951, in which he acknowledged Germany’s war crimes, was of paramount importance. This speech paved the way for Germany to compensate victims of Nazi persecution within the scope of its financial means.9 This declaration was groundbreaking in international law. Not only did the Federal government conclude a reparations agreement with Israel as “the State of the Jewish people,” but it also allocated compensation to individuals with the help of a third party: the Conference of Jewish Material Claims against Germany (Claims Conference). That organization represented all Jewish organizations that sought to obtain compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Not everyone in the Jewish world responded positively to this agreement despite its financial scope. The ongoing negotiations between the German government, the Israeli government and Jewish organizations were not well received in Israeli society. There were unprecedented demonstrations against the agreement which placed heavy political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister David BenGurion. The idea that money could compensate or contribute to “Wiedergutmachung” [making things right again], was rejected by many in Israeli society.10 However, since Israel was a young state struggling to get its economy going, Ben-Gurion was compelled to follow Dr. Goldmann’s advice and move forward with the negotiations. This led to the signing of the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement which created a legal structure for payment to the State of Israel as reparation. This enabled the Jewish state to fulfil its commitment in the May 1948 Declaration of Independence: becoming financially capable to be the nation state for “she’erit hapleita” [the surviving remnant]. Furthermore, the German government recognized the Jewish Claims Conference as the roof organization responsible for compensating survivors living outside of Israel. The Bundesentschaedigungsgesetz (BEG): Administrative Law as a Compensation Mechanism BEG - 1957 The solution in the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement was different from resolutions found in other treaties that had been concluded until then under international law principles of reparation agreements. In addition to paying reparations to the State of Israel and a supplementary sum to the victims living in the diaspora, the Federal Republic of Germany enacted the Bundesentschaedigungsgesetz (BEG),11 which aimed to create a civil law catalogue to resolve outstanding survivors’ individual rights to file claims. The legislation sought to ensure personal compensation, primarily to individuals who endured physical and psychological injuries caused by the Nazis. Additionally, an administrative mechanism was introduced based on the situation prior to the period of persecution. Until then, 6. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Agreement on German External Debts (Feb. 27, 1953), available at https://treaties.un.org/pages/showDetails. aspx?objid=080000028013dc13 7. Mark A. Raider, Ed., Nahum Goldmann, STATESMAN WITHOUT A STATE (N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2009). 8. Yeshayahu A. Jelinek,“Israel und die Anfänge der Shilumim,“ in WIEDERGUTMACHUNG IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK 119, 128 (Ludolf Herbst & Constantin Goschler, eds., 1989). 9. Deutscher Bundestag -- 165. Sitzung. Bonn, Sept. 27, 1951, p. 6697. 10. Yaakov Sharett, “Reparation Controversy,” available at https://www.sharett.org.il/cgi webaxy/sal/sal. pl?lang=he&ID=880900_sharett_new&act=show&dbi d=misc&dataid=11 11. Government of Germany, Federal Law on Compensation for Victims of National Socialist Persecution (Federal Compensation Law-BEG) (Sept. 18, 1953), available at https:// www.gesetze-im-internet.de/beg/BJNR013870953.html
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