Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the Dutch national railway company, announced over the weekend that it had completed the necessary preparation to pay compensation to Holocaust survivors who were sent by Dutch trains to the death camps in Europe during World War II.
The company announced the measure several months ago following years of litigation.
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More than 102,000 Jews were transported by NS trains during the Holocaust and according to various estimates, the company made some $2.8 million in revenue from the Nazis' use of its cars.
Each Holocaust survivor will now receive $16,700, while surviving spouses of someone who was sent on NS trains will receive $8,400.
Surviving children who were born before May 8, 1945 – the day World War II ended in Europe – will get $8,400, whereas children of survivors born after that date will be able to claim $5,600. In 2005, the company apologized for its role in the transportation of Jews to the death camps.
The The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) welcomed the development. "The compensation program is a significant acknowledgement of the role the NS played during WWII in the suffering endured by Dutch Jews transported on NS trains," WJRO Chair of Operations Gideon Taylor told Israel Hayom.
"In consultation with WJRO and the representative body of the Dutch Jewish community, the NS should now designate additional funds to fulfill its committee's recommendation to provide a collective expression of recognition of the suffering and fate' of the vast majority of Dutch Holocaust victims who did not survive following transport by NS or are not covered by NS's compensation program," he continued.
