BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Berlin pays pensions to Belgian citizens who fought alongside Nazi Germany during World War II by concealing their names and the payment amounts, the president of the Groupe Memoire organization that unites former war prisoners and people deported by the Nazis said.
"They receive war pensions according to Hitler's decree that considers these soldiers to be German citizens, thus they are paid pensions as German military personnel," Pieter-Paul Baeten was cited by the RTBF broadcaster.
These Belgian citizens do not pay taxes on the pensions as Germany conceals their names, Baeten highlighted. On the other hand, Belgians who were driven from their homes by the Nazis to work in Germany as slave laborers pay taxes on the compensation they received from the German government as these payments are subject to taxation in Belgium.
According to RTBF, after World War II around 500,000 Belgian citizens were put on trial for collaborating with the Nazi regime.
