BERLIN (Sputnik) — Berlin will pay financial compensation to nearly 4,000 former Soviet prisoners of war under Nazi Germany, government coordinator for cooperation with Russia Gernot Erler said Wednesday.
Earlier reports suggested that Germany's ruling coalition government proposed to pay €10 million ($11 million) to the surviving Soviet POWs for the atrocities they endured while Nazi captives.
"The additional funding of €10 million [$11 million] has cleared the way to make compensations to nearly 4,000 surviving Soviet prisoners of [the Second World] war, with about €2,500 [$2,800 for each individual] being accompanied by a letter, in which this great injustice will be recognized and our respect for the plight of those affected will be expressed," Erler told RIA Novosti.
According to Erler, the decision can be considered a symbolic gesture dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat. World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945 and touched over 80 percent of the world's population. The war is believed to have claimed the lives of 70 million people, 27 million of them Soviet casualties.
Around 5.5 million Soviet soldiers were sent to Nazi concentration and labor camps. As many as 3 million died of hunger, epidemics and hypothermia. About 4,000 of them are estimated to still be alive.
