The idea of "reparations," or payments by aggressors to their victims, has been a controversial one in recent years. The German government has in fact made payments to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, though not in large amounts, and not willingly. Many other groups claim they have a right to reparations: American Indians, black Americans who ancestors were enslaved, other Holocaust victims such as the Gypsies, Japanese-Americans who were interned during the war, and so forth. Nearly every oppressed group you could name has at least discussed the idea of asking for reparations. The links below will help you research some of these claims. For classroom discussion, some of the following questions could be used:

• is a monetary payment the right way to compensate victims of tyranny?
• if so, how much money is enough?
• how do you determine who is entitled to a payment? (only the victims, or their descendants as well?)
• who should have to make the payment? (for example: the present government of Germany, though it did not exist during the Holocaust?)
• who really benefits - the actual victims, or the lawyers and organizations who campaign for reparations?

Next, consider how these criteria apply to other groups seeking reparations. For example:

• are African-Americans entitled to reparations? No living American was ever a slave. But do their descendants still suffer from the legacy of slavery?
• how can you identify those entitled to reparations? All black Americans have at least some white ancestry.
• who should have to pay? Today's white Americans never owned slaves; are they responsible for the deeds of long-dead white Americans who may or may not have been their ancestors? Do today's whites benefit from the legacy of slavery?
• are the children and grandchildren of Japanese internees entitled to reparations?
• what about the non-Jewish victims of Nazi aggression in Europe?
• what about the Chinese, Koreans and others victimized by the Japanese in World War II?
• what about the American Indians?

research links

lots of material and other links from the Jewish Virtual Library

US Holocaust Memorial Museum resources on reparations and assets

legal issues, from the Louisiana State University Law Library

US policy statements, from the American embassy in Germany

Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany website

Holocaust Victims Asset Litigation (claims against Swiss banks)

German Forced Labour Compensation Programme website (English)

the legal case for reparations to black Americans (from University of Dayton Law School)

the Self-Determination Committee (supports reparations for blacks)

National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America