BEG - general information

Directly after end of the war regulations were drawn up by occupying forces and later in the various Federal German States for compensation of damage caused by national socialist injustice. Right from the beginning there was a difference made between reimbursement and compensation for illegally confiscated assets on the one hand, so-called reimbursement and, on the other hand, compensation for personal damage and for the rights of reimbursement in the case of not recorded damage to property. In both sectors one finally arrived at uniform regulations throughout Germany, firstly through the Federal German Reimbursement Law of 19 July 1957 and secondly the so-called Federal German Supplementary Law from 1 October 1953, the sector for covering personal damage and other damage to assets.

The Federal German Supplementary Law was later replaced by the Federal German Indemnification Act [BEG] (BEG-Gesetzestext) which came into force on 29 June 1956, but in retrospect to 1 October 1953. Passed for this purpose were six implementation ordinances (1. DV-BEG), (2. DV-BEG), (3. DV-BEG), (4. DV-BEG), (5. DV-BEG), (6. DV-BEG) of which the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Implementation Ordinances were regularly amended by the BEG to adjust regular benefits (pensions) to the changes in the cost of living. The Federal German Indemnification Act [BEG] in its present version was finally by the Federal German Office for Restriction as a result of the Second Law for the Amendment of the Federal Ger-man Indemnification Act (BEG Final Law) of 14 September 1965, with which recent medical and his-torical knowledge was taken into account and new deadlines there set for making application for spe-cific claims even subsequent claim deadlines. At the same time the 31 December 1969 was set as exclusion date for new applications.

At the Federal German Office for Restitution the compensation benefits are handled differently accord-ing to the type of damage suffered. Under specific conditions regular compensation pensions are awarded for loss of life, physical injury or ill health as well as damage preventing continuation of career. Provisions were made for only capital compensation in the case of further incurred damage (loss of freedom, property and assets). Apart from this claims can be lodged for a number of further benefits which of practical significance today are more especially the supplementary benefits for treatment for ill health, namely claims for reimbursement of necessary costs for the treatment of such disorder (Heilverfahrens) and under specific further conditions also for processing claims for reimbursement of necessary costs for caring (Krankenversorgung) for patients who also did not suffer persecution.