P.O.W.s seeking compo

Press, 19 December 1981, Page 1

P.O.W.s seeking compo

PA Wellington i New Zealand servicemen i held in Nazi concentration j camps are seeking compen- ] sation from the West Ger- j man Government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is acting on behalf of < the more than 24 former - servicemen known to have j been imprisoned in the ; camps, for either refusing to work for the Germans or for repeatedly escaping from i prisoner-of-war camps. The West German Govern- ,i ment 'has already sent more ■ than $5OO million to 11 European countries for their servicemen held in concentra- ° tion camps. One of the two Christchurch men involved, Mr Winston Yeatman,. of Mairehau, said last evening

that New Zealand prisoners of war had received nothing in the way of compensation. Mr Yeatman spent four months in Auschwitz in early 1944. In 1965, the British Government won £1 million compensation from the Germans, although this took 11 years to get.. Since taking up the servicemen’s case, the New Zea-land-Ministry of Foreign Affairs has examined previous compensation .claims, compared notes with the Australian.; Government which is also; seeking compensation 'for -its .soldiers, and held preliminary talks with the Germans. “The Ministry has done a reasonable job of contacting people. They have advertised

in the Returned Services’ Association ‘Review’ and in the prisoners of war magazine for those who were in concentration camps/’ .-said Mr Yeatman.

He said he had got in touch with the Ministry after reading one of the advertisements and had provided evidence that he had been in Auschwitz.

“I think it is only right that we should get compensation. Any serviceman who was in a concentration camp was wrongfully imprisoned there,” said Mr Yeatman. A Foreign Affairs assistant secretary, Mr Christopher Beeby,- said this week that a new round of talks with the Germans would begin soon in which specific cases would be discussed.

A joint approach by the Australians and New Zealanders had not yet been decided on.

So far there has been no indication of how much compensation is being sought, or how long negotiations will take.

Although Mr Beeby said he expected progress in the talks early next year, he said he did not know when negotiations would be concluded.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs became involved in the compensation claims in 1979 after a Wellington man, Mr' Gerry Mills, approached the West German Government direct but was told to “put things on a Government to Government level.”