Most of the claimants themselves emigrated to Israel or the USA after the war. They conducted their compensation proceedings through lawyers in Tel Aviv/Israel or New York/USA, who commissioned Konrad Kittl to conduct the proceedings in Germany. The files also show the many problems with which the lawyers were confronted and, as some of the correspondence between the lawyers and Kittl's correspondence with the compensation offices and courts is also included, provide a good insight into compensation practice at the time.
The Proceeding
Different federal states and their compensation offices were responsible for processing the claims, depending on the location of the claimants on 1 January 1947. The offices dealing with the applications of Kittl's clients were:
- Darmstadt: 326
- Stuttgart: 235
- Hannover: 95
- Berlin: 86
- München: 60
- Koblenz: 58
- Trier: 32
- Köln: 30
- Wiesbaden: 21
- Karlsruhe: 17
- Mainz: 12
- Düsseldorf: 11
- Hamburg: 8
- Neustadt: 8
- Kiel: 7
- Hildesheim: 6
- Kassel: 4
- Frankfurt: 3
- Bremen: 1
- Detmold: 1
- Freiburg: 1
- Ulm: 1
- not (yet) determined: 461
as of 29 January 2024
The Compensation Process
The course of proceedings for compensation for "damage to body and health" can be shown on the basis of the files. The following course of events can be roughly outlined:
- Request by correspondence lawyers to open proceedings (e.g. Rozenberg - Tel Aviv/Israel or Kestenberg - New York/USA). Almost all of the applicants had emigrated to the USA or Israel after the war
- Procurement of documents to be submitted by the applicant (see lists)
- Enquiries from the compensation office (spelling of name, date of emigration, date of birth, etc.).
- If applicable: Checking whether the applicant belongs to the "Deutscher Sprach- und Kulturkreis" (German language and culture group)
- Medical examination(s) (in Israel/USA, see Mosche Dymant, Rudolf Klepfisz, B decision)
- Evaluation by the medical service of the compensation office (see Mosche Dymant, Rudolf Klepfisz)
- Possibly counter-assessment (e.g. Dr Pineas)
- Possible legal proceedings/settlement
- Decision
In order to be entitled to compensation for physical injury or damage to health, the following requirements had to be met
- Confirmed residence in Germany on 1 January 1947. The compensation office of the (federal) state in which the applicant was resident on 1 January 1947 also processed all compensation applications from the applicant
- or belonging to the "Deutscher Sprach- und Kulturkreis" (i.e. "German language and cultural group"). This however was quite hard to prove.