Austria pays WWII forced laborers
Austria will pay the first five of over 100 Greek citizens who have been granted compensation for their employment under forced or slave labor terms in the country during World War II, during a ceremony in Athens next week. The secretary-general of the Austrian Reconciliation Fund, Ambassador Richard Wotawa, is due in Greece next Wednesday to hand over bank books containing 2,500 euros to each of the five claimants. The handover will take place at the Austrian Embassy. Over 200 Greeks out of the several thousand transported by Nazi occupation forces to work in Austria – mainly as industrial workers or farm laborers – have claimed compensation, and 108 have had their applications accepted so far. The application deadline expires on November 27.
