Unequal treatment of perpetrators and victims by Germany after World War II

CegeSoma, the non-profit organization Helden van het Verzet, and the VUB chair Sporen van het Verzet invite you to participate in a study day on 28 November 2025 at the VUB Campus in Etterbeek (Promotiezaal D.201). The (re)discovery of German payments to people convicted in the context of the repression of collaboration in Belgium led the Belgian Parliament in 2019 to pass a resolution calling for an end to this practice and for the establishment of a commission of historians to study its origins and mechanisms. Although the resolution had no impact, the scientific questions remain relevant. They refer to a lesser known aspect of Belgian-German relations after the Second World War and raise the question of a striking imbalance between German financial compensation for collaborators and that for victims of Nazism. The study day aims to review the current state of the issue and formulate new avenues of research.

PROGRAM

9:00 a.m. Welcome
9:30 a.m. Welcome address

Moderator: Nel De Mûelenaere (Chair ‘Sporen van het Verzet’, VUB)

9.45 a.m. Christoph Brüll (C²DH/Université du Luxembourg), Les traités bilatéraux belgo-allemands relatifs à la Seconde Guerre mondiale (et ses conséquences).
10.15 a.m. Dirk Luyten (CegeSoma/Rijksarchief) & Widukind De Ridder (CegeSoma/Rijksarchief - KULeuven), Emissiebank, clearing, clearingschuld en de naoorlogse juridische en financiële afwikkeling tegen de achtergrond van de economische herstelpolitiek.
10:45 a.m. Discussion
11:00 a.m. Stefan Klemp (Dortmund, independent researcher), Opferrenten für KZ-Aufseher- kein Verstoß gegen Grundsätze der Menschlichkeit? (Translation will be provided)
11.30 a.m. Koen Aerts (UGent), De prijs van de collaboratie: patrimoniale sancties na de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
12:00 Discussion
12:30 Lunch break
1.30 p.m. Bruno Duboisdenghien & Alvin De Coninck (researchers), Duitse pensioenen voor collaborateurs, vanuit de vergeetput van de Senaat (naar een nooit toegepaste) Kamerresolutie 1997-2019.
1.50 Christoph Brüll (C²DH/Université du Luxembourg), Les administrations ministérielles allemandes et les paiements en faveur de Belges sur base de la Bundesversorgungsgesetz.
2:20 p.m. Discussion
2:45 p.m. Coffee break
3.00 p.m. Charlotte Wirth (Journalist), Pensions for the SS? How we challenged German bureaucracy and found on of last living Waffen-SS Volunteers.
3.30 p.m. Dany Neudt (founder of the non-profit organisation Helden van het Verzet), Hoe zinvol is een herinneringsbeweging?
3:50 p.m. Discussion
4:10 p.m. Conclusions: Nel De Mûelenaere (Chair ‘Sporen van het Verzet’, VUB)