A Slovenian association of World War II displaced persons and refugees believes that Germany, which in the period from 1941 to 1945 occupied most of what is today Slovenia's territory, owes the victims and their descendants EUR 50 billion in war reparations and that compensation should be at least three billion euros, the Slovenian media reported.

There is no statute of limitations on war crimes, which is why Germany still owes Slovenia around EUR 50 billion in war reparations, representatives of the Association of the 1941-1945 Slovenian Displaced Persons and Refugees said at a news conference, adding that at least a symbolic amount of three billion should be paid and calling on the Slovenian government to become involved.

There are in Slovenia around 9,500 World War II displaced persons and refugees who should each receive EUR 6,000 even though the state recognised only minimum symbolic compensation allowances and did so only in 1995, said the association’s president, Ivica Znidarsic, ahead of June 7, which in Slovenia is marked as the day of the Slovenian WWII displaced persons and victims.

The WWII occupying forces expelled 63,000 people from Slovenian territory, of whom 45,000 were taken to German prison camps, 10,000 were expelled to Croatia, 7,500 to Serbia and 2,000 to Hungary, while 17,000 fled persecution, Znidarsic said, noting that there were 20,000 children among the victims.

The association has been fighting for years to get war reparations from Germany and has been refusing the view that war reparations were paid indirectly in the form of economic assistance which West Germany gave to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under an agreement between Josip Broz Tito and Willy Brandt because the agreement referred only to economic assistance and not to compensation for material and other damage suffered by the population.