LfF Offie of Compensation-is it legit? #germany


yofithedog@...
 

I do not have any documentation, unfortunately.  I didn't know there were lawyers that specialize in Holocaust claims.  Do you have an references?
Ann Hofstadter Silverman


tzipporah batami
 

IF YOU SENT IT VIA ANY FORM OF REGISTRATION OR CERTIFICATION OR ANY FORM OF PROOF YOUR CLAIM YOU SUBMITTED IS NOT A LOST CAUSE. TRY TO TRACK IT AND THEN CONTACT A HOLOCAUST LAWYER. FEIGIE TEICHMAN


yofithedog@...
 

Thanks for all the helpful information.
I reached out to the office directly and received a response from the same person so it was legitimate.
I was originally looking for a claim that I had made on behalf of my parents about 20 years ago and never received any correspondence back.  Two kids later, was just following up. 
Turns out they didn't have any record of my claims and they were referring to claims made by my parents in the 1950's.
Why they need to charge so much for documents that are most likely scanned and they just had to pull up is beyond me.  Doesn't seem fair considering all we lost.
But it may be worth it to me to pay almost $50 for a few pages just to get the information.  My parents never told me they had received compensation or applied and were denied compensation.
I have no idea what happened to my claim but I guess that is a lost cause.
I'm attaching her response below.

Thank you for all your responses,

Ann Hofstadter Silverman


Here was her response:

Dear Mrs. Hofstadter-Silverman!
 
Referring to the entire previous correspondence  and particularly our E-mail dated April 27th, 2021 please be informed once more by proxy of the responsible person in charge, Mr. Manfred Turbing,  that  
 
..according to § 3 scale of fees for land Rhineland-Palatinate fees and costs are generally to reimburse – such as costs which occur for file excerpts.
 
From the file of your father this will be for example copies of his application from the year 1956, his affidavit in 1956 as well as the decision of payments to him regarding this application from the year 1960.
From the file of your mother: copy of her application from the year 1957, her affidavit from the year 1957 and the decision of payments to her regarding this application from the year 1961.
 
But on behalf of equal treatment of all requestors it is necessary that only after receipt of the amount of € 45,24 these excerpts of your parents files can be send to you immediately by E-mail.
 
Hoping for your understanding that we are bound by these legal requirements we remain
 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Sincerely yours
By proxy of Mr. Turbing
 
Johanna Klein
Rückforderung
Dezernat 22
 


Corinna Woehrl (nee Goslar)
 

Dear Ann and list-readers,

I went to the page, and the above-mentioned site seems to be official, it is only in charge of a specific region. And I know several governmental sites where you may have to pay in advance for information without knowing if documents are actually kept. But I would kindly ask whether descendants of victims of the persecution of the National Socialist regime really have to bear the costs of inspecting the file.
If you are insecure, I would advise you to rather first contact the central German register, as far as I know, there are no charges involved:

This centrally kept register contains all compensation proceedings under the Federal Compensation Act (BEG).
You can reach them via the details below. They will need to know the first and last names of the people you are searching for and their birthdate.
They will be able to locate the correct archives holding documents. Depending on the retention period applied to particular files you may have to prove the lineage.

Kind regards from Germany

Corinna (Wöhrl, née Goslar), Hoisdorf, Germany
--

Bundeszentralkartei (BZK) - Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf
Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf,
Dezernat 15 (Bundeszentralkartei)
Postfach 30 08 65
40408 Düsseldorf
Fax: 0211 / 475 – 3979
E-Mail: bzk@...


Lewis, Megan
 


The USHMM doesn't hold the Wiedergutmachung office records for any of the German states.  

Megan Lewis, reference librarian
United States Holocaust


tzipporah batami
 

If this is the same place as you say, it is free for a survivor to get their own records. If you are requesting, then perhaps contact a Holocaust legal expert to see what is appropriate cost for xeroxing records. Feigie Teichman


Renee Steinig
 

Wiedergutmachung refers to the reparations paid by Germany to survivors of the Holocaust. The Amt fur Wiedergutmachung is a government office. See https://afw.lff-rlp.de/en/home and this German Wikipedia page: 

Renee

Renee Stern Steinig
Dix Hills NY
genmaven@...


On Thu, Feb 2, 2023 at 8:36 PM <yofithedog@...> wrote:

Has anyone heard of the LfF Office of Compensation?  They say they have records for my survivor parents but are asking me to pay to get the information and I just want to make sure I'm not being scammed.  They won't give me any information as to what they have and say I have to transfer 45 Euros to their German bank account to get records.  
Their address is LANDESAMT FÜR FINANZEN

Amt für Wiedergutmachung

Heckingstr. 31

54439 Saarburg

Deutschland
Let me know if you've heard of them.
Thanks,
Ann Hofstadter Silverman



tzipporah batami
 

The USHMM first priority is documentation for survivors for compensation and there is no charge. PLEASE do not give money to any organization without checking with USHMM first. Feigie Teichman 


yofithedog@...
 

Has anyone heard of the LfF Office of Compensation?  They say they have records for my survivor parents but are asking me to pay to get the information and I just want to make sure I'm not being scammed.  They won't give me any information as to what they have and say I have to transfer 45 Euros to their German bank account to get records.  
Their address is LANDESAMT FÜR FINANZEN

Amt für Wiedergutmachung

Heckingstr. 31

54439 Saarburg

Deutschland
Let me know if you've heard of them.
Thanks,
Ann Hofstadter Silverman