A memorial to Hungarian victims of the Holocaust on the shore of Danube in Budapest. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Hungary will resume compensation to Holocaust survivors after settling a dispute with the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), ending a year-long freeze on payments. About 600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

The Hungarian government had signed a five-year agreement with the Claims Conference in 2007 to distribute $21 million to Holocaust survivors, but then accused the Claims Conference of improper calculations. The Claims Conference denied that accusation. The parties have now agreed to bring in an independent international auditing firm to monitor all accounting.

“Holocaust survivors of Hungarian origin living abroad will be able to receive as soon as possible the compensation to which they are entitled… In order to now faster disburse restitution monies, the government will transfer $5.6 million within three days,” said Janos Lazar, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, according to AFP.