Dresden (dpa/sn) - 21 formerly politically persecuted people in the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR will receive support from the Free State's hardship fund this year. The available funds of 100,000 euros will be fully utilized, they can be paid out in full to victims of the GDR dictatorship, as the President of the State Parliament, Matthias Rößler, announced on Thursday. This shows that more than 30 years after the Peaceful Revolution, there is still a need "to work through the suffering, to recognize it and to at least symbolically compensate those affected".
According to the information, a total of 32 applications were received with a total volume of 160,000 euros. Eight were deferred and three rejected. The one-off payment of up to 5,000 euros is intended to promote social participation and integration of those affected. Above all, former political prisoners and students persecuted in the GDR as well as former children in institutions wanted the financial help. For the first time, married couples could also apply for support together.
As Nancy Aris, the state commissioner for dealing with the SED dictatorship, said, many of those who were once politically persecuted live in precarious income situations. "The compensation payments to which they are entitled can usually only alleviate this imbalance, but not remedy it." With the hardship fund, there is an instrument to help these people in a concrete emergency in a low-threshold and uncomplicated way.
All persons residing in Saxony who have been rehabilitated under the so-called SED Unrechtsbereinigungsgesetze and whose economic situation is particularly impaired are eligible to apply.
