Watchdog says ex-Nazis got $20.2 million in Social Security

[Lite Beer]

Watchdog says ex-Nazis got $20.2 million in Social Security
RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press
DAVID RISING, Associated Press
RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a forthcoming report triggered by an Associated Press investigation, the top watchdog at the Social Security Administration found the agency paid $20.2 million in benefits to more than 130 suspected Nazi war criminals, SS guards, and others who may have participated in the Third Reich's atrocities during World War II.

The report, scheduled for public release this week and obtained by the AP, used computer-processed data and other internal agency records to develop a comprehensive picture of the total number of Nazi suspects who received benefits and the dollar amounts paid out. The Social Security Administration last year refused AP's request for those figures.

The payments are far greater than previously estimated and occurred between February 1962 and January 2015, when a new law called the No Social Security for Nazis Act kicked in and ended retirement payments for four beneficiaries. The report does not include the names of any Nazi suspects who received benefits.

The large amount of the benefits and their duration illustrate how unaware the American public was of the influx of Nazi persecutors into the U.S., with estimates ranging as high as 10,000. Many lied about their Nazi pasts to get into the U.S. and even became American citizens. They got jobs and said little about what they did during the war.

Yet the U.S. was slow to react. It wasn't until 1979 that a special Nazi-hunting unit, the Office of Special Investigations, was created within the Justice Department.

Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney requested that the Social Security Administration's inspector general look into the scope of the payments following AP's investigation, which was published in October 2014. On Saturday, she said the IG's report showed that 133 alleged and confirmed Nazis actively worked to conceal their true identities from the U.S. government and still received Social Security payments.

"We must continue working to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust and hold those responsible accountable," Maloney said in a statement. "One way to do that is by providing as much information to the public as possible. This report hopefully provides some clarity."

AP found that the Justice Department used a legal loophole to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the U.S. in exchange for Social Security benefits. If they agreed to go voluntarily, or simply fled the country before being deported, they could keep their benefits. The Justice Department denied using Social Security payments as a way to expel former Nazis.

By March 1999, 28 suspected Nazi criminals had collected $1.5 million in Social Security payments after their removal from the U.S. Since then, AP estimated the amount paid out had grown substantially. That estimate is based on the number of suspects who qualified and the three decades that have passed since the first former Nazis, Arthur Rudolph and John Avdzej, signed agreements that required them to leave the country but ensured their benefits would continue.

The IG's report said $5.6 million was paid to 38 former Nazis before they were deported. Ninety five Nazi suspects who were not deported but were alleged or found to have participated in the Nazi persecution received $14.5 million in benefits, according to the report.

The IG criticized the Social Security Administration for improperly paying four beneficiaries $15,658 because it did not suspend the benefits in time.

The report also said the Social Security Administration "properly stopped payment" to the four beneficiaries when the new law banning benefits to Nazi suspects went into effect. The agency did, however, continue payments to one suspect because he was not subject to the law.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But in informal comments to the IG, the agency and the Justice Department said the pool of 133 suspects included individuals who were not deported and may not have had any role with the Nazis. The Justice Department requested the report only include the names of 81 people it had provided to the IG and who had conclusively determined to be involved in the Nazi persecution.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-31

[bangkapi]

That's nothing compared to what Neo-Nazis are receiving in benefits.

[ezzra]

Well that's dandy isn't it? I'm sure those Nazis are laughing all the way to the bank....

[Wat dee]

I wonder how much NASA and others paid them over the years as salary and pension?

[Jingthing]

Better deal than Argentina.

[harryfrompattaya]

How much do Muslims Terrorist get from EU Europe and America today and tomorrow?

[krisb]

Suspected Nazi's not convicted.

I think it's time to let bygones be bygones anyway.

[micmichd]

Is this about pensions paid to Nazis by the U.S. or by the German government?

I'm afraid quite a few Nazis got both.

[maidee]

after the war, both sides were trying to get as many of them to work in their side...

+ you have to look at the funny docu about hitler fleeing to argentina before the end of the war

[stevenl]

The large amount of the benefits and their duration illustrate how unaware the American public was of the influx of Nazi persecutors into the U.S., with estimates ranging as high as 10,000. Many lied about their Nazi pasts to get into the U.S. and even became American citizens. They got jobs and said little about what they did during the war.

Many may have lied about their past, but many more were allowed to enter the US in spite of their past, but because the authorities, knowing their past, felt they could benefit the country

[Jingthing]

I have more reason than most to hate Nazis but I'm with the idea that it is time to let go of worrying about WW2 era Nazi individuals.

That doesn't mean forgetting what happened, of course.

But these remaining guys are so old now.

[micmichd]

Sure they are very old now. But they've all gone through some conditioning process, and I would only feel safe in Germany when I'm sure that this conditioning process wouldn't work anymore.

From my experiences in Heidelberg I must assume that a similar conditioning porocess would still work. Slave-like obedience to authority does'nt need a charismatic leader obviously.

Edited May 31, 2015 by micmichd

[F430murci]

Not surprising considering how much we hand out to other losers be they white, brown, black, turbin wearing, back wood uneducated red necks on Meth or just your garden variety wanna terrorist that Obama thinks is just misunderstood and will be happy if we only give them money.

[Credo]

I have more reason than most to hate Nazis but I'm with the idea that it is time to let go of worrying about WW2 era Nazi individuals.

That doesn't mean forgetting what happened, of course.

But these remaining guys are so old now.

If they have managed to go for the past roughly 70 years without getting into any other trouble, I would agree. It's a little like a witch hunt. I would agree, no forgetting.

[F430murci]

I have more reason than most to hate Nazis but I'm with the idea that it is time to let go of worrying about WW2 era Nazi individuals.

That doesn't mean forgetting what happened, of course.

But these remaining guys are so old now.

Wise man. Holding resentments on stuff like this only hurts the person that cannot let go. The world can be a screwed up place, but its rarely personal.

[abrahamzvi]

Sure they are very old now. But they've all gone through some conditioning process, and I would only feel safe in Germany when I'm sure that this conditioning process wouldn't work anymore.

From my experiences in Heidelberg I must assume that a similar conditioning porocess would still work. Slave-like obedience to authority does'nt need a charismatic leader obviously.

Allow me to entirely disagree. I don't really know what you have experienced in Heidelberg and when, but I do know Germany very well and although there is a tiny neo Nazi group, most Germans and in particular the younger ones are most certainly not, repeat not, "slave-likje obedient" to authorities, but quite the opposite.

[micmichd]

I have more reason than most to hate Nazis but I'm with the idea that it is time to let go of worrying about WW2 era Nazi individuals.

That doesn't mean forgetting what happened, of course.

But these remaining guys are so old now.

If they have managed to go for the past roughly 70 years without getting into any other trouble, I would agree. It's a little like a witch hunt. I would agree, no forgetting.

You were lucky. I had really intimate contact with the "scientific" brach of German state violence in 2013, and for me this traumatic experience is not over. They come up in the disguise of "help" now.

Here's their thesis:

A long distance relationship between a German worker and a Thai woman is perversion, a disease which must be cured.

You say "No"? They lock you up.

I escaped and survived only because I was privileged.

[micmichd]

I wanted to go to Thailand and marry a woman which I had known for a long time. My so-called "friends" got crazy over the idea and finally took me to mental hospital where I was locked up for the idea to marry a Thai. When I got out I was bashed by everyone as a pervert.

It was not the Neo-Nazis, it was the "liberal" natives in Heidelberg who believed "science" and media more than me and obeyed them as highest authorities.

There's a famous social psychological experiment in the US, designed by Stanley Milgram (Obedience to Authority) to find out how far "normal" people would go in the name of scientific authority. Most of them were ready to kill.

I was actually not after a replication of the Milgram experiment, never thought that it could happen everyday. But it happened, and it's still not over.

My Thai gf got bashed, too. In absentia, she had never been in Heidelberg. The fact that she's Thai was enough for all kinds of racist suspicions and comments.

As I have learnt in Thailand, this is quite normal in Germany, and I'm afraid in other Farang countries, too. I call it racist.

Edited May 31, 2015 by micmichd

[IAMHERE]

They paid into the system so should be able to collect their benefits. The murderers, rapists, etc. get to collect.

[micmichd]

Not only.

In Germany Nazi officers got pensions from the government, they never paid anything into the system.

[Shaunduhpostman]

Rather ironic to be talking about Nazis who deceived the Social Security folks given that the American government itself lied to its people for decades about all the Nazis imported after the war to work in important positions in intelligence, defense and research under the Project Paper Clip program. Researchers have shown in the last decade or so that the govt. knew that many people brought in to work in positions that were very sensitive were loyal and in some cases ardent Nazis. It has been shown too that govt. staff colluded to re-write these guys' histories to make them seem safe to be bringing to work for the U.S. in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

[DogNo1]

My goodness! How far do we want to carry vengance? There are varying degrees of culpability in regard to the participation in fighting on German's side in WW II. Many people from other countries were recruited or drafted into the SS or the Vermacht. Many people in the German armed forces were desperate to find a way to end the war before Germany was totally destroyed and wanted to make peace, especially with England and America. BTW, the present government is not Nazi even if some of their methods are strong-armed. Also, so far as brain-washing and employing ruthless policies goes, have you been following what is going on in the middle east? We have more urgent problems these days than starving a bunch of elderly German servicemen! Incidentally, should we be searching out former members of the Japanese WW II military and expelling them and revoking their SS benefits?

[micmichd]

Personally I think citizens of any country should care that war criminals don't get off with their crimes so easily, wherever they are or come from.

[oslooskar]

Personally I think citizens of any country should care that war criminals don't get off with their crimes so easily, wherever they are or come from.

Oh, I quite agree! However, when the citizens of a particular country continually demonstrate that they are suffering from selective indignation then they lose any moral right to do any finger pointing.

[car720]

I have more reason than most to hate Nazis but I'm with the idea that it is time to let go of worrying about WW2 era Nazi individuals.

That doesn't mean forgetting what happened, of course.

But these remaining guys are so old now.

If they have managed to go for the past roughly 70 years without getting into any other trouble, I would agree. It's a little like a witch hunt. I would agree, no forgetting.

You were lucky. I had really intimate contact with the "scientific" brach of German state violence in 2013, and for me this traumatic experience is not over. They come up in the disguise of "help" now.

Here's their thesis:

A long distance relationship between a German worker and a Thai woman is perversion, a disease which must be cured.

You say "No"? They lock you up.

I escaped and survived only because I was privileged.

This is not just relevant to this subject however.

This same "morals police" attitude is present in every country.

When I studied statistics as a part of my degree I was amazed to see that, in Australia for example, something like 90% of people had never been outside their own state and of the remaining 10%..............90% of them had never been outside the country.

This is why we live in Thailand. Same thinking by the same type of people but most of the time we cannot understand them, so we just live in ignorant bliss.

[Scott]

Inflammatory troll post and replies removed.

[geriatrickid]

Suspected Nazi's not convicted.

I think it's time to let bygones be bygones anyway.

Don't have to be convicted. It all gets back to their declarations given to obtain citizenship. If these Germans lied or withheld information, then they illegally gained the benefits. I certainly can understand why many Americans would be upset.

These liars are the people who murdered and mistreated American POWS. I won't even get into the atrocities that ALL German soldiers were part of. There are still WWII US POWs alive. They should not be told to let bygones be bygones after they endured brutal POW conditions.

[geriatrickid]

Rather ironic to be talking about Nazis who deceived the Social Security folks given that the American government itself lied to its people for decades about all the Nazis imported after the war to work in important positions in intelligence, defense and research under the Project Paper Clip program. Researchers have shown in the last decade or so that the govt. knew that many people brought in to work in positions that were very sensitive were loyal and in some cases ardent Nazis. It has been shown too that govt. staff colluded to re-write these guys' histories to make them seem safe to be bringing to work for the U.S. in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

That is not entirely fair. President Truman was very clear in his position that no known Nazis were to be allowed in. President Eisenhower had an even stronger position particularly since he had seen the bodies of murdered US POWs and had been to the concentration camps. The military and vociferous "anti communists" did much of their concealing without the full knowledge of the US Congress. It can even be said, that these people misled both the President and Congress.

Things did change when JFK was elected. Despite all their "liberal" talk, they didn't care about the Nazis. Interesting that Truman the WWI trench war veteran and plain speaking democrat, and Eisenhower the conservative yet progressive Republican WWII vet had significantly greater integrity and sense of decency than the kennedy clan of philandering drunks and misfits.

[Scott]

Rather ironic to be talking about Nazis who deceived the Social Security folks given that the American government itself lied to its people for decades about all the Nazis imported after the war to work in important positions in intelligence, defense and research under the Project Paper Clip program. Researchers have shown in the last decade or so that the govt. knew that many people brought in to work in positions that were very sensitive were loyal and in some cases ardent Nazis. It has been shown too that govt. staff colluded to re-write these guys' histories to make them seem safe to be bringing to work for the U.S. in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

That is not entirely fair. President Truman was very clear in his position that no known Nazis were to be allowed in. President Eisenhower had an even stronger position particularly since he had seen the bodies of murdered US POWs and had been to the concentration camps. The military and vociferous "anti communists" did much of their concealing without the full knowledge of the US Congress. It can even be said, that these people misled both the President and Congress.

Things did change when JFK was elected. Despite all their "liberal" talk, they didn't care about the Nazis. Interesting that Truman the WWI trench war veteran and plain speaking democrat, and Eisenhower the conservative yet progressive Republican WWII vet had significantly greater integrity and sense of decency than the kennedy clan of philandering drunks and misfits.

I am not sure, but I believe that Joe Kennedy senior was rather sympathetic to the Nazis. Some of this may have affected his children's opinion on this.

[micmichd]

U.S. employed quite a few Nazis and put them into leading positions after WW2, eg Wernher von Braun.

German Bundeswehr employerd Wehrmacht officers or (if they were too old) paid them state pensions.

So, chances are that quite a few got pensions from both countries and maybe still live in luxury from this, while their victims are still starving and have nightmares.

Not to talk about "Gypsies" who never got a territory of their own.

Edited June 1, 2015 by micmichd