Former East Berlin defence head seeks compensation - for deserting in WW2

[Kellanved]

COLOGNE - A court in Germany on Wednesday will hear a demand by former communist East Germany's last defence minister for compensation from unified Germany - for having deserted during World War II.

Heinz Kessler, 84, who deserted the German army and defected to the Soviet Red Army during Adolf Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, asked the civil court in Cologne for a one-time payment due to Wehrmacht deserters.

Ironically, another German court in September 1993 sentenced Kessler to seven-and-a-half years in prison for his role in ordering the shoot-to-kill order at the Berlin Wall. But having served 860 days in jail on remand, that court waived sentence and released him the same day he was convicted.
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Under post-unification German law, anyone who was convicted by the Nazis of desertion on the battlefield is eligible for a one-time payment equivalent to about EUR 4,000.

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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=6776

Note that the pardon for WW2 deserters and the payment going with it are very young laws. Until the late 90s the deserters were still considered felons.