Lack of Historical Memory

For John, BLUF:  Merry Christmas and here is your tax bill for money earned for being a slave.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Holocaust Survivor, 86, Must Pay Taxes on 'Ghetto Slave' Compensation, Dutch Government Says

From Pajama Media, by Mr Michael van der Galien, 27 December 2017.

Here is the lede plus two:

It doesn't get more insane than this: a Jewish woman, 86, has been told by the Dutch government that she will have to pay taxes on a pension she receives every month from the German government.

Now, it may sound a tad bit weird that Germany is paying a Dutch woman 140 euros every month, but the reason is that Inge Prenzlau is Jewish. During the Second World War, the Nazi occupiers forced her to work in her father's company without pay. Every day, young Inge (then 11 years old) had to walk two hours to her father's pill factory to prove to the Nazis that the family was still tied to their business so it wouldn't be confiscated. Her father couldn't work because he was extremely ill. In 1943, her slavery ended when she and her family had to go into hiding. The Nazis had decided to round up the family -- like other Jewish families -- and send them to concentration camps.

After the war, the German government felt it had to reach out to such "ghetto slaves" and provide them with compensation in the form of a modest pension. Because they truly were victims, the Germans decided not to levy taxes on that pension, so Prenzlau receives her 140 euros tax-free.

Bureaucrats just have to be bureaucrats.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff