U.S. Paid $20.2 Million in Social Security Benefits to Suspected Nazis: Report
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The United States Social Security Administration paid out some $20.2 million in retirement benefits to suspected Nazi war criminals and other Nazi collaborators.
A report prepared by the Social Security Administration’s inspector general, scheduled to be released to the public next week but obtained and reported by the Associated Press on Sunday, showed that some $5.7 million was paid to individuals who were found to have played a role in the Nazi persecution and had been deported; and more than $14 million was paid to people who weren’t deported but were alleged or found to have assisted the Nazis during the Holocaust.
A total of 133 suspected Nazi war criminals and other alleged Nazis received the benefits, according to the Associated Press.
The payments occurred between February 1962 and January 2015. In January, a new law called the No Social Security for Nazis Act came into effect. At that time, the four remaining beneficiaries who were still living lost their retirement benefits.
The report does not include the names of the people who received the benefits.
The Associated Press reported seven months ago that Social Security benefits were paid out to former Nazis who agreed to leave the United States as an inducement to make them go without being forcibly deported.
“We must continue working to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust and hold those responsible accountable,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who requested the inspector general’s investigation after the earlier AP report, 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.”
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