Holland's railway company, NS, is going to compensate Holocaust victims. World War II ended 70 years ago, but Holland's railway has decided to compensate people taken to Nazi concentration camps on their trains. After Germany invaded Holland in 1940, NS trains took thousands of Jews and other minorities to the death camps. By the end of 1943, most Jews in Holland had been removed. Seven decades later, NS will pay tens of millions of euros to about 500 survivors and to members of their family. The company will pay between 5,000 euros to 15,000 euros to each victim.
The company said the payments are the company's historical responsibility. The Nazis paid NS to take the victims to the border. German trains then took the victims to concentration camps. NS said this was "a black page in the history of the company". It added: "There is no reasonable...amount of money that can compensate...for the suffering inflicted on the victims." It said the payments were "a moral gesture". NS accepted its role in the "individual suffering inflicted by the occupying forces on those involved and their direct surviving relatives".