Dutch Holocaust survivor ordered to pay taxes on forced labour pension
Pensioner ordered to pay portion of her monthly compensation from Germany over her employment as a child under the Nazis
The Dutch tax authority is seeking payment from an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor for a pension stipend that she is receiving from Germany for her employment as a child in forced labour.
The Tax and Customs Administration demanded this summer that Inge Prenzlau pay a portion of her £115 ($156) monthly compensation stipend from Germany even though that country exempts other recipients residing in Germany and beyond from paying taxes on that class of payments, Het Financieele Dagblad, one of the Netherlands’ leading publications on the world of finance, reported last week.
In 1942, Prenzlau worked at her father’s factory without pay when she was 11 years old after her father fell ill. The family was forced to send her to work to prevent the German occupation forces and local collaborators from taking over the factory. She had to walk two hours to and from the factory because Jews were not allowed to use public transportation.
Prenzlau took the Dutch tax authority to court, seeking an injunction against its motion to collect. The court instructed the government to sort out the dispute.
Menno Snel, a politician for the liberal D66 party and state secretary for finance, is opposed to making an exception for Prenzlau, Het Financieele Dagblad reported. In a letter he sent last year to the tax authority, he warned against making a concession that would set a precedent for “many other stipends rooted in such things as war, for example, disaster, terrorism, hijacking and abuse.”
But Prenzlau finds this attitude “impossible to understand, so obtuse,” she told the newspaper.
“In the war we were abandoned. So the government can stop being so childish, especially since we’re not talking about large amounts of money here,” she said.
Prenzlau’s case has angered some of the country’s best-known intellectuals.
Leon de Winter, a celebrated Jewish novelist, suggested it undermined the message of unity and altruism in a recent statement by Dutch King Willem-Alexander. In a filmed Christmas address, he said, “Instead of a broader ‘me,’ let us seek a larger ‘we.’”
While the king “gets a tax-free royal salary,” de Winter, the son of Holocaust survivors, wrote on Twitter, “this 86-year-old woman needs to pay taxes for her so-called ghetto commendation.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
