RECAPS
5/01/03
A Q&A with Stefan Taschjian
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German-Armenian tax lawyer Stefan Taschjian is seeking compensation on behalf of approximately 2,000 Armenians who spent time in German concentration camps as Soviet forced laborers or prisoners of war during World War II. After two years of contentious negotiations, the German government signed a compensation agreement in July 2000 directing funds to former concentration camp laborers through a German foundation entitled "Memory, Responsibility, and Future." Since then, Taschjian has traveled between Berlin and Yerevan, meeting with clients and lobbying the German government. EurasiaNet contributor Nicole Vartanian spoke with Taschjian on his most recent trip to Armenia to distribute partial compensation funds. The text of the interview follows:
EurasiaNet: How did you begin the task of identifying your clients in Armenia?
Taschjian: When I came to Armenia I met with the president of a local veterans’ organization, and asked him if their group was informed of the law that had been passed in Germany. He said yes. I asked if they would be organizing appeals or claims so that people could get some compensation. He said no. I could not understand why, so he explained that their members considered themselves part of a war veterans’ organization, and these prisoners of war (POWs) were considered to be traitors because they had worked for the enemy. Since this veterans’ committee would not be organizing appeals for the case, I decided to do so myself.
I did not utilize television or media outlets to distribute information until February 2001, by when I already had acquired 170 clients. At the same time, there was one member of parliament who was encouraging me to go to the Armenian media because he felt that there were many more POWs. … Instead I just put a very small article in one Armenian newspaper stating that the deadline for submitting claims to the German government would need to be completed by March 31, 2001. The MP went on television to discuss the case on his own. As a result of these efforts, one and a half months later we had 500 people as our clients.
This meant that I had to set up a formal office, so I rented a small one-room apartment. People were standing in a queue that wound down the stairs into the courtyard, which prompted me to acquire another, larger office. Meanwhile, the member of parliament continued to attract the media’s attention on this issue, so I called him and asked, "Why are you continuing like this? We already have more than 700 clients!" He urged me to employ more people so that they could go to the villages and regions to find those who were eligible for compensation, because most of them were still afraid to admit that they were POWs. In fact several of their neighbors never even knew about their experience because they were afraid to be considered traitors.
I then hired thirty people as my staff and I sent them across Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgia where we have eighteen clients. Then I held another client information meeting in June 2001 to update everyone on their claims. This time, I went to a private television channel where you could call in and ask live questions. We invited people via television to come to the meeting because we did not have time to send out letters of invitation. By 2 p.m. the next day, the meeting place, which held a capacity for 1,200 people, was full – people were even standing in the road. I was afraid that this would continue and that my next meeting would have to be held at the Ararat soccer stadium…
In the end we took on nearly 2,000 clients. This of course translates into some 20,000 people who are hoping to get compensation because we are dealing mostly with babiks (grandfathers) who have a lot of children and grandchildren. As a result, the compensation of approximately $8,200 for someone who is extremely poor would amount to a total means of relief and would bring a family out of poverty.
EurasiaNet: Is there existing proof to demonstrate who was in these concentration camps?
Taschjian: I have found 536 people among my clients who spent time in them. About sixty percent do not have proof of their time there. However, after the POWs were released they were sent through filtration camps where the KGB interviewed them regarding where they had worked, what they had done and so on. As a result, the KBG had information for about forty percent of them in the KGB archives, and these documents are looked upon as proof. For the remaining sixty percent we do not have any records at all beside the archives of the German government and the German Red Cross. Another source of information could come from the companies that employed these people, because as laborers they were registered with each corporation. In fact, most of them even were issued health insurance that they could use when they were ill.
EurasiaNet: Did you find from your depositions that the POWs were grouped together in camps or were they scattered?
Taschjian: Most of them started out in camps in the Ukraine and then were sent to various POW camps after 1943 when the Germans realized that they needed stronger labor forces. This was the point at which their opinion about Soviets changed. They saw that they could use them as cheap forced labor. I even have three clients who were in the concentration camp in Dachau near where I grew up, right in the suburbs of Munich.
There was an Armenian legion fighting on the German side against the Allied Forces under the leadership of an Armenian general known as Dro. His objective was simply for the Armenians to survive the death camps. Dro traveled around Germany and told the Fascist government that Armenians would work with them to free Armenia from Soviet rule. He found out which camps housed Armenians, and asked them to join his legion, saying that if they did not they would see the same fate as their comrades – many of whom had been killed or died of starvation. Of course they wanted to survive so they joined the Armenian legion. The soldiers worked on fortifications of the German forces but they did not fight directly against the Soviets. This continued until 1945. Those people did not know what would happen to them in Armenia or Russia when they were handed over by US forces. Most of them were sent to Siberia for anywhere from five to twenty-five years and were often forced to see their children die of starvation, and even worse.
EurasiaNet: How would you characterize the quality of life of your clients now? Are they haunted by memories of their imprisonment? Or are they just looking for some retribution and validation for the horrors they experienced?
Taschjian: A lot of them are not keen on getting compensation although the economic situation for the vast majority of them is terrible. Mostly, they want some kind of psychological regret expressed to them, which I understand.
At least the Armenian population does not harbor a strong perception of POWs being traitors. In Russia, this still exists today. The people hide themselves. They do not want to talk about their time in the camps. For the Armenians, even talking about their experiences is a relief.
EurasiaNet: How cooperative has the German government been throughout this process? Do you feel as if you are in a difficult position to argue this case as a German citizen?
Taschjian: Initially, the government put up a huge resistance because I was trying in some way to change the laws. Now, all of them, even the German Ministry of Finance, are respecting what I am doing.
There actually was greater resistance from the Ukraine and Russia. If I win my case with the issue that all POWs should get money, then the money that was allocated for the civilian forced laborers would be reduced to a dramatic extent because there would be more of them so less money for the rest. The lawyer of the other side has written in his claims that I am asking for eighty percent of the budget of the Russian compensation fund. I told them I am just asking for equality. After reviewing the case, I decided to sue the German government because in my opinion this ultimately was an issue of equality. It was unfair that a POW who spent time in a POW camp and a POW that worked in a concentration camp were being treated differently, because the conditions in both camps were equally horrible.
EurasiaNet: Has the Armenian government helped you?
Taschjian: Only insofar as it has not disturbed my work.
EurasiaNet: What is your sense of the time frame for resolving the case?
Taschjian: I am not sure about this but I hope I will be able to resolve these issues by the end of this year.
Based solely on the legal aspects we have very few chances to get the full amount of compensation for all my clients. On this trip I have been able to pay at least 200 euros to people who up until this point have received no compensation for their years of forced labor. Besides these people, we are hoping that five hundred families will receive the full compensation of $8,200.
In fact, the number of POWs or forced laborers in Armenia who will receive any compensation is the highest percentage among all CIS countries. In this aspect, the German fund really has appreciated all the hard work we have done.
Editor’s Note: Nicole Vartanian is a freelance writer based in Yerevan.
Posted May 1, 2003 © Eurasianet
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