The Media Line: Belgium’s Railway Holocaust Report Criticized for Failing Survivors 

Belgium’s Railway Holocaust Report Criticized for Failing Survivors 

By The Media Line Staff 

The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) has expressed disappointment in Belgium’s newly released report on the role of the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB) during the Holocaust. The report, presented on January 17, 2025, to the minister of transportation and the Senate Committee on Institutional Affairs, highlights education and memory but stops short of recommending compensation for Holocaust survivors and their families. 

In a statement, WJRO President Gideon Taylor and COO Mark Weitzman called the omission a failure to address SNCB’s moral responsibility. “Rejecting compensation denies the moral obligation by SNCB to those it wronged,” they said, urging the government to ensure survivors receive reparations while they are still alive. 

The SNCB deported over 25,000 Jews and 350 Roma from Mechelen to extermination camps on 28 convoys during World War II. An investigation into the railway’s role began in 2019, culminating in this report. WJRO criticized the committee for failing to consult survivor representatives, including Belgian Holocaust survivors living abroad, and argued that international precedents from France and the Netherlands demonstrate that meaningful reparations are possible. 

Taylor and Weitzman emphasized the urgency of action ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, which marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. They stressed that survivors’ mortality rates, at 8-10% annually, necessitate immediate action to provide compensation and honor the memory of those who perished.

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