German-Armenian Lawyer Seeks Compensation for Armenia's WW II Forced Laborers

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.