Nazi Deserters To Get Compensation

German soldiers who deserted the Nazis will be rehabilitated and given compensation, a senior politician announced Thursday.

Hitler condemned all deserters, and some 20,000 were executed. Another 10,000 deserters ended up in penal battalions used for missions like clearing minefields and fighting partisans.

The few survivors were viewed with scorn during the postwar years, and - in contrast with many Nazi SS men were not covered by veteran payments.

The conservative-controlled parliament has repeatedly rejected bills to rehabilitate the deserters, but a recent court ruling has forced them to reach this agreement, said Norbert Geis of the Christian Democratic Union.

Geis said the amount of compensation for relatives of executed deserters and survivors has not yet been set.