I’m curious because today in the United States, the case for reparations to Black Americans for slavery is a fraught and politically controversial issue. For a variety of reasons on both sides of the argument, the least of which the objections from this against it that “they”, meaning nonblack Americans, shouldn’t have to “pay” for the choices made by slavers hundreds of years ago.
So I’m curious as to how a case for reparations was made in a countries and times where both the victims and the perpetrators were both very much alive and the wounds still fresh.
There's an important assumption that needs to be unpacked here.
First and foremost, "Reparations" to Jewish Holocaust survivors and other Nazi Victims were more Political in nature. In other words, they were about fixing the Germans' image and rehabilitating West Germany, allowing them to be part of the International Community. They were not for alleviating the Pain of Holocaust Survivors or improving their living conditions.
In other words, the Germans repeatedly negotiated and bargained down the sum of "Reparations" demanded by the Israelis. Israel initially demanded $2 Billion (1950s money) from Konrad Adenauer's government, but Adenauer and the Germans instead agreed to pay $820 Million, mostly in the form of goods rather than currency. Israel's claim was based on the assumption that absorbing a Jewish Holocaust Survivor cost $3000. The Germans examined that claim and instead proved that a Survivor could be absorbed for $2500. This was mostly because Israel was poor in the first few decades of its existence, but also in large part due to the Germans' reluctance and insincerity in compensating their Victims.
This also extended to actual direct payments made to Holocaust Survivors. The Survivors of the Holocaust could make direct claims to the German government, based on factors like property stolen from them, days of imprisonment in a Concentration camp, or Insurance owed to them by German companies or medical bills. The Germans didn't pay much and used Red tape to minimize the actual amount of Money paid to Holocaust Survivors. For example, the rate of "Reparations" to Survivors was something like Five DMs a day, which meant that a year in Auschwitz entitled a Holocaust Survivor to $450. The Germans also refused to compensate Survivors who were persecuted by German Ally states like Hungary. In one case, they also refused to compensate a Survivor because he was in the IDF and may have gotten an injury in his Military service, and not in Buchenwald.
It's also worth mentioning that "Reparations", to Jewish victims or Other Holocaust Victims did not come for free, and had strings attached. Greece, for example. Max Merten was the Military Administration counsellor for Nazi occupied Greece, and the Greeks arrested him in 1959 with the intent of prosecuting him for his crimes. However, the Greeks needed a loan from West Germany, which the Germans used to pressure Greece into releasing Max Merten.
Related to the above is the case of the Eichmann Trial. The Germans (And the US) were deeply concerned that Eichmann would implicate multiple Nazis who continued to work in the West German Government, especially Hans Globke, one of the authors of the Nuremberg Laws. Thus, the Germans froze arms transfers/deals with Israel unless they had a guarantee that Eichmann would not implicate Globke, or any Nazi. On the subject of Reparations, they also found that one of the Judges in the Eichmann trial still had an active compensation claim from them, which they also leaned on.
To answer the question, there was definitely resistance from the Germans, resulting in the situation alluded to above. Tom Segev mentions that the German Houses of Parliament took half a year to approve the agreement, and only after Adenauer and his government strong armed various concessions from the Israelis. The Germans' actual actions and policies answers the question: they weren't sincere in "compensating" Jewish and other victims of the Holocaust, and they both took every opportunity to minimize "reparation payments" and actively used them as leverage to force Israel and other victim nations like Greece to comply with their aims. There was some opposition, but it ultimately gave way to manipulation and resulted in half hearted "Reparations" Policy.
source:
Tom Segev, the Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust