A HAMPSHIRE pensioner forced into slave labour during the Nazi occupation of Austria has received £1,000 as a symbolic gesture from the Austrian government.

Marian Jan Kwiecien, 76, from Breamore Road, Harefield, Southampton, was one of hundreds of thousands of Polish prisoners of war used as slaves by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Now, in a reconciliation gesture, the Austrian government, together with the country's big businesses, has put aside £280m for distribution to those who lives were changed by the regime.

Mr Kwiecien, a former Polish citizen, contacted the Austrian Reconciliation Fund, which is distributing the money, after learning about it through a newsletter for those exiled from Poland.

He was presented with the cash on his birthday at the Austrian embassy in London, along with three others who had suffered the same fate.

A spokesman for the fund said: "The main purpose of publicising these voluntary compensation measures by the Austrian government is to attract further possible claimants to collect the payments due to them before the deadline of November 27.

"Eligible are individuals who were forced by the National Socialist regime to work in either industry or agriculture on the territory of present-day Austria.

"Children who were deported together with one or both parents as well as children who were born while their mother was a forced slave labourer may also be eligible for a payment."

So far around 65,000 applicants have applied to the fund, with £106m paid out.

One hundred and fifty of those applicants are UK residents who originated mostly from Poland.

Further information on the Reconciliation Fund is available by writing to the fund at PO Box 44, A-1011 Vienna; calling 00431 513 6016; or by visiting the website at www.reconciliationfund.at