The Prisoner Assistance Act regulates financial compensation for persons of German nationality who were detained for political reasons in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) or in the Soviet sector of Berlin or in the states of the Eastern Bloc after the Second World War, as well as for their relatives and surviving dependants.

If a person suffers an injury during detention, he or she receives care by analogy with the provisions of the Federal Pension Act. Survivors also receive benefits if the detention led to the death of the detainee.