Estimating the value of German property in Israel at approximately $9,000,000, Israel’s Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan today introduced a “German Property Bill” in Parliament proposing the appointment of a custodian for all the German property in the state, with the exception of that owned by the Catholic Church.
Part of the German property in Israel was sold by the British Government, as the Mandatory Power during the World War. Disposition of the proceeds of the sale is now under discussion between Britain and Israel, with the latter claiming the proceeds from Britain.
Addressing the Parliament today, Minister Kaplan said: “The Jews’ account with Germany does not start on the first of September, 1939, when the World War broke out, but on the fifteenth of September, 1935, when Germany adopted the Nurenberg laws and introduced legalized racial batred and persecution.
“The first German settlers might have come to Palestine with a feeling of tolerance toward the Jews, but their descendants, with a few exceptions, joined the Nazi camp,” the Israel Minister said. “Many went to Germany, joined Hitler’s army and took part in the persecution of Jews,” he pointed out.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
