Jewish Community in Bavaria Starts Case Against Bavarian State

The Bavarian Jewish community started proceedings against the Bavarian state for refusing to pay indemnification to German Jews who left for Shanghai during the Nazi regime and were later interned there in a ghetto by the Japanese occupation authorities.

Appearing before the Bavarian Constitutional Court, Dr. Alfred Jakoby, representing the Jewish community, pointed out that the Bavarian implementation regulations violated the constitution of the state. He emphasized that the claims of former German Jews who, after being deprived of German citizenship were sent to the Shanghai ghetto by the Japanese, had not been considered in connection with the Bavarian indemnification implementation procedures, while the claims of these Jewish victims had been acknowledged in other German provinces and in West Berlin.

Dr. Jakoby argued that there is direct connection between the Nazi persecution of the Jews and the events in the Shanghai ghetto. “It would be paradoxical if the claims of the Jews who were interned in the Shanghai ghetto were now turned down,” he said. The lack of definite reference to claims of the Shanghai victims in the Bavarian legislation, and the failure to define their legal status was a violation of the constitution, he stated. The implementation regulations, he said, were also a violation of the constitution, because they went against the principle of equality laid down in the constitution.

A representative of the Bavarian Minister of Finance, appearing in court, rejected Dr. Jakoby’s arguments. He denied that the implementation regulations offended the constitution. He said that the principle of equality had not been violated in view of the fact that persecution of Jews by the Nazis and their treatment by the Japanese are two entirely separate matters. The decision of the Constitutional Court is expected to be made known shortly.