The Federal Ministry of Economics has increased from 5,000 to 6,000 deutschemarks ($1,430) the amount which certain Jews living abroad may withdraw from their blocked accounts for the purchase of furniture and personal belongings.
To be eligible, Jews must prove that they lived in Germany before the Nazi regime and that their furniture or personal property were destroyed or confiscated through Nazi action. They must further show that the blocked account originated from restitution or compensation payments, and was not acquired from a third party. Finally, they must submit evidence that theirs is a hardship case.
If all these conditions are met, the German authorities will approve the use of blocked funds for buying furniture or personal belongings, and for shipping costs up to the German frontier.
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.
