Details on his talks with the Austria###ment on Jewish claims against Austria were given today by Dr. Nahum ###G chairman of the Jewish Agency, following his return from Vienna where ### Austrian Chancellor Dr. Julius Raab.
Addressing a press conference, Dr. Goldmann said that four major ###c against Austria for material losses suffered by Jews under Nazi rule are ### studied by the Austrian Cabinet. The claims, presented by the Committee ### Claims on Austria, of which Dr. Goldmann is president and which repre### major Jewish organizations of the Western world, are:
1. Present Austrian legislation to indemnify victims of Nazi persecu### Austria should be extended to embrace thousands of former Austrians ### resettled and acquired citizenship in other countries. There appears to ### ment on this point between the Austrian government and the Committee, ### mann said, and the Raab government has taken some initial steps to me### demand.
2. The Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria is seeking a settle### heirless Jewish property. The funds accruing under such settlement w### used to finance Nazi refugee rehabilitation programs abroad. Some of t### would go into a special fund to assist indigent members of the present J### munity in Austria. Before the Anschluss, Austria had a Jewish population o### survivors found refuge in other lands. The present Austrian-Jewish pop### estimated at between 9,000 and 10,000.
3. The Nazi government sequestered all Jewish bank accounts, and ### tee demands that these be unfrozen and returned to their legitimate own Austrian government maintains that these accounts are no longer availi### been withdrawn by the German Reich. Settlement of this issue may req###tions between the German and Austrian governments.4. The Committee is also demanding the return of, or compensation ###ture and other Jewish household goods sold on the block by the Austrian ### after the Anschluss.
JEWISH LOSSES IN AUSTRIA ESTIMATED AT OVER $1,200,000,000
“Jewish material losses in Austria under Nazi rule exceeded $1,20{SPAN}###{/SPAN} Dr. Goldmann said. “As in the case of Germany, the Jews are a skin {SPAN}###{/SPAN} for only a fraction of these stupendous losses. Our claims are based {SPAN}###{/SPAN} and realistic appraisal of Austria’s financial capacity. It would be mo{SPAN}###ble,{/SPAN} on the other hand, to abandon these losses. Thousands of person{SPAN}###{/SPAN} the world, many of them in destitute condition, have waited for years {SPAN}###tion{/SPAN} for pensions, insurance, bank savings and other assets criminall{SPAN}###{/SPAN} them by the Anschluss government of Austria.”
Dr. Goldmann also reported that the West German government, w### negotiated in 1951 and 1952 on behalf of the Israel Government and the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, has assumed obligations a### $2,200,000,000 in indemnification, restitution and reparations, to pr###mer German nationals.
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.
