The Central Council for the Jews in Germany reported today it had appealed to both houses of the West German Parliament to keep their promises to pay restitution payments to Nazi victims on schedule.
Finance Minister Rolf Dahlgruen announced on November 4 that payments totaling 200,000,000 marks ($50,000,000), scheduled to have been made this year to a special class of victims of Nazism, would be “deferred” for one year. Those affected were persons who were unable to file for restitution prior to October 1, 1953, the deadline in the original legislation. They include thousands of Jews who were prevented from filing their claims because they lived in countries behind the Iron Curtain at that time.
The widely-circulated German weekly Die Zeit came out in its current issue with an article charging that many of the West German judges hearing appeals in cases concerning compensation to victims of Nazism are them selves former Nazis. The publication claimed that at least 30 of the 33 judges hearing such appeals in Coblenz were formerly members of the Nazi Party or its ancillaries. Of six judges on the local court hearing such cases in Coblenz, the periodical stated, five are former Nazis. Among the five, it was charged, is the chairman of the local court dealing with compensation cases.
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.
