1,000,000 Claims of Nazi Victims Still Pending, Jewish Conference Reports

The board of directors of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, representing 22 major Jewish organizations through-out the free world, announced tonight that 1,000,000 indemnification claims of victims of Nazi persecution in all parts of the world are still pending against the West German Government.

The Conference, by formal resolution, appealed directly to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of the West German Republic to speed up indemnification payments to Nazi victims by carrying through a three-point program. This step was taken at the opening session of a two-day meeting at the Hotel Roosevelt. The sessions were attended by more than 40 Jewish leaders from North and South America, Europe. Australia and South Africa.

Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the Claims Conference, pointed out that the wrongs for which indemnification is due arose under the Nazi regime over 20 years ago. “The great majority of Nazi victims, nevertheless, have failed, to this veryday, to receive the payments due them,” Dr. Goldmann stated.

The Conference resolution urged the Borm Government to 1. Enlarge staffs at German indemnification offices to expedite the handling of the million pending claims. 2. Provide funds supplementing the sums earmarked for payment in government budgets, wherever the volume of claims is greater than anticipated; 3. Standardize and simplify indemnification procedures to permit the uniform and speedier treatment of claims throughout the German Federal Republic.

DR. GOLDMANN SATISFIED WITH PACE OF REPARATIONS DELIVERIES

On the credit side of the ledger, Dr. Goldmann expressed satisfaction with the implementation to date of the Bonn-Israel reparations pact, to which the Conference is a party. He reported that a total of $273,809,000 in capital goods and services was delivered to Israel by West Germany since reparation payments started on June 30 1953. Of this sum, $64,285,000 in goods and services were received in 1956, and deliveries this year are expected to run at the same approximate rate.

The reparations agreements signed in 1952 at Luxemburg call for the German Federal Republic to deliver to Israel, over a 12-year span, goods and services valued at $820,000,000. The Conference is to receive during this period a total of $107,000,000 as is share of the overall amount, to be used for the relief and rehabilitation of Nazi victims.

Dr. Goldmann disclosed that major capital goods already delivered to Israel include ten dry cargo motor ships, two passenger and cargo liners, and one oil tank r, aggregating 85,000 tons. In addition, deliveries of Diesel locomotives, railroad cars, oil drilling equipment as well as pipes and casing and telecommunication equipment are playing a significant role in the growth of the Israeli economy. Deliveries scheduled for the current year are expected to include a passenger vessel of 10,000 tons and three dry cargo motor ships of 12,750 tons each.

Moses A. Leavitt, treasurer of the Claims Conference and executive vice president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, reported on achievements flowing from the Conference allocations granted over the three-year stretch between 1954-56. He called attention to the vital role Conference funds have played over the past three years in the strengthening of Jewish communities which suffered most at Nazi hands.