The Austrian Fund for Victims of National Socialism has decided that payments from the fund could be inherited if claimants die before receiving their benefits.
The fund’s supervisory committee said an application for the fund must have been filed before the claimant’s death in order for the money to be inherited.
“It’s very important to get the claim in,” Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, said in an interview Monday.
The secretary general of the fund said she expected all the funds to be distributed in three to four years.
The fund was created in June 1995 by the Austrian Parliament as a gestures toward victims of the nazi regime in connection with the 50th anniversary of the re-establishment of the republic.
Steinberg said the decision about inheriting funds set Austria apart from most other countries involved in World War II restitution for Jews.
As of May 22, 3,280 claimants had received payments of $7,000 each, for a total payment of about $23 million.
About 1,205 payments went to recipients in the United States.
The fund has data on 22,000 potential recipients, more than 8,000 of them from the United States.
Applicants can contact their local Austrian Consulate or the Austrian Consulate in New York, Attn: Irith Jawetz, 31 E. 69th St., New York, Y.N. 10021. The phone number is (212) 737-6400.
Applications also can be sent to: Dr. Heinz Fischer, President of the Austrian Nationalrat, Parliament, A-1017, Vienna, Austria.
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