The Government of Austria has violated international law by refusing to compensate former Austrian Jews whose property had been taken over by Austrian Nazis, an Israeli judge charged today.
Speaking at a press conference in his capacity as head of the Committee of Austrian Jews in Israel, District Court Judge J. Lam cited the treaty between Austria and the Western Powers to prove that Austria was obligated to compensate all persons who had suffered as a direct consequence of the occupation of Austria by the Nazis, He contrasted Vienna’s laxity with respect to the Jews with its granting Austrians imprisoned by the Allies for war crimes 300 schillings compensation for each month spent in prison.
Dr. Lam revealed that of 186,000 Jews in pre-war Austria, 70,000 were annihilated by the Nazis while only 2,500 have returned to their pre-war homes. He estimated that over $1,000,000,000 worth of Jewish property was seized and stolen by the Nazis in Austria and that in the past 10 years the Austrian Government has made available as financial assistance to Austrian Jewish victims only $22,000,000.
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