Austrian Parliament to Consider Restitution Law for Return of Residential Premises

A restitution law providing for the return of residential, business and farming premises to Austrians deprived of them by Nazi persecution is scheduled to be placed before the Austrian parliament at its forthcoming fall session, it was learned here today.

The bill, entitled the Fifth Restitution Law, has been in the making for many months. After lengthy discussions and consultations with representatives of Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Nazis, the Austrian Cabinet finally submitted the measure to parliament last May 28. Since then it has been shunted about between the legislature and several parliamentary committees and sub-committees.

The proposed legislation limits the obligations of restitution to persons who can be connected with the original alienation of the property from the rightful owners. It is based on the theory that the original leasehold rights never ceased to exist, but the claims are governed by rigid limitations on those seeking the return of their premises.

For example, the claimant must have been subjected to political persecution by or under the Nazi regime. The present owner must be the immediate successor in interest to the claimant, or must have participated in the alienation. "Participation" is assumed if the present owner occupied the premises in the period from March 13, 1938, to December 31, 1942.

The bill attempts to define the persons who can be claimants and those who can be "immediate successors." If a property remained vacant for more than three months after being seized — which was often the case — the person who benefited by the seizure may be able to retain control of the property by denying that he is the "immediate successor."