The West German Cabinet approved and forwarded to Parliament for further action the draft of a law to take care of restitution obligations of the former German state.
Involved are a wide variety of claims–the one-billion mark fine imposed upon the Jews of Germany after the Paris assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Hershel Grynszpan in November 1938; discriminatory taxes and levies of various kinds; real estate and houses taken over by the state; silver, gold, jewelry and art works that had to be delivered to municipal pawnshops, and furniture and personal effects seized and auctioned off.
In the Paris Conventions and in the Hague Agreement, the liability of the West German Government for all such claims was arbitrarily limited to $357,000,000. It is understood that the Jewish successor organizations for heirless property have been offered a lump sum payment of $18,000,000 for the restitution claims against the Reich that fall within their jurisdiction.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
