Bonn Government Includes Israel Reparations in 1954 Budget

The West German Cabinet has adopted a 1953-54 budget which provides the equivalent of $73,800,000 for the delivery of reparations goods to Israel and $15,700,000 for the payment of compensation, indemnification and restitution claims to victims of the Nazis, it was understood here today. No details of the budget, which must still be approved by Parliament, have been released officially.

The proposed payments for reparations, indemnification, restitution and compensation amount to 1.5 percent of the overall budget.

The reparation figures would imply that deliveries to Israel will be made at the maximum rates envisaged in the Luxembourg Agreement, which calls for annual payment of 310,000,000 marks until 1962 but which would have permitted Germany to reduce her payments unilaterally to 250,000,000 marks a year.

Dr. Nahum Goldmann’s recent visit to Bonn was principally concerned with obtaining assurances from Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Minister for Economic Affairs F. Erhard that the higher rates would be paid. The inclusion of the higher figure in the budget seems to indicate that an agreement for continued payment of this rate may be reached early next year.

This is the first time that separate provision has been made in the Federal budget for indemnification, compensation and restitution. The reason for this is that until recently disbursements by the German Treasury for these purposes was almost nil. What was accomplished in the field of restitution is almost entirely due to the return of real estate and businesses to Jews by individuals. Compensation and indemnification hitherto rested almost exclusively on the shoulders of the German states.