The long delayed and far-reaching amendment to the Federal Indemnification Law for individual victims of Nazism is expected to be passed by the Bundestag in a second and third reading during the last two days of May, or immediately thereafter, according to parliamentary champions of indemnification who have worked on behalf of this bill for almost three years.
Before entering into force, the amendment must then be approved in a second reading by the Federal Council, upper house of the Born parliament and representative body of the Federal Republic’s constituent states. Although the Council raised a great number of difficulties in the first reading last year, observers believe that most of the differences have been reconciled. They express confidence that the state governments concerned will not refuse their assent when the amendment comes up for consideration, probably the second half of June.
After more than a year of hearings and deliberation, the Bundestag Indemnification Committee has now drawn up its final report, which will be submitted to the full Bundestag in a few days. In a long session with the committee and the Bonn Ministry of Finance, the Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dr. H.G. van Dam, succeeded in persuading the Committee to introduce a number of substantial improvements into its recommendations. The Central Council still feels that certain aspects of the amendment are unsatisfactory.
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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.
