The Official Gazette published this week-end a law which prevides for the return of confiscated Jewish property and for the annulment of all anti-Jewish regulations.
Under the new law, compensation amounting to thirty million levas — approximately $375,000 — will be paid for goods which cannot be returned. All land, excepting that upon which Bulgarian peasants have settled, will be returned to the former Jewish owners. Compensation on the basis of land prices of two years ago will be paid for unreturned land. Rent collected by the government from confiscated Jewish houses will be refunded to the owners. Compulsory sales by Jews of stocks and bonds are considered void.
The Bulgarian Government will start refunding the amounts owed to Jews immediately, providing the total owed an individual does not exceed fifty thousand leva, which is appreximately $625. If the amount exceeds this sum, the balance will be paid in government bonds redeemable within six years.
The Sofia raido reported today in a broadcast in the Hebrew language that Jewish community councils have been re-established in thirty-three Bulgarian towns. Only fifteen of them have their own schools. The Jewish schools in Bulgaria have 2,200 pupils under the age of 13. There are also about 4,000 Jewish children in general schools, the broadcast said.
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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.
