Decrees Restoring Confiscated Property to 30,000 Jews to Be Issued in Italy

Drafts of the decrees covering the whole field of restoration to Jewish owners of the property, taken away from them under Mussolini’s racial laws have been completed by a special commission of the Italian Ministry of Justice and are at present being studied by Allied legal experts, it was learned here today.

Jewish sources here estimate that about 30,000 Jews were deprived of their property under the Fascist regime and will be affected by the new decrees. The original plan to delay the publication of the new measures until all of Italy is liberated has been dropped. The new decrees will be published as soon as possible. This course is being urged both by economic authorities and by the Jews themselves, in order to speed up the revival of Italian trade and industry and rehabilitate the Jews.

The drafting of the new laws met with numerous difficulties, one of which was the lack of authoritative figures and information of the extent of the property involved. One of the thorniest questions concerned the restitution of property transferred by Jews into other hands in order to avoid confiscation under the racial laws. The procedure established for these cases, provides for restitution when the Jewish claimant proves that the transaction was fictitious and was made solely to avoid confiscation.

ITALY’S RESTITUTION MEASURES MAY NOT BE EXAMPLE FOR REST OF EUROPE

Legal experts here point out that Italy’s restitution measures may not provide an example for other countries in Europe, especially not for Germany. It is not as yet determined what proportion of Jewish property was taken over by the Fascists in a legal manner – that is in accordance with their laws – through the special government agency “Egerli” which issued to the Jews receipts and Egerli bonds for the acquired property. This is particularly the case in large enterprises and holdings.

In contrast to this, is the case of Germany and of other Axis countries where Jewish property was seized lawlessly through specially imposed taxes and through outright expropriations. This is true, too, to a certain extent here, and the manner in which the Italian decrees will work in the recovery of such property, will serve as guide for measures that can be employed elsewhere.

RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP QUALIFIED TO AVOID DUAL NATIONALITY

The special commission of the Ministry of Justice also completed the revision of decree under which Italian citizenship has been restored to all who lost it under the Fascist racial laws. It was pointed out that this decree, as originally issued, established dual nationality for those who had acquired citizenship in other countries.

Under the original decree, for example, several hundred Italian Jews who had emigrated to the United States and subsequently entered the American Army and become United States citizens, were still considered Italian citizens. The new draft qualifies this by providing that for those who had acquired other nationality voluntarily, the restoration of Italian citizenship will be dependent upon their making application for its return.