Dr. Goldmann Welcomes Austria’s New Move on Jewish Claims

The statement this week of Chancellor Julius Raab that Austria is ready to resume negotiations for a settlement of claims of Nazi victims was welcomed with reservations today by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and key figure in a recent dispute between the Austrian Chancellor and Jewish groups.

Dr. Goldmann, who is also chairman of the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria, which represents the major Jewish organizations in the free world, told a press conference that he welcomed “the Austrian Chancellor’s expression of readiness to resume negotiations, and we all hope that a formula will be found that will enable the Jewish organizations to agree to the resumption of these talks.” He pointed out, however, that no official invitation from the Austrian Government has been received by the Committee.

“If an acceptable formula can be found to resolve the existing difference of opinion on heirless property issue, the major obstacle towards the resumption of negotiations will have been removed,” Dr. Goldmann said. Without referring to the Chancellor by name, he also replied to implications in Dr. Raab’s statement that the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria had tried to exert pressure on Austria through the Berlin conference and had submitted demands that were not commensurate with Austria’s financial capacity.

“The demands of the Jewish organizations certainly cannot be called unreasonable,” Dr. Goldmann stated. “What the Jewish organizations have asked in payment for heirless Jewish property is $11,500,000 which is only a fraction of the material losses suffered by Jews in Austria under Nazi rule. The actual losses cannot even be computed. They amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Not a single Jewish group indicated the slightest opposition to Austria’s demand for full independence. Respect for other people’s sovereignty is an integral part of Jewish tradition.

“What we have done,” Dr. Goldmann explained, “is to solicit the good offices of the Western powers at the Berlin Conference in an effort to impress upon Austria the moral claims of the victims of Nazism must not be ignored and that a settlement is long overdue. This, in fact, has always been the position of the U.S. Department of State, of France and Great Britain. The Jewish people is not seeking a permanent conflict with Austria, and the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria will certainly be glad to resume negotiations on a reasonable and equitable basis acceptable to all parties.”

GERMAN-ISRAEL PACT PROCEEDING “HONORABLY.” DR. GOLDMANN REPORTS

Dr. Goldmann, who was the chief negotiator of the Bonn-Israel agreement, reported that the agreement “is proceeding honorably and in the most satisfactory manner, with obvious benefits to the Israel economy.” The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, he said, will soon receive approximately $8,000,000 to $9,000,000 from Israel as its first annual share of the German settlement. On March 19, the board of directors of the Conference will meet in New York to distribute these monies to qualified agencies engaged in the rehabilitation of Nazi victims residing outside Israel.

Dr. Goldmann contrasted West Germany’s conduct with that of East Germany, which submitted a demand to the Berlin Big Four Conference that the Bonn-Israel agreement be cancelled in the event that Germany is unified. “The position taken by the Communist regime in East Germany is not surprising,” he said. “The notice it has now served upon the Berlin Big Four Conference is consistent with this shameful conduct throughout in refusing to consider Jewry’s and Israel’s claims.

“We have every reason to trust that in the event of reunification negotiations between the two German regimes, the West German leaders will insist on the continuation of the agreement with Israel and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany,” Dr. Goldmann declared.