Fifteen U.S. Jewish Leaders to Attend Claims Conference Sessions

The board of directors of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, representing 22 major Jewish organizations throughout the free world, will hold meetings in Paris on February 5-6, Jacob Blaustein, senior vice-president of the Conference announced today prior to his departure for Europe. Fifteen Jewish leaders from the United States will participate in the sessions.

The meetings will concern themselves principally with the program for allocation of the funds which the Conference will receive during 1955 by the terms of the reparations agreement with the Garman Federal Republic. The board of directors will need to give consideration to requests for grants approaching the sum of 50 million dollars, submitted by nearly 400 organizations operating in 26 countries throughout the world.

“The board of directors will be faced with a very arduous task in determining the priority of need of victims of Nazi persecution, in view of the fact that the funds requested for 1955 are many times greater than the monies available for allocation,” Mr. Blaustein said. “The board will review the findings and recommendations submitted by its applications committee and by the many experts who, during the past several months, analyzed and evaluated every single application submitted to the conference.”

“The board of directors will also give consideration at its meetings to the existing deficiencies in implementation of the indemnification and restitution legislation for victims of Nazi persecution, which the German Federal Republic had enacted in great measure, on the basis of a special agreement which the German Federal Republic and the conference had concluded. These meetings of the board of directors are taking place in Europe in recognition of the international character of the conference membership and of the fact that a number of its member organizations are located on that continent,” the statement emphasized.