The government sponsored “Equalization of Burdens Bank here has increased from nearly $3.000 to $7.000 the maximum amount of business loans that may be extended to non-German businessmen artisans manufacturers and professionals, provided they there by become self supporting.
Whereas Germans, former German Jews and “ethnic German” refugees from Eastern Europe, have long been eligible for low interest government loans. DP’s from Eastern Europe who settled in Germany after the war were until last year excluded from the government loan program. Partly upon the intervention of the Central Jewish Council and the Association of Jewish Businessmen and Industrialists in Germany, remaining Marshall Plan counterpart funds were tapped to finance loans for productive and self-sustaining projects undertaken by non-Germans who are legal residents of the country.
More than 1.400 loans with a total face value of $2,000,000 have so far been approved by the “Equalization of Burdens” Bank, About 10 percent of the beneficiaries are former Jewish DP’s, the remainder are for the most part non-Jewish political exiles from Eastern Europe.
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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.
