The unsatisfactory state of compensation procedures in the British zone of Germany and the generally slow progress of restitution and indemnification in the zone as well as poor enforcement of restitution legislation throughout Western Germany was described here today by Dr. H.G. Van Dam, secretary-general of the Central Council of the Jews in Germany.
In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Dr. Van Dam declared that there was general dissatisfaction among Jews with British zonal compensation measures and that, in fact, no general claims law existed in the zone. The only thing that did exist, he added, were laws providing pensions to victims of the Nazis who were in distress–and these apply only to persons now resident in Germany. He called for the introduction in the British zone of laws similar to those in the American zone and in Berlin.
Concerning the enforcement of compensation laws in the rest of Western Germany, he said the states were not carrying out the measures adequately, claiming that they did not have the necessary funds to meet their obligations. This, Dr. Van Dam called a regrettable example of “buck passing. ” Among the various weaknesses of compensation legislation in general, he listed provisions which forced a pensioner to surrender his pension if he moved from the state which paid it another province in Germany.
GERMANS BELIEVE RESTITUTION WILL BE AMENDED
Concerning the restitution of identifiable property, he said progress was lagging. He attributed this to two factors: the absence of proper currency conversion laws; and the German belief that restitution legislation will be amended after the occupation statute is changed.
Dr. Van Dam cleared up a misconception which arose after a meeting of the Central Council on the problem of negotiating with Germany to honor Jewish and Israel Government claims. He said the Council had agreed to the priority of Israel’s collective claims over all other collective claims. But the honoring of individual claims was another matter altogether, he asserted.
Discussing the rise of neo-Nazism in Germany, he stated that the majority of the German people was possibly not Nazi or Nazi-inclined, but he warned that “the minority which is Nazi should not be under-rated. ” He stressed that the presence of former Nazis in leading positions is another “point of insecurity. “
He decried the delay in bringing to trial Nazi war criminals, citing the experiences of the current trial of four Gestapo men for murdering Jews in the Riga ghetto. He charged that the chief criminal, H. Arajs, had escaped to South America because he was tipped off before the trial began. At the end of the war Arajs, one-time head of the Nazi Latvian Security Force, was arrested by the British authorities who later released him and still later gave him employment.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
