A proposal that the Government of Western Germany legally recognize the state of Israel as heir to Jewish heirless and unclaimed property was placed before the parliament here by Prof. Carlo Schmid, a Social Democratic deputy.
Financial Under-Secretary of State Hartmann, told the parliament that there were serious doubts as to whether such legislation was possible since the Federal Republic could not make decisions affecting matters of civil law abroad. If the unknown heirs were of Israeli nationality, he declared, legislation in Israel might help matters, but in the case of non-Israeli unknown heirs no legislation by any single state would suffice and an international agreement would be necessary. He proposed that the question of federal legislation concerning unknown heirs not of German nationality and not resident in federal territory be investigated by the parliament’s legal committee.
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.
