The German delegation to the reparations talks here today, for the first time, raised objections to the legislative program for individual restitution and in demnification for victims of the Nazis which has been proposed by the Conference on Jewish Claims Against Germany.
The Germans, taking issue with various specific points, said that if the Bonn Government grants such concessions to the Jews it will be in a position where other refugees and Nazi victims will also be entitled to claim them.
Moses A. Leavitt, head of the Conference negotiating team here, commenting on the German attitude, declared that they were not trying to evade accepting the Conference program. They have a “real desire” to meet the Conference’s legislative program, he said, but in ways different from those visualized by the Conference. Nonetheless, he said, the conversations on the legislative program should be completed some time next week.
The Germans did not make any offer to settle the Conference’s global claims for $500,000,000, as had been expected, because instructions had not been forthcoming from Bonn. There will be no further meetings between the Germans and the Israelis and Jews this week.
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