The West German Government and its various states have already paid out over $1,000,000,000 In restitution to victims of Nazism, to the Conference on Jewish Material. Claims Against Germany and in reparations to the State of Israel, the Official Government Bulletin reported here yesterday.
As of last April 1, the bulletin said. West Germany had paid out 4,500,000,000 deutschemarks. It added that for the current fiscal year, another 2,500,000,000 deutschemarks had been allocated by Federal and state treasuries. In another estimate, the bulletin said that if all funds allocated through next March 31 for the general and specific restitution and compensation programs were paid out, a total of 8,000,000,000 deutschemarks will have been made available to Nazi victims.
Taking note of a controversy which several months ago rocked German national life, the bulletin said that current estimates of the total cost of the restitution program for Nazi victims varied between 14,000,000,000 and 24,000,000,000 marks–a range of better than $2,500,000,000. Justice Minister Fritz Schaeffer brought criticism from all sides when he said that the cost of restitution for the Jews alone might hit 30,000,000,000 marks.
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