Germany Wants to Use Restitution Funds to Compensate “aryanizers”

The West German Government has proposed to the Allies that part of the 1,500,000,000 marks which are to be applied to restitution for assets seized from Jews by the Nazi regime, should be used to recompense Germans who acquired Jewish property “in good faith,” the New York Times reports from Berlin. About 97,000 such properties have been taken from German “Aryanizers” in Berlin, the report says.

“West Germany has contended that the Jewish claims so far do not add up to 1,500,000,000 marks. Accordingly, the Government wants to include in that amount compensation to Germans who were owners of identifiable property already returned by the Allies to former Jewish owners,” the Times report explains.

Jewish organizations have complained that the listing of claims was closed a long time ago and that it was impossible at the time for all properly documented claims to be presented, the report points out. It adds that repayment to Jews comes under the Paris Agreements on German sovereignty after the agreements are ratified. Jews living in Berlin suffered the largest loss and restitution to them makes up a great part of the entire problem, the Times correspondent emphasizes.

The Association Against Deprivation of Rights is the name of the organization of former owners of restored Jewish property. In a declaration it asked that those who had “loyally” acquired Jewish property be compensated for losses suffered through the return of Jewish property. The attorney for the organization, Alfred Babendreyer, stated that representatives of the organization had been told by Allied spokesmen that the issue of compensation must be taken up with the West German Government.