West German President Gustav Heinemann has promised a delegation of former French deportees that he would personally support the prolongation of the period in which claims for indemnification can be filed by victims of Nazism. This was stated here today to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by circles close to the association of former French deportees. Heinemann had recently received a delegation of former deportees who asked the West German President to intercede, in order to allow victims of Nazism to file claims after the date of Oct. 1953.
They also asked that Heinemann should intercede in favor of those former deportees against whom legal action had been taken. Heinemann’s response was reported to have been most friendly. He promised to do his best so as to change the law–which presently states that no indemnification claims can be filed after Oct. 1953. He also agreed to wield his influence in order to stop legal proceedings against those former deportees who had filed false claims. There have been reported cases of Jewish deportees falsely claiming they had filed their demands before the decisive date, in order to obtain indemnifications. The Federal Ministry of Justice has taken legal action against some of them and it is this kind of proceedings which Heinemann agreed to try to stop.
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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.
