The utter indifference of the authorities to the situation of Jews seeking return of homes from which they were ejected during the Nazi regime today led to the suicide of one of the victims.
Worn out by futile efforts, which lasted more than a year, to secure return of his home, Walter Steiner, 44, a machinist, turned on the gas in his furnished room, leaving a widow and a child, both of whom are now homeless. His death attracted a great deal of attention among the Jews in Vienna, since it typifies the present conditions of Jewish life in the city and the Government’s attitude on the question of restoration of confiscated property.
(Austrian Foreign Minister Karl Gruber told a press conference in London today that restitution of property belonging to Jews in Austria and abroad will be made as soon as what he described as the conflict between reparations and restitution obligations is settled.)
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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.
