Jewish Agency Seeks Extension of Deadline for Restitution to Refugees

A proposal for the extension of the eligibility deadline for prospective Jewish beneficiaries from funds to be allocated by the West German Government as restitution to refugees, who had suffered losses due to their nationality, was made here today by the Geneva representative of the Jewish Agency, Moshe Benevishti.

Mr. Benevishti made the proposal at a seminar conducted here by the European Headquarters of the United Nations. The purpose of the conference was to discuss – implementation of a recent agreement between the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and the West German Government for payment of reparations to such refugees as had lost property under the Nazi regime, due to their nationality.

The U.N.-German pact on this subject, as it stands now, provides that prospective beneficiaries would be only persecutees who were refugees by October 1, 1953. Mr. Benevishti proposed that the deadline be extended at least until 1961. He pointed out that the 1953 deadline excludes refugees who could not register their status until after 1953, due to their detention in countries dominated by the Communists.

The Jewish Agency proposal was supported at the seminar by Dame May Curwen, representative of the British Council for Aid to Refugees, as well as by the delegate representing the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The British delegate told the seminar her organization had already adopted a resolution endorsing views similar to those expressed by Mr. Benevishti.