Legal experts in The Netherlands are trying to decide who owns some $22,500,000 worth of stocks and bonds confiscated from Dutch Jews by the Nazis and sold to an estimated 150,000 persons, it was reported here today from Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, a committee representing the original owners of the securities is meeting to decide on what steps to take to ensure their return to the rightful owners. The government is expected to introduce emergency legislation to cover the situation.
The situation became pressing in the last month when a special Dutch court ruled that all such securities must be returned to the original owners. The Amsterdam stock exchange closed for a week in protest against the court decision which, exchange officials said, would result in economic chaos if carried out in all cases. Although the strike was called off at the government’s request, Amsterdam stock brokers say the situation is “becoming acute.”
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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.
