The Jewish successor organizations operating in West Germany under the restitution laws have decided to establish a trust fund to assist needy victims of Nazis, who failed to lodge their restitution claims and to avail them selves of the “equity” procedure under which the organizations made gratia payments to those who failed to make claims within the time limit fixed by the restitution laws.
Five trustees will administer the new “Equity Hardship Fund” which has been set up here. The trustees will consider applications for ex gratia payments to persons who would have qualified under the equity procedures of the successor organizations. Applications must be submitted before June 30, 1957 and must pertain to claims for identifiable property. No applicant will receive more than 50,000 deutschemarks and payments will be made only to persons who need assistance.
The three successor organizations have contributed two million deutschemarks to the fund. Successful applicants will receive 70 percent of the amount of their claim. Except incases of hardship, no payments will be made until all applications have been investigated.
The budget committee of the provincial legislature of Hesse has voted to make available the additional sum of $2,100,000 to meet required payments under the federal indemnification law and state legislation to victims of the Nazi regime who emigrated and are now returning for permanent settlement.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
