Assets deposited in Switzerland by Jews resident in Germany and blocked in that country as German property as a result of an agreement concluded in 1946 between the Allied and Swiss Governments, will be released shortly, according to an announcement here today by the World Jewish Congress.
The terms of a new settlement among the Allied Powers, Switzerland and the West German Federal Republic replacing the Washington agreement concerning German property in Switzerland signed May 25, 1946, are expected to be ratified shortly by the Swiss Parliament.
The new agreement provides that assets of persons who “lost their life or a considerable part of their liberty or their full German citizen rights by law, ordinances or measures of the German National Socialist Government” will be released on application without any deduction. In other instances, releases of more than 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately $2,000) are subject to deductions of up to 50 percent.
Exemption from deductions for victims of the Nazis is in accordance with representations on the part of the WJC and the Joint Distribution Committee, in conjunction with the Swiss Union of Jewish Communities.
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