The Vienna Jewish community, in a statement issued on the eve of the Jewish New Year, said that many problems of indemnification of Jewish victims of the German occupation of Austria remained unsolved and appealed for public support of the “just cause” of its claims for compensation.
William Krell, general secretary, speaking in the name of the Jewish community, declared at a press conference that there were foes of such compensation in both coalition parties and that both parties gave greater weight to mass opinion on the problem than to its solution.
He repeated the Jewish community’s demand for compensation for Austrian synagogues wrecked by the Nazis valued at 140,000,000 schillings. He noted that the Government had replied to a proposal for a lump sum settlement of less than 50,000,000 schillings with an offer of only 10,000,000 schillings.
He urged an amendment in legislation for the welfare of victims to expand its benefits and enactment of measures to enable collecting agencies to reclaim heirless property to use it for the rehabilitation of victims of Nazism living in Austria. He emphasized that legislation enacted to date does not meet legitimate demands for indemnification. He cited as an example the fact that almost nothing has been done in Austria in compensation of Nazi persecutees.
The Jewish Community official expressed dissatisfaction with the $6,000,000 fund set up by the Austrian Government, asserting that it benefitted only a few people living almost entirely abroad.
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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.
