Supplementing its recent decree outlawing racial and religious persecution, the Yugoslav National Council has adopted legislation restoring to Jews property taken from them by the Germans or Yugoslav collaborators, it was announced today. The new law provides for:
1. Immediate restoration of property to individuals or groups who were compelled to leave the country because of the German occupation.
2. Annulment of expropriations instituted for racial or religious reasons.
3. Restoration of confiscated Jewish property by special tribunals irrespective of the claims that the present owners may make against the former owner in connection with the property.
4. Immediate surrender of former Jewish property to the Administration of State Properties regardless of how it was acquired. If the owner has died or disappeared, the property may be assigned to his heirs, but not until one year after the war. If the property is considerable, however, the court may assign only a part of it to private administrators to avoid accumulation of large fortunes.
The decree provides that persons failing to surrender Jewish property held by them will be punished by large fines and three years imprisonment.
A report on the position of Yugoslav Jewry issued this week by David Alcalay and Friedrich Pops, leaders of the Jewish community, stated that funds, clothing, shoes and linen were urgently needed. At the same time, the report stressed the absolute equality of Jewish citizens in the country.
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