The Austrian Government’s “Third Restitution Law,” which covers mainly Jewish property now in the hands of private individuals, has been called back for further study by Minister of Property Custody Peter Krauland, following strong protests by Jewish circles. It will be taken up at an inter-ministerial conference on Nov. 4, it was learned here today.
The objections to the present draft arise from the fact that it deals only with forced sale of properties by a Jew to a non-Jew, in most cases a Nazi, but does not cover other means by which the Nazis stripped the Jews of their property, such as auctioning if off, with a Nazi purchaser obtaining the property at a fraction of its value.
Another flaw in the proposed law is that it provides for a lengthy and complicated restitution procedure, under which the present holders of the property would remain in possession for at least another year and which would give them the full legal protection given legitimate owners.
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.
