Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

German Jews Support Israel’s Demand for Restitution and Compensation from Germany

February 7, 1951
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Israel’s demands upon Germany for restitution and compensation for those Jews now in Israel who suffered bodily injury or property loss during the Nazi regime were backed here today by the recently-elected secretary general of the Central Council of German Jews, Dr. H.G. Van Dam. Writing in a Jewish publication, Dr. Van Dam said that since Israel has taken in so many victims of Nazism, including orphaned, Germany must recognize Israel’s reparation demands.

At a recent meeting in Dusseldorf of the Union of Jewish Communities of the British zone representatives of various Jewish communities in northwest Germany expressed concern over the exhibition of Veit Harlan’s films in Germany and other disquieting signs of the return of Nazis to power and public acceptance. The conference, which also considered property restitution problems, recommended that individual claims should not be forfeited in a general reparations settlement unless the individual claimant renounces his claim in favor of the proposed Jewish Restitution Trust Corporation.

In Kassel protests have been registered against the municipality’s proposal to create a memorial to the victims of Nazism. The protests are not aimed at the idea of a memorial, but at the fact that of seven persons named to judge entries for the memorial, six are former Nazis or one-time member of the Nazi Party’s para-military organizations.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement