Committee on Jewish Claims on Austria Formed by Major Groups

A joint executive board of the major Jewish organizations in the free world has been formed to press the claims of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution in Austria. This was announced here following a meeting this week-end of the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria which represents 22 local and world-wide Jewish groups.

The meeting called for “early action by the Austrian Government to compensate, in some measure, its present and former citizens for the losses and privations they suffered under the Nazi regime.” The demand is on behalf of persons residing inside and outside Austria. The meeting also urged that heirless assets of Austrian Jews who perished under the Nazis be made available for the relief and rehabilitation of Jewish victims of these persecutions.

The executive board, which will act as the sole spokesman for all Jewish interests on this issue, has been established jointly by the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria and the Association of Jewish Communities in Austria. The Board will consist of 12 members, of whom nine, including the chairman, will be designated by the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria. The other three, including a vice-chairman, will be named later by the Association of Jewish Communities in Austria.

The following were named to the joint executive board by the Committee; Jacob Blaustein, president, American Jewish Committee; Julius Braunschwig, vice-president. Alliance Israelite Universelle; Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman, Jewish Agency; Frank Goldman, honorary president, B’nai B’rith Dr. Israel Goldstein, president, American Jewish Congress; Adoloph Held, chairman, Jewish Labor Committee Barnett Janner, vice-president, Board of Deputies of British Jews; Dr. Gustav Jellinek, World Council of Jews from Austria and Moses A. Leavitt, executive vice-chairman, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

The following organizations are members of the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria: Agudath Israel World Organization, Alliance Israelite Universally. American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, American Zionist Council, Anglo-Jewish Association, British Board of Deputies of British Jews, British Section of the World Jewish Congress, Canadian Jewish Congress and Central British Fund.

Also the Confederacies of Enfilades Representatives of Cultivate Israelite do Brazil, Counsel Representative of Justice De France, Delegation of Associations Israelites Argentina’s, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jewish Labor Committee, South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Synagogue Council of America, World Council of Jews from Austria, and World Jewish Congress.