Austrian Compensation Offers to Jews Described As “derisive”

The situation in reference to the world Jewish demands for restitution from the Austrian Government is “still extremely serious,” Barnett Janner, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told a meeting here of the Board.

Mr. Janner, who represents the Board on the Committee on Claims Against Austria, said that the Austrian Government was attempting to “side-step” the entire matter and was making offers of payment which he described as “derisive.” He predicted that unless the Austrians changed their attitude and realized they could not continue to “fiddle about” with the world Jewish communities the situation might reach the “breaking point.”