Former residents of Germany who were compelled to emigrate because of Nazi persecution are entitled to compensation for the financial losses they suffered in transferring their funds abroad, according to a new amendment to the Federal Indemnification Law.
The “transfer losses” covered by the amendment, refer to the differential between the official rate of exchange and the much smaller amount in foreign currency paid to the emigrant through such devices as “blocked” marks. The law previously permitted claims in this category only if the losses claimed were “particularly heavy” and exceeded 80 per cent. Under the new amendment, a loss of only 20 per cent has to be shown.
Devaluation of the German currency in 1948 is taken into account in the amendment and a loss of 100 reichsmark of the Hitler era is equated at-20 Deutschemark today Claimants must submit full documentary proof.
Experts here expresses the belief that the significance of the amendment to the indemnification law has not been sufficiently recognized and that it may ultimately prove to be on of the most rewarding features of compensation legislation for Jews who had to leave Germany between Hitler’s accession to power in 1933 and the outbreak of war in 1939.
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.
