Austria to Pay Compensation to Certain Categories of Aged Nazi Victims

Chancellor Alfons Gorbach announced in Parliament today that preparations had been completed to make advance compensation payments before Christmas to certain groups of aged and needy victims of the Nazi period in Austria,

He made the statement in reply to moves by the Socialist party in the Finance Committee in which discussions had been held on the possibility of such advance payments to victims entitled to such payments under the twelfth amendment to the Victims Restitution Law which Parliament approved last year but which has so far not been implemented.

Socialist Deputy Rosa Hochman noted that the new law cannot go into effect until the West German Bundestag ratifies an Austrian-West German agreement which provides a substantial West German contribution to the Austrian fund for such payments; The deputy added that since West German ratification cannot be expected in the near future, the Austrian Government should proceed with advance payments.

In Graz, Vice-Chancellor Bruno Pitterman and other members of Austria’s Cabinet joined Austrian Jewish leaders today in ceremonies unveiling a memorial to Jewish victims of Nazism at the Central Cemetery there; Protests against the erection of the memorial, however, were voiced by the Federation of Former Soldiers and by some students at the University of Graz. The opponents claimed that erection of such a memorial “produces hatred,”