In
2001, Austria created the General Settlement
Fund to compensate Holocaust victims who
were robbed of businesses, property, bank
accounts and insurance policies during
the Nazi era, when they country was annexed
to Adolf
Hitler's Third Reich. Payments
were delayed, however, because Austria
refused to make distributions so long as
legal actions against Austria were
proceeding in the United States.
In
November 2005, the last case was dismissed
by a New York court and the Austrian government
subsequently began to mail letters to some
of the 19,300
Holocaust survivors who applied for
compensation payments. The letters informed
the first 100 people how much they would
receive after signing a waiver releasing
Austria from further responsibility. Survivors
are eligible for up to $2 million for liquidated
businesses, looted bank accounts, unpaid
insurance policies and other assets.
Under
the agreement, victims of Nazi persecution
alo have an opportunity to reclaim property
confiscated by the Nazis that is now controlled
by the Austrian government. Only a handful
of claims have been resolved so far, and
80 are pending.
In
addition, the Austrian government and the
provincial governments agreed to provide
$40 million to support Austrian Jewish
institutions.
The
government of Austria and a number of Austrian
companies pledged to pay $210 million to
endow the fund once all court cases against
Austria relating to the Holocaust were
resolved. According
to Stuart Eizenstat, President Clinton's
special representative on Holocaust-era
issues, the feeling during negotiations
with the Austrians was that “the
traditional trial system never would have
worked in the victims' lifetime.” Eizenstat
noted that lawyers who opposed a non-trial
settlement delayed the settlement and,
during that time, the number of Austrian
survivors declined from 21,000 to 13,000.
According to
Eizenstat a three-person claims committee
created in 2001 reached decisions on 2,700
cases by mid-December, and is expected
to resolve the remaining claims by the
spring of 2007.
Sources: Jerusalem Post, (December 15,
2005); Stuart
Eizenstat, “Austria Comes to Terms
With Its Past,” Forward, (December
16, 2005)