Compensation for Former Forced Laborers and Jewish Victims

In October 2000, Austrian representative Maria Schaumayr signed an agreement with the United States, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to arrange financial compensation for the work done by forced laborers during W.W.II. Austrian Jews whose assets were either confiscated or stolen are also included in the settlement.
A team has been established by the Austrian government to manage the fund needed to make the compensation payments, which total about $375 million, about 40 percent of which was contributed by Austrian industrial and trade organizations. Eventually, some 150,000 people who were forced to work in Nazi-operated factories on Austrian territory will be compensated.
The homepage http://www.reconciliationfund.at provides application details for former slave laborers.

Forced laborers building a powerplant
in the Austrian Alps

Contact addresses of allied organizations in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary can also be found there. People living in countries other than the ones mentioned above can contact the Reconciliation Fund in Vienna. Thomas Klestil, President of Austria, called this agreement an “important moral gesture.”
In the case of the compensation of Jewish victims, the Austrian government is offering an overall financial restitution package in the amount of $150 million. In return, Austria has requested that the United States provide assurances that no further restitution claims will be filed.
Financial compensation never can erase the real suffering endured by the victims. Austria’s “Aryanization” program meant the confiscation of any “non-Aryan’s” house, apartment, business, and all personal possessions—in short, “Aryanization” was a code word for legalized stealing. In Vienna alone, some 60,000 rental units belonging to Austrian Jews were taken over by Austrian Nazis. Ernst Sucharipa, special envoy for questions relating to restitution, will need another three years to finish his work due to the large number of cases involved; but payments of approximately $7000 per person could begin this Spring. For further information about reconciliation, please visit the following homepage:
http://www.nationalfonds.parlament.gv.at.
One can only hope that with this step toward compensation, both Austrian Jewish victims and those who were brought to Austria and forced to work in slave-like conditions, will be assured that Austria has indeed come to terms with its darkest chapter in recent history. “We must never forget,” said Austria’s Chancellor, Wolfgang Schuessel.

Martin Heim (Austrian Gedenkdienst Intern)

Announcement directing landlords to inform Nazi
authorities about the availability of apartments that
Jewish renters had been forced to leave.

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