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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: December 8, 2005 |
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The head of a group that helps distribute Holocaust reparation funds said thousands of Austrian Jewish victims of the Nazi regime may receive some money within weeks after a judge on Wednesday dismissed litigation blocking the payouts.
Gideon Taylor, executive vice president of the Jewish Claims Conference, said initial payouts to up to 19,000 victims or their heirs could begin early next year.
The money would come from a $210 million Austrian General Settlement Fund for property losses that was established in January 2001 through negotiations with the Austrian government and businesses.
Payouts from the fund were required to be delayed until Holocaust-related lawsuits against the Austrian government were dismissed.
U.S. District Court Judge Shirley Wohl Kram formally dismissed the lawsuits Wednesday during a brief hearing in Manhattan. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month had directed that they be thrown out.
Taylor said he welcomed the dismissals and the likelihood of payouts shortly from the fund, in part because it would help set history straight.
"For many years, Austria was regarded as being a victim," he said. "This agreement is important because there was a very clear acknowledgment of the role and responsibility of Austria and a symbolic acknowledgment of the individuals who suffered. In many ways, the history is far more important than any monetary payments."
He said it was too early to tell how much would go to each of the victims or their heirs, but he suggested it would be little of what was lost.
Taylor said half the Austrian Holocaust survivors live in the United States and only a few thousand still live in Austria.
The amount of money each receives will depend on the types of losses they incurred and the number of applications approved from the 19,000 filed. The deadline for making a claim to the fund has passed.
About 20,000 Austrian Holocaust victims received initial $7,000 payouts from a separate $150 million fund shortly after the 2001 settlement, Taylor said, and additional payments of about $1,200 were sent out recently.
When the appeals court in a 2-1 ruling said the lawsuits must be dismissed, the judges noted that the U.S. government had said dismissing the cases would advance relations with Austria, Israel and Western, Central and Eastern European nations.
The U.S. government had engaged in international negotiations for more than 50 years to settle Nazi-era claims but intensified efforts in 2000, resulting in a 2001 agreement with Austria to establish the fund, the court noted.
The plaintiffs in the dismissed cases were present and former nationals of Austria and their heirs and successors who suffered from Nazi persecution between 1938 and 1945.
They brought a lawsuit in October 2000 against the Republic of Austria and an organization through which Austria owns, operates and controls commercial enterprises. Austria asked for dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds of sovereign immunity. |
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