Nazi compensation deal defended

VIENNA, Austria -- Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel has defended his parliament's decision to approve a $360 million compensation deal for people who had property stolen during the Nazi era.

His comments came after a representative of Austria's Jews called the deal inadequate and refused to endorse it.

Austria signed the agreement with the U.S. Government on January 17 in return for dismissal of survivors' lawsuits over property seized by the Nazis.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel rejected the criticism and told CNN he thought it was "a fair deal."

AUDIO Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel on reparation payments to nazi victims. Sensitive to the past 400K/37 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Closure for the companies and victims 320K/29 sec. AIFF or WAV sound A fair deal 390K/35 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Austria – back in the EU family 460K/42 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The money is separate from an earlier agreement of $400 million for forced labour survivors, and is meant as restitution for those who lost apartments and other property after Austria became part of Nazi Germany in 1938 and received no -- or inadequate -- previous recompense.

Some money will go for unpaid insurance policies and for health care and pensions for people forced to flee the country.

Ariel Muzicant, the head of Austria's Jewish community, initialed the agreement in Washington, and Austria's parliament approved it unanimously late on Wednesday.

Also approved was a statement in which parliament expressed "its regret that there were gaps and inadequacies in the widespread measures of restitution ... for victims of (Hitler's) National Socialism."

But Muzicant said he would not endorse the package by giving it his full signature.

"Austria wants ... a sort of whitewash to keep Aryanized properties except for (some) real estate," he said, asserting that the package did not deal with compensation for objects beyond buildings, art and similar property now owned by the federal government.

"You own a piano, a piano stolen by the Nazis and it's now in a museum," he said. "It's not going to go back. You owned coins -- if they're not very old and not considered art objects, they're not going back."

He also complained that a passage stipulating the return to the Jewish community of property where no heirs had been identified was stricken from the final package.

Austrian wishes for legal closure would be disappointed because of the alleged failings of the package. Lawyers "will argue as I argue now, and say 'this country owns Aryanized property,"' he said.

Schussel told CNN it was not true that only real estate theft would be compensated for and not "moveable" objects such as works of art. He said all property would be compensated for.

He admitted Austria had been slow to respond to the thefts but said the country had been "very poor" after World War II.

He said the new government which stepped into office a year ago wanted to deal with the past wrongs.

Austrian officials rejected the criticism as unfounded and said Muzicant's refusal to add his full signature had no legal weight.

Ernst Sucharipa, the chief Austrian negotiator of the deal, said "cultural and religious objects" would be returned to Jewish organisations.

He said the federal government had no authority to impose the settlement's terms on provincial or city governments that might now own Aryanized property taken from Jews.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Republic of Austria
Austrian Freedom Party

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