A bill calling for the payment of 1,000,000,000 Deutsche marks ($250,000,000) to indemnify so-called “loyal” purchasers of Jewish property during the Nazi regime has been drafted here for introduction at the next session of the Bundestag, lower House of Parliament. The bill, drafted by the dominant Christian Democratic Union, reportedly has the support of deputies representing the Social Democratic and Free Democrat parties.
The “loyal” purchasers of Jewish property are Germans who were forced, after World War II, to return such property to Jews or to Jewish successor organizations. They claim they had bought the Jewish property in good faith, paying valid market values. Altogether, claims by the “loyal” purchasers amount to four times the total envisaged by the newly proposed legislation.
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