Decision no. 68/2006

The application for in rem restitution at issue concerned circa 12,000 books from the property of an Austrian association, which had already been founded in 1838 and which dealt with the promotion of Austrian economic activities. In August 1938, the Commissary of Suspensions – a National Socialist institution entrusted with a “reform” of Austrian societies and associations – arranged the introduction of this association into a newly founded association. This was accompanied by a name change but without the annulment of the association’s legal personality. The property was also transferred to this new association. In 1941, the association’s library, which throughout history had grown to circa 12,000 volumes, had to be handed over to a university in Vienna. In 1946, the original association was reestablished in accordance with the Association Reorganization Law.

The Arbitration Panel examined the legal succession of the applicant as well as the possibility of in rem restitution of the seized library. The legal succession of the applicant which in 1946 had been re-established in accordance with the Association Reorganization Law, was affirmed. However, the General Settlement Fund Law provides that tangible movable property can only be restituted to Jewish communal organizations. The applicant has never claimed to be a Jewish communal organization. This could also not be determined since neither does a Jewish purpose emerge from the association’s statutes, nor is the affiliation to the Jewish religious community a prerequisite for a membership. As the association is not a Jewish communal organization, the Arbitration Panel had to dismiss the application for in rem restitution due to lack of jurisdiction.