Decision no. 533/2009

In 1938, the requested property was owned by Eduard G. He was considered a Jew pursuant to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and was deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz in 1943. From 1940 onwards, negotiations took place between the German Reich Railways and the railway residents concerning various land assignments for the expansion of the track system of the Crown Price Rudolf line and of the station Steindorf/Ossiachersee. In 1941, within the scope of these negotiations, Eduard G. submitted a declaration according to which he was prepared to cede the areas subject of this application for the purposes of the expansion of the station Steindorf/Ossiachersee for a price of 0.50 Reichsmark/m². In this declaration it was also recorded by hand that Eduard G. was a Jew and therefore the redemption of the land was subject to approval of the Property Transaction Office. The land, with an area of 327 m² was then sold to the German Reich Railways. Eduard G. signed the purchase contract on 4 February 1944 as a prisoner of the concentration camp Auschwitz. The purchase price of 0.50 Reichsmark/m² was also prescribed for the other residents who were not subject to persecution and had had to cede land to the Reich Railways. The proceeds of the sale amounting to 168.50 Reichsmark were transferred to a frozen account held in Eduard G.’s name. With a decision of 1948, the main and subsidiary lines of the Crown Price Rudolf line, on which the property subject of this application is located, were restituted to the Republic of Austria “as the aggrieved owner”.

In contrast to the other property parcels, which formed a narrow strip of land and widened the train route to the north, the property parcels belonging to Eduard G. consisted of a triangular wedge south of the train route, which due to their geographical location could neither serve the expansion of the station nor the extension of the train route by two sets of tracks. The reasons of the German Reich Railway for wanting to use Eduard G.’s property parcels for the expansion of the station Steindorf/Ossiachersee could therefore not be followed. Therefore, the Arbitration Panel reached the conclusion that the property parts were seized with the purchase contract between Eduard G. and the German Reich Railways due to Eduard G.’s Jewish origins.

In the restitution decision of 1948, no specific property parcels are listed; only the general course of the Crown Prince Rudolf line. Therefore, the partial area belonging to Eduard G. had obviously been restituted to the Republic in error. Eduard G. and/or his legal successor were at no time personally involved in the proceedings. This allowed the conclusion to be drawn that the decisions were passed without the actual ownership statuses being taken into consideration. As a result, these restitution proceedings could not be assessed as prior proceedings. The restitution claim is therefore merited.