Decision no. 737a/2011

The subject of the proceedings was a property in the Municipality of Sommerein, which the former owner Rosa H. had had to sell to the German Armed Forces in 1940. In contrast to the other inhabitants of Sommerein, who had also had to sell their property, she was persecuted by the National Socialist regime for being Jewish and had neither the opportunity to negotiate the terms of the sale nor authority of disposition over the proceeds.

A restitution application filed by the nephews of Rosa H., who had been deported and murdered in early 1942, was rejected by the Financial Directorate for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland in 1958. In the 1960s, the property was sold by the Republic of Austria to private parties within the scope of settlement proceedings; a partial area was incorporated into the newly constructed provincial road. Another part was partitioned off this area in 1997 and transferred to the Municipality of Sommerein.

In the proceedings before the Arbitration Panel, the heirs of Rosa H.’s two nephews submitted a renewed request for the property. In decision no. 737/2011, the Arbitration Panel was able to confirm two applicants’ claims for restitution of the partial area which was still owned by the Province of Lower Austria on the GSF Law cut off day, 17 January 2001. As this partial area forms part of a provincial road, restitution in rem was not, however, practical.

For this reason, pursuant to Sec. 34 of the GSF Law the Arbitration Panel recommended that the applicants be awarded the current market value of the land. The Lower Austrian provincial government consented and upon the Arbitration Panel’s request to determine to exact dimensions of the affected area, established it to be 182 m². In order to determine the current market value, the Arbitration Panel commissioned an independent court-sworn expert in the field of real estate valuation. Her report formed the basis for the recommended payment of 4,300 Euros.