Decision no. 845/2012

Application

 

Applicant, Status

Ilse K., Rejection

Public owner

Stadt Wien

Type of property

immovable

Real estate in

KG Ahorn (42001), Bad Ischl, Oberösterreich | show on map
KG Leopoldstadt (01657), Wien, Wien | show on map
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Decision

 

Number

845/2012

Date

13 Jun 2012

Reasons

In rem restitution already granted after 1945
Outside the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Panel or the scope of application of the GSF Law
Other grounds for the decision

Type

substantive

Decision in anonymous form

Press release

Press Release Decision No. 845/2012

Vienna, Leopoldstadt and Upper Austria, Bad Ischl
On 13 June 2012, the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution rejected an application for restitution of two properties in Vienna Leopoldstadt and of a villa in Bad Ischl as the properties had either not been seized or had been restituted in 1949.

At the time of the National Socialist assumption of power in Austria in 1938, Julius B., a librettist in Vienna, had owned a 1/9 share of the requested properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt. Julius B. had also owned a villa in Bad Ischl at this time. Julius B. belonged to the Jewish Religious Community and was considered Jewish pursuant to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. In mid-September 1938, he fled with his family to Zurich.

In May 1941, Julius B.’s entire assets were confiscated by the Gestapo (“Secret State Police”) and the properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt were seized for the benefit of the German Reich. As regards the villa in Bad Ischl, the confiscation was noted in the land register; however, no change of ownership occurred. Julius B. died in April 1943 in Nice. His sole heir was his widow Rosemarie B., who emigrated to the USA after the war.

In June 1948, Rosemarie B. was recorded in the land register as sole owner of the villa in Bad Ischl. In February 1949, on the basis of the provisions of the Erstes Rückstellungsgesetz (“First Restitution Act”), the Financial Directorate ordered the restitution of the 1/9 share of the properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt to Rosemarie B. The ownership title to the property was subsequently recorded in her name. In the following years, Rosemarie B. sold both the property in Bad Ischl and the property shares in Leopoldstadt. On 17 January 2001, the cut off day pursuant to the Entschädigungsfondsgesetz (“General Settlement Fund Law”), parts of the requested properties were owned by the City of Vienna.

In its juridical appraisal, the Arbitration Panel held that the requested properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt had been seized under National Socialist rule. However, the villa in Bad Ischl was not subjected to a seizure. As the seized property shares had been restituted in their entirety to the heir of the aggrieved owner, the application for in rem restitution had to be rejected.

For use by media; not legally binding upon the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution.
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