Decision no. 88c/2013

In the decisions 88/2006 of 20 March 2006, 88a/2006 of 12 July 2006 and 88b/2007, the application for restitution of a property in the 1^st District of Vienna, owned by the Republic of Austria, had already been recommended.

The former owner of the property had been the Jewish industrial magnate Ferdinand B.-Ba. who had had to sell his entire assets as a result of the National Socialist assumption of power in March 1938. The property was sold to the German Reich.

Restitution proceedings, which had been initiated by the heirs to Ferdinand B.-Ba. in 1947, were concluded with a settlement with the Republic of Austria, the subsequent owner. After examining the settlement, the Arbitration Panel reached the conclusion that it constituted an “extreme injustice” pursuant to the Entschädigungsfondsgesetz (“General Settlement Fund Law” – GSF Law). Among other things, it was also established that during the course of the settlement negotiations the Republic of Austria exploited its superior position and exerted pressure on the restitution claimants.

Following decisions 88/2006, 88a/2006 and 88b/2007 of the Arbitration Panel had been issued, a further application for restitution was received. Since the application was based on the same historical facts which had been decisive for the foregoing decisions, the Arbitration Panel had only to examine whether the current applicant could be considered as the heir to the former property owner Ferdinand B.-Ba. and was therefore eligible to file an application. The Arbitration Panel denied this on the basis of Ferdinand B.-Ba’s last will and testament and rejected the application.