Decision no. 977/2013

The case brought before the Arbitration Panel involved a 136 m² property, which had been part of the Jewish Quarter of the Municipality of Frauenkirchen in 1938, upon which a modest residential building was situated. Its owner Gisela Ra. was resident in the former Czechoslovakia and was persecuted by the National Socialist for being Jewish.

Once the majority of the Jewish population had by July 1938 been expelled from Frauenkirchen following the Anschluss, the Mayor laid claim to the Jewish properties there for the Municipality and subsequently had the entire Jewish Quarter torn down, including Gisela Ra.’s house.

On 6 April 1943, the Municipality of Frauenkirchen placed the highest bid of 136 Reichsmark for Gisela Ra.’s property in an auction initiated by the Municipality itself. The Local Court Neusiedl consequently awarded the property to the Municipality.

In April 1942, Gisela Ra. was deported to the extermination camp Auschwitz where she was murdered.

After the war, the representative in absentia for Gisela Ra. commenced restitution proceedings against the Municipality of Frauenkirchen for this property. Although the Municipality had agreed to restitute the property, the proceedings were suspended without reaching conclusion as the heirs of Gisela Ra. had not entered into the proceedings. The property was not subsequently claimed by the collection agencies and remained under the ownership of the Municipality of Frauenkirchen.

In the proceedings before the Arbitration Panel, the Municipality of Frauenkirchen declared that it was in favour of restituting the property subject of the application, which on the cut off day pursuant to the GSF Law, 17 January 2001, comprised an area of 115 m², and a further 5 m² which had since been transferred into the communal property of the Municipality of Frauenkirchen. Therefore, the Arbitration Panel recommended the in rem restitution of these areas. The remaining 16 m² was not publicly-owned on the cut off day and the applications therefore had to be rejected in this regard.

However, due to the fact that the recommended area is today used as a road, an actual restitution does not come into question. The Arbitration Panel will recommend the Municipality of Frauenkirchen to award the applicant the market value of the land.