Decision no. 1034/2014

Application

 

Applicant, Status

Gertrude W., Recommendation
Hilda W., Recommendation

Public owner

Republik Österreich

Type of property

immovable

Real estate in

KG Judendorf (60315), Leoben, Steiermark | show on map

Decision

 

Number

1034/2014

Date

06 Mar 2014

Reasons

Outside the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Panel or the scope of application of the GSF Law
No prior measure pursuant to the GSF Law

Type

substantive

Decision in anonymous form

Related decision

Press release

Press Release Decision No. 1034/2014

Leoben, Judendorf
On 6 March 2014, the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution granted two applications for in rem restitution of a partial area of a historical property parcel in Leoben, cadastral district (“KG) Judendorf on their merits. As in rem restitution is not possible, the Arbitration Panel will set the amount of a comparable asset in a supplementary decision. The applications for in rem restitution of two partial areas of the historical property parcel in Leoben, Judendorf were rejected as the partial areas had not constituted publicly-owned property on the cut off day. Furthermore, an application for in rem restitution of another property in Leoben, KG Judendorf was rejected as this property had not been publicly-owned on 17 January 2001 either.

The requested property, a field in KG Judendorf formed part of a property in KG Leoben-Stadt. In March 1938, this property was owned in equal shares by the spouses Simon and Anna W., who, following the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich, were considered Jewish in accordance with the Nuremberg Laws of 1935.

On 30 January 1939, Simon and Anna W. sold the property for 33,600 Reichsmark. The National Socialist Property Transaction Office in Graz reduced the purchase price to 31,600 Reichsmark. The purchase price had to be deposited into a frozen account designated “dejewification proceeds”. The sale was recorded in the land register on 23 June 1939.

Simon W. died in Vienna on 7 February 1940. His wife Anna W. and their children managed to flee abroad.

In 1942 the Überlandgrundstück (“property parcel recorded in a different KG to that of the property to which it belongs”) in Judendorf subject of the applications was partitioned off the property in KG Leoben-Stadt and sold to the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

After the end of the National Socialist regime, Anna W. and their heirs of Simon W. filed for restitution of the property in the KG Leoben-Stadt. The proceedings resulted in the property being restituted in 1952. However, the property parcel in Judendorf subject of the present applications was not included in these proceedings.

On 17 January 2001, a 328 m² partial area of the property parcel subject of the applications was owned by the Österreichische Bundenbahnen. Two partial areas with a total area of 51 m² were owned by the Municipality of Leoben.

The Arbitration Panel considered it proven that the property parcel subject of the applications had been seized. As a partial area of 328 m² was publicly-owned on 17 January 2001 and there had also been no prior measure as defined by Sec. 32 of the Entschädigungsfondsgesetz (“General Settlement Fund Law” – GSF Law) regarding this area, the applications of the granddaughter and daughter-in-law of Simon and Anna W. was to be granted on its merits. In rem restitution is not feasible due to existing leasehold contracts. For this reason, in consultation with the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology the Arbitration Panel will set the amount of a comparable asset as compensation.

The applications regarding the 51 m² partial area owned by the Municipality of Leoben had to be rejected as it was not publicly-owned as defined by Sec. 28 of the GSF Law.

At the time of the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich, the second property in Judendorf subject of the applications, with an area of 7,402 m², was wholly-owned by Julie R., a daughter of Simon and Anna W. In 1939, the German Reich secured claims for Jewish capital levy and Reich Flight Tax on the property. In June 1941 it was subject of an enforced auctioning procedure. The buyer was recorded in the land register in December 1941. In the meantime, Julie R. had fled with her family to Uruguay.

In April 1948, Julie R. filed an application for restitution of the property in question at the Restitution Commission for Styria, External Senate Leoben. In July 1952, a settlement was reached in which Julie R. waived restitution of the property in exchange for a payment of 73,500 Schilling.

On 17 January 2001 partial areas of this property were owned by the Municipality of Leoben as property parcels forming part of a public road; the remaining are was in private ownership. As the property was therefore not publicly-owned as defined by Sec. 28 of the GSF Law, the Arbitration Panel rejected Julie R.’s daughter’s application for in rem restitution.

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