Property-Law Consequences of Nazi rule in Austria

Property-Law Consequences of Nazi rule in Austria

The Federal Law of 6 February 1947 on the Nullification of Property Seizures (the “Third Restitution Act”) declared that property seizures which had taken place in connection with the National Socialist seizure of power were null and void and established a mechanism for former owners to reclaim seized property from current owners. Claims arising from the Third Restitution Act were to be decided by special Restitution Commissions established at the regional-court level. Appeals from these tribunals went to Higher Restitution Commissions at the Higher Regional Courts, the ultimate instance was the Supreme Restitution Commission (SRC) at the Supreme Court. The Restitution Commissions and the Higher Restitution Commissions decided in senates with one professional judge as chairman and two lay judges as assessors. The SRC was composed entirely of members of the Supreme Court; among the best-known members of the SRC were Heinrich Klang and Karl Wahle.

More than 42,000 applications were filed before the Restitution Commissions; more than 11,000 appeals were filed before the Higher Restitution Commissions, and 2,842 appeals reached the SRC. In addition to actual restitution requests, the Commissions also ruled on counterclaims, recourse claims, and other claims resulting from the seizure of assets and restitution. The peak of the restitution commissions’ activity was around 1950. No new claims could be made from 1954 onwards (with a few exceptions), but the restitution commissions’ activity continued into the 1970s.

In 1998, the Federal Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, the President of the National Council and the President of the Federal Council appointed the Historical Commission of the Republic of Austria, which would research and report on the general subject of “Property seizures on the Territory of the Republic of Austria during the National Socialist era as well as Restitutions or Compensation (as well as Economic and Social Benefits) in the Republic of Austria after 1945”. The Historical Commission subsequently awarded a number of research contracts to historians and lawyers. I was a member of a project group headed by Franz Stefan Meissel which conducted a legal-historical analysis of the activities of the Restitution Commissions. Our final report was presented to the public at a press conference on 4 July 2002. The report appeared in book form along with the other reports of the Historical Commission about one and a half years later.