THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: Restitution is on the way for Jews who were forced into slave labor in Austria during the Nazi era. The lawsuits handled in the U.S., and hundred of millions of dollars are expected to be paid as early as next month. The long-awaited payout had been held up by two lawsuits against the Austrian government. A U.S. district judge dismissed the suits, paving the way for aging victims to receive payments.
Austria's ORF has more on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JORG WINZER, ORF CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a historical day at the State Department in Washington on January 18, when Jewish survivor groups and lawyers signed the $500 million deal with Austria. The agreement for the first time in history will compensate the large number of Jews who lost property in Austria during the Nazi ear. Three months earlier, Austria had already agreed to a $400 million package as compensation for some 150,000 victims who were forced by the Nazis to work as slave laborers in Austrian companies and farms during World War II.
With the two agreements, Austria took financial responsibility for an era it had for decades passed over in silence.
BRIGITTE BAILLE-GALANDA, AUSTRIAN HISTORIANS COMM. (through translator): It was the first time that the Austrian Republic negotiated with victims and acknowledged that Austria has a historical responsibility for Nazi crimes. Until some years ago, the official position was: We didn't cause Nazi crimes, we are not responsible for them, therefore we are not obliged to pay compensation.
WINZER: In 1938, Hitler's troops invaded Austria, but instead of resistance, a majority of Austrians welcomed the Germans seizing power. The country became part of Germany until the end of World War II seven years later.
During that time, over a third of Austrian Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps, the rest emigrated. Their apartments, shops and companies were taken away. After the end of the war, only a small fraction of these possessions was given back to surviving Jewish families. For nearly half a century, conservative and Social Democrat administrations kept quiet about Austria's role during the Holocaust. In 1991, the Social Democrat Franz Vanitzky (ph) was the first Austrian chancellor in history to declare the country's joint responsibility for Nazi crimes. Now, 10 years later, money follows apologies. Funds are currently being transferred to the accounts of former slave laborers, most of them from Eastern Europe.
But Jewish victims still await their compensation. The Austrian government wants security first that the recent agreements will cover all their claims, presents and future.
(on camera): For the U.S., the Austrian government has complied with the steps implementing the compensation agreements. The U.S. government therefore promised it would uphold its side of the deal and advise U.S. courts that remaining claims of Nazi victim were also covered by the agreements and should therefore be dismissed.
This is expected to happen within the next month. Austrian payments should then flow without any further delay. They are a late financial compensation for Nazi victims. Emotional reparation for the atrocities suffered, there will never be.
I'm Jorg Winzer, with ORF, Vienna, for the CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
![[CNN.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/newsnet/cnnlogo.gray.gif){kind=small}
TOP STORIES![[SI.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/si.logo.gif){kind=logo}
SPORTS
All Scoreboards
![[CNN Money]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/fn.logo.newsnet.gif){kind=logo}
(