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Dutch looking for restitution claimants Dutch looking for bilked Jews to claim looted Holocaust assets
By Magnus Bennett
February 4, 2001
PRAGUE, Feb. 4 (JTA) -- Dutch officials are seeking claimants who
believe they deserve payment from a fund established to compensate Jews
whose assets in the Netherlands were looted by the Nazis.
The Dutch government, banks, insurance companies and the Dutch
stock exchange have set aside $326.2 million to pay claims.
The compensation plan was launched in the Netherlands late last year,
and Dutch embassies around the world are now launching publicity drives to
find claimants.
In Prague, for instance, the Dutch Embassy informed the Czech press
that brochures and application forms are now available either at their
offices or
through a Dutch-based Internet site.
To qualify for payments, claimants must be able to prove that:
* they were born before May 8, 1945;
* they resided in the Netherlands at some time between May 10, 1940,
and May 8, 1945; and
* they have at least one Jewish parent and two Jewish grandparents on
the side of that Jewish parent, or were subject to persecution and/or looting
in
the Netherlands as a result of being Jewish.
Under the terms of the plan, claimants can be children, foster parents or
spouses of anyone who meets the basic criteria but who died in May 1945 or
after without applying for compensation.
The claimant's current nationality is not relevant, according to the
Amsterdam-based foundation handling the claims, Stichting Maror-gelden
Overheid.
Dutch officials estimate that more than 36,000 claims could be made
before the deadline, which falls at the end of this year.
Further information about the compensation plan can be found at
www.joodsetegoeden.nl.
Application forms can be requested through the Internet site or at Dutch
embassies. The forms are available in Dutch, English and Hebrew.
