Nazi compensation payments delayed again, this time by Bank of Austria

Despite the fact that German industry has already collected DM 5 billion for compensation of World War II forced laborers, New York judge Shirley Kram once again refused to reject the last of the lawsuits blocking the payment of indemnities. The judge expressed her concern that their dismissal could disadvantage around 1 million Austrian Jews, who during the war lost their savings in banks today belonging to the Bank of Austria. The Bank of Austria has committed itself to compensation amounting to $40 million, but has not determined the exact amount it should repay jointly with German banks for trading Jewish gold with German banks during the war. German firms insist that only dismissal of all lawsuits will give them "legal security," which is their condition to commence payment of compensations. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 14), M.T.