Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. He was co-founder and first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a Christian Democratic party that under his leadership became one of the most influential parties in the country.
A Judenrat was a World War II Jewish-German-collaborative administrative agency imposed by Germany, principally within the ghettos of occupied Europe, including those of German-occupied Poland. The German administration required Jews to form a Judenrat in every community across the occupied territories.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as "the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people." Membership in the WJC is open to all representative Jewish groups or communities, irrespective of the social, political or economic ideology of the community's host country. The World Jewish Congress headquarters are in New York City, US, and the organization maintains international offices in Brussels, Belgium; Jerusalem, Israel; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Geneva, Switzerland. The WJC has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as the Joint or the JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City.
The Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany was signed on September 10, 1952, and entered in force on March 27, 1953. According to the Agreement, West Germany was to pay Israel for the costs of "resettling so great a number of uprooted and destitute Jewish refugees" after the war, and to compensate individual Jews, via the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, for losses in Jewish livelihood and property resulting from Nazi persecution.
Nazi plunder refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, particularly by military units known as the Kunstschutz, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures. Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing. There is an international effort underway to identify Nazi plunder that still remains unaccounted for, with the aim of ultimately returning the items to the rightful owners, their families or their respective countries.
Aryanization was the forced expulsion of Jews from business life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It entailed the transfer of Jewish property into "Aryan" hands in order to "de-Jew the economy".
The Bergier commission in Bern was formed by the Swiss government on 12 December 1996. It is also known as the ICE.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. The Claims Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the Shoah.
The Holocaust had a deep effect on society in both Europe and the rest of the world. Its impact has been felt in theological discussions, artistic and cultural pursuits, and political decisions.
Hainsfarth is a municipality in the district of Donau-Ries in Bavaria in Germany.
Israel–North Macedonia relations refer to the bilateral political relations between the State of Israel and the Republic of North Macedonia.
The Holocaust in Serbia was the Nazi genocide against Jews and Romani during World War II in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia supported by the puppet government led by Milan Nedić. Serbia today includes areas outside the Military Commander of Serbia's Territory in 1941 to 1945: especially the Vojvodina then made up of the Hungarian Delvidek with its major city of Novi Sad or Ujvidek and Serbian Banat, and today it also includes an area then part of Croatia, called Srem or Syrmia. The main perpetrator of the crimes was the Nazi German Wehrmacht stationed in Serbia, which carried out the operations with the assistance of Dimitrije Ljotić's Serbian fascist movement Zbor and the quisling regime of Milan Nedić.
The Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce or Project HEART was a Holocaust restitution project that was created by a decision of the Israeli Government to locate Holocaust victims and their heirs and the property that was taken from them during the Holocaust and to assist in obtaining restitution for that property. Restitution would have been sought using databases containing the data submitted by Holocaust victims and their heirs and information about the property that was taken from them. Those who were interested in participating were directed to fill out a questionnaire to determine their eligibility and may also have accessed a website and call center for assistance. Questionnaires had been collected and processed by an administrator and then forwarded to the Israeli Government, which had planned to negotiate with the relevant Governments, companies and others who hold Holocaust assets. This project used innovations, such as the Internet, not used in previous restitution attempts and marked the most serious attempt at obtaining restitution for aged Holocaust victims and their heirs. As of April 2014 the project lost 95% of its funding, is accepting no requests, and has been absorbed into the Israeli Ministry of Senior Citizens.
The United Restitution Organization (URO) was established in 1948 as a legal aid service to assist victims of Nazi persecution living outside Germany in making restitution and indemnification claims against Germany and Austria. The URO has served over 250,000 clients. It helped Jews, Roma, and other victims of Nazi crimes. At its most expansive, the URO maintained 29 offices in 15 countries around the world. British barrister Norman Bentwich was the chairman of the URO board from 1948 until his death in 1971, and Kurt May, a German-born lawyer who had fled the Nazis in 1934 after he defended a leading Social Democrat wrongly accused of being a Communist, served as its director from the early 1950s until 1990.
The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe was established in New York City in 1939 to coordinate services to German-speaking Jewish refugees entering the United States. It was incorporated in 1941. The Federation offered social services, assistance with immigration paperwork, and support with education and job placement. It also put on cultural activities. The Federation focused on issues of immigration between 1939 and the end of World War II, after which it shifted towards issues of restitution. The first branch of the United Restitution Organization was founded in 1948 as part of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, and the federation helped distribute funds from the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization and the Jewish Trust Corporation.
Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR) was an organization established by the Conference on Jewish Relations in April 1947 to collect and distribute heirless Jewish property in the American occupied zone of Germany after World War II. The organization, originally named the Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, was originally proposed in 1944 by Theodor Gaster of the Library of Congress, and one of its cofounders.
The Generalgouvernement was the German zone of occupation in Poland after the invasion by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, at the start of World War 2. The Generalgouvernement represented the middle portion of occupied Poland, with originally the West being under German control and the East under Soviet control. The basis for this split was to eliminate the Polish state and to turn all Polish nationals as stateless subjects, disregarding international law.
