This article provides some information on Israeli law on Holocaust victims’ assets. The Israeli Ministry of Justice has jurisdiction over these issues.
Purpose of the Law
The Israeli Law “Assets of Holocaust Victims Law (Restitution to Heirs and Dedication to Aid and Commemoration)” was passed in 2006. The purpose of the law is to help locate assets in Israel that belonged to those who peris
hed in the Holocaust. These assets are then managed by a company established by the government for this purpose in order to locate and return these assets to the heirs.
Locating and Managing the Assets
Israel established a company to assist in the task of locating and managing assets of Holocaust victims. This includes finding information about assets of Holocaust victims and the last person who held these assets, tracing heirs of those who previously held them, and transferring the assets upon finding the heirs.
In the event heirs cannot be found, the assets are used to assist other Holocaust survivors or to commemorate and educate about the Holocaust.
One of the services of the company is to publish a list of assets of Holocaust victims as it gathers this data and to make this publicly available. The data is listed according to the name of the last person who had rights to the asset, the name of the state where the Holocaust victim last resided (according to the name of the state on September 1, 1939), and the type of asset, among other information. This information is available to the public in order to assist in the location of heirs.
For more information on the length of time the process takes, see our article on the topic.
This Series of Articles
This article addressing Israeli law on Holocaust victims’ assets is one in a longer series on restitution law in Israel. For more information, see our articles on the application process, succession orders, choosing a restitution lawyer, and more.
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Advocate Michael Decker from our law office specializes in, among other things, restitution law. Please contact us for assistance with your restitution case.