Recovered Property and the Successor Organization

Goodwill Fund

Although the Claims Conference became the successor to unclaimed Jewish properties under German law, it established the Goodwill Fund in 1994 in order to enable former Jewish original owners and their heirs to receive a payment even after the German deadline of 1992. Through the Goodwill Fund, certain former owners and heirs could apply for the proceeds of properties or compensation payments that the German restitution authorities had awarded to the Claims Conference net of an assessment for services.

In 1998, in a major advertising campaign, the Claims Conference informed the general public that owners or heirs who had failed to meet the legal deadlines of December 31, 1992/June 30, 1993 for filing claims for Jewish assets in the former East Germany may be eligible to participate in the Claims Conference Goodwill Fund. The Board of Directors of the Claims Conference established December 31, 1998 as the original deadline for applications to the Goodwill Fund (a deadline that was subsequently extended).

The Goodwill Fund guidelines include applicants who filed within the Goodwill Fund deadline of December 31, 1998, who could prove that they would have succeeded under the German Property Restitution Law had they filed within the legislation’s 1992 deadline as well as certain applicants who filed thereafter.

In September 2003, the Claims Conference published a list, to the extent available, of names of original owners of assets that were located in the former East Germany recovered by the Claims Conference or which related to such assets for which claims by the Claims Conference were still pending under the German Property Restitution Law. A total of 59,198 names were published on the internet.

When it published this list, the Claims Conference announced in a follow up major advertising and media campaign in 100 Jewish newspapers across the world that the final deadline for applications to the Goodwill Fund was March 31, 2004.
The Claims Conference Board of Directors based its decision on the fact that

the Goodwill Fund had been accepting applications for ten years, and if there was no deadline
if there were no deadline, it would be necessary to cease allocations from the proceeds of these assets which were primarily for homecare and other vital social services for needy Jewish victims of Nazi persecution.

The Board also noted that deadlines had been established by the administering bodies for other major restitution programs such as those for assets in Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and for the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.

An amendment to the Goodwill Fund provides for review of certain applications made after March 31, 2004 under special circumstances. See announcement of the amendment here.

Fixed Goodwill Fund payments are made to certain Goodwill Fund applicants who had applied before the Goodwill Fund deadline with regard to property covered by specific bulk settlements.

The Claims Conference commitment to assisting close relatives who missed the deadline is borne out by the fact that it had, as of December 31, 2008, paid approximately €580 million under the Goodwill Fund to original owners or their heirs.The Claims Conference had also set aside approximately €71 million (approximately $102 million) for future payments from the Goodwill Fund, and a further €53 million (approximately $76 million) has been designated for “Goodwill Fund and Other Uses.”

Approximately 34 percent of Successor Organization income has been paid to or set aside for eligible original owners or heirs – all of whom would have received no property or payment were it not for the Claims Conference’s intensive efforts since 1990.

The Goodwill Fund was open for 10 years. The Claims Conference will continue to make payments to Goodwill Fund applicants who are eligible under the guidelines as income is received.The remaining funds are used for vital programs (including the provision of homecare, food and other assistance to needy Nazi victims).
A copy of the Goodwill Fund Guidelines can be obtained by contacting the Claims Conference Successor Organization.