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Germany Returns
Jewish Property

Berlin (JTA) — The German gov-
ernment has formally returned
four pieces of property in Berlin
to the city's Jewish community.
"This is yet another step to-
ward the consolidation of Jewish
life in this city," said Jerzy Kanal,
chairman of Berlin's 10,000-
strong Jewish community.
Mr. Kanal received the deeds
to the four pieces of property from
Berlin Finance Senator Elmar
Pieroth during a ceremony ear-
lier this month at Berlin's gold-
domed New Synagogue.
The New Synagogue, whose
restoration was completed in
time for the May 7 ceremonies
marking the 50th anniversary of
the defeat of Nazi Germany, sits
on one of the parcels of land
returned to the Jewish commu-
nity.
All the returned land parcels
are located in the Jewish section
of Berlin.
Mr. Kanal said the Jewish
community had not pressed for
the return of the property soon-
er because it was aware that
other more pressing cases of for-
mer Jewish property were before
the real estate authorities.
Sorting out property owned by
Jews who used to live in Berlin
but fled the Nazis in the 1930s
has been a difficult and compli-
cated task, said Berlin authori-
ties, who rejected criticisms that
they have worked too slowly on
returning Jewish real estate to
their rightful owners.
They note that there are
33,249 petitions with the German
government claiming Berlin
property that was confiscated
during the Third Reich.
By the end of July, authorities
had completed work on 6,460 of
the petitions, they said. Of those,
1,000 property owners or their
heirs had their real estate re-
turned.
Alexander Schnurbusch, di-
rector of the office that is han-
dling the property-return claims,
said that typically, there are five
claims for every piece of proper-
ty in Berlin's Jewish district,
which is the most disputed part
of town.
He noted that there are many
problems in returning property
to their rightful Jewish owners.
Many original owners are dead
and their heirs are often located
all over the world, Mr. Schnur-
busch said.
Another problem was proof of
ownership, he added.
He also noted that after the
Communist takeover of East Ger-
many after the war, many land
parcels were redrawn, so that a

'

f

ish resident in the 1930s may
have been subdivided into other
parcels.

Plan Continues
To Rename Road

New York (JTA) — Despite
protests from Jews and left-wing
politicians, Rome's leftist mayor
remains determined to rename a
street after a top official in Fas-
cist dictator Benito Mussolini's
government.
Mayor Francesco Rutelli has
defended wanting to name the
street after former Education
Minister Giuseppe Bottai, who
signed laws ordering Jews out of
Italy's schools, as a way for Ital-
ians to come to terms with their
Fascist past.
The Italian Zionist Federation,
the Evangelical Churches in
Italy, Italian Jewish communi-
ties, B'nai B'rith and the Simon
Wiesenthal Center are among
those denouncing the idea.
The Wiesenthal Center also
protested the Vatican's endorse-
ment of the plan. Bottai's son is
the Italian ambassador to the
Vatican.
But Rome's top rabbi, Elio
Toaff, said naming the street was
of minimal importance. "Street
names come and go with great
ease, and I know Rutelli too well
to think this represents a ten-
dency towards fascism," the rabbi
said.

Nuclear Sale
To Proceed

Jerusalem (JTA) — Russian of-
ficials told visiting Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin last week
that they would go ahead with
plans to sell nuclear reactors to
Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister An-
drei Kozyrev told Rabin that the
technology involved was of a
peaceful nature and that the sale
was well within the bounds of in-
ternational law.
Russian Prime Minister Vik-
tor Chernomyrdin, in a meeting
with Rabin, repeated the stance,
adding that the sale would not
threaten Israeli security.
During his meetings with
Russian officials, Mr. Rabin
asked them to use their ties with
Iran to try to elicit information
from Tehran on the fate of Israeli
POWs.
Mr. Rabin paid a state visit to
Ukraine. It was the first visit
there by a Jewish leader since the

