In 1995, the National Council of Austria established the National Fund of the Republic of Austria as an expression of Austria’s special responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism.
The “National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism” was founded in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the reestablishment of the democratic Republic of Austria as a result of the Austrian Declaration of Independence.
This decision was followed by the establishment of the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism in 2001 and the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria in 2010.
The main task of the National Fund is to make “gesture payments” of 5,087.10 Euros to the victims of National Socialism. People who were persecuted on political grounds, on grounds of religion, nationality, sexual orientation, physical or mental handicap, or of accusations of so-called asociality, or those who otherwise fell victim to typical Nazi injustice or left the country in order to escape such persecution are eligible to receive a payment.
The National Fund grants recognition to all victims of National Socialism, including those who have previously received little or no acknowledgement in Austria. These include Roma and Sinti, “Spanienkämpfer”, Carinthian Slovenes, the “Spiegelgrund children” and homosexuals, as well as people resettled from “Döllersheimer Ländchen” (Allentsteig/Lower Austria), victims of Nazi courts martial, conscientious objectors, and deserters from the German Armed Forces. The Fund also helps raise social and political awareness of certain victimized groups and the different forms of persecution.
Since its inception, the National Fund has granted official recognition to around 30,000 victims of National Socialism and has made gesture payments amounting to approximately 158 million Euros. Those requiring additional financial support can apply for a renewed payment in the same amount.
The National Fund also subsidizes projects that benefit the victims of National Socialism, support academic research into National Socialism and the life stories of its victims, recall Nazi injustice, or safeguard the memory of the victims. Strong emphasis is placed on supporting social, medical, and psychotherapeutic projects that help surviving victims. The Fund also subsidizes scientific research projects; special importance is placed on educational projects and projects of remembrance. Between 1995 and 2022, the Fund subsidized approximately 2,500 projects with funding in excess of 35 million Euros.
Applications for a “gesture payment” and for project funding can be filed indefinitely.
Over the years, these original undertakings were joined by other tasks that were also an expression of historical responsibility, such as those involving the restitution of looted art, the renewal of the Austrian exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the Shoah Wall of Names Memorial in Vienna.
A matter of particular importance is the advancement and transmission of knowledge about National Socialism, its aftereffects and the fates of its victims, as is preserving the memory of the victims.
In certain cases, victim recognition payments in the same amount as the gesture payment can be made using the proceeds raised by the National Fund from “heirless” looted art. The National Fund also uses these proceeds for the benefit of victims of National Socialism.
In the past, payments have also been made from the “Looted Gold Fund” and the “Hardship Compensation Fund”. These funds, also administered by the National Fund, have now been expended.
In 1998, in accordance with the provisions of the Art Restitution Law, the National Fund was entrusted with the disposition of "heirless" art in public ownership, using the proceeds to benefit the victims of National Socialism. Before the artworks are subjected to disposition, the National Fund exhausts all avenues in its search for potentially eligible heirs. The National Fund assists the art restitution committees of the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna with these efforts. In 2006, it published an online art database containing information on over 9,100 objects.
In 2009, the Fund was nominated as the coordinating office for the renewal of the Austrian exhibition in Block 17 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. The exhibition is entitled “Far removed. Austria in Auschwitz”.
The Fund also provides administrative support to the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism, which was established in 2001 and is endowed with 210 million Euros, as well as the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria.
Lastly, the Fund also acts as an Austrian coordination office for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In order to preserve and pass on the survivors’ memories and experiences, the National Fund documents their life stories and publishes them online and in a series of books.
Since January 2013, the National Fund has been operating an online research tool, the Findbuch for Victims of National Socialism, available in German and English. It enables people to search for materials on Nazi property seizures and Austrian restitution, and compensation measures held in several Austrian archives.
In 2001, the National Fund was entrusted with distributing compensation for seized tenancy rights, household effects, and personal valuables in implementation of the Washington Agreement. It was endowed with 210 million dollars. Over 20,000 beneficiaries received an initial payment of 7,630 Euros and an additional payment of 1,000 Euros under this title; in total, it distributed approximately 175 million Euros.
Its aim was to provide a comprehensive resolution to open questions of compensation of victims of National Socialism for losses and damages incurred as a result of or in conjunction with events that occurred on the territory of the present-day Republic of Austria during the Nazi era.
Victims of National Socialism and their heirs could file claims for losses and damages in several categories, including liquidated businesses, insurance policies, and occupational and educational losses. A three-person independent Claims Committee decided on the applications for compensation.
An Arbitration Panel was also established with the General Settlement Fund to examine applications for in rem restitution of publicly-owned property. In this context, publicly-owned property constituted property owned by the Republic of Austria and by the provinces and municipalities that have opted into the proceedings before the Arbitration Panel. The three-person independent Arbitration Panel decided on applications for in rem restitution.
In its meeting of 26 April 2022, the Board of Trustees of the General Settlement Fund determined by resolution that the Fund has completely fulfilled its tasks. The Fund is thus deemed dissolved as per 26 April 2022, pursuant to the General Settlement Fund Law.
In 2010, the National Council resolved the establishment of the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria in order to implement Austria’s obligation under international law set out in the 2001 Washington Agreement to restore and preserve known and unknown cemeteries in Austria.
Over a period of 20 years, the Republic of Austria will allocate an annual amount of one million euros to the Fund for this purpose. The Law stipulates that the owners of the Jewish cemeteries provide funding for the restorations in the same amount as the Fund.
Applications can be filed with the Cemeteries Fund until the year 2030.
The National Fund, the General Settlement Fund and the Jewish Cemeteries Fund all share the same organs, Board of Trustees, and Secretary General:
The supreme body of the Fund is the Board of Trustees, which is chaired by the President of the National Council. Other members of the Board of Trustees include their two presidential deputies as well as the Federal Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor. The twelve members are elected by the Main Committee of the National Council.
The members elected by the Main Committee must be members of the National Council or the Federal Council, including former members of the National Council or the Federal Council, other esteemed figures of Austrian public, cultural or academic life, or representatives of the victims. The first person to chair the Board of Trustees as President of the National Council was later Federal President Dr. Heinz Fischer; he was succeeded by Dr. Andreas Khol and Mag. Barbara Prammer.
The Secretary General, appointed by the President of the National Council following consultation with the President’s Conference of the National Council, assists the chairperson of the Board of Trustees in executing daily business. They prepare the resolutions and decisions for the Board of Trustees and are responsible for fostering relations between Austria and the victims of National Socialism living abroad. The Secretary General of all three Funds is Mag. Hannah Lessing.
The texts of the Federal Law on the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, the Federal Law on the Establishment of a General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism and on Restitution Measures, and the Federal Law on the Establishment of a Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria can be found in the Republic’s legal information system (RIS):
National Fund Law as amended (English translation)
General Settlement Fund Law as amended (English translation)
On October 4, 2021, the new Austrian exhibition "Far Removed. Austria and Auschwitz" opened at the former concentration and extermination camp, now the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.
The Austrian exhibition was conceived in 1978, when Austria still presented itself as the "First Victim of National Socialism". The exhibition has now been historically revised by the National Fund on behalf of the Austrian Parliament.
The exhibition describes the fate of Austrian victims and the resistance of Austrian prisoners in the concentration camp. It also shows how Austrians were involved as perpetrators of and accessories to the crimes committed there.
The Simon Wiesenthal Prize is awarded by the National Fund to up to three individuals or groups making a special contribution towards civil society engagement against antisemitism and/or education about the Holocaust. The Prize is endowed with 30,000 euros annually.
Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005) shaped the reappraisal of the crimes of National Socialism worldwide like no other. From the day of his liberation from the Mauthausen concentration camp, he made it his life's work to foster remembrance of the victims of Nazi terror.
The prize is intended to honor the memory of the architect and writer Simon Wiesenthal.
