German Jews win key land ruling

The court ruled that Hitler's Nazi regime forced the sale of land

A court in Germany has ordered that a property be returned to the descendants of a Jewish family who were forced to sell up under pressure from the Nazis.

The ruling is being seen as a landmark judgement, opening the way for more than 700 similar claims.

The claim was made on behalf of the heirs of Max and Albert Sabersky, who owned land in Teltow, near Berlin.

The court said previous rulings by lower courts had failed to acknowledge the Nazis' role in forcing the sale.

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig said there was no proof to suggest any other reason for the sale.

The land, originally 84 hectares (207 acres) set around a lake, was owned by the Saberskys, who agreed with the local authority in 1933 to divide it into around 1,000 plots, which were then sold over the next seven years.

Dark chapter

The specific parcel of land involved in Wednesday's ruling was about 3,000 square metres (0.75 acres) and was sold in 1936.

Wolfgang Ewer, the lawyer for the Jewish association that brought the case, said the verdict was "a positive contribution to overcoming, in judicial terms, Germany's darkest chapter".

People who have quite a good life today should not forget that their life is paid for - very often - through the loss of property and the loss of life of Jews in the Thirties Doctor Irene Runge Jewish Community Council

The president of the Jewish Community Council in Berlin, Doctor Irene Runge, said the ruling might have wider implications.

"It's a question of whether people have a feeling for history and whether they will accept that injustice was done between 1933 and 1945 to the Jews," she said.

"And if people will not accept that, I think there will be a long legal fight and people will be very upset and speak in an anti-semitic way about the Jews who want their property back.

"People who have quite a good life today should not forget that their life is paid for - very often - through the loss of property and the loss of life of Jews in the Thirties."

After the reunification of Germany in 1990, the government set a two-year deadline for Jews to reclaim property either sold under duress or confiscated by the Nazis and nationalised under the communist regime in former East Germany.

But last month, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the Jewish Community Council could still win compensation for Jewish property seized by the Nazis.