The series ‘Decisions of the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution’, published in two languages, documents a fundamental element of Austria’s most recent compensatory measures in dealing with the consequences of the National Socialist era. For property confiscated during the National Socialist era and now publicly owned, the possibility of restitution in rem, ie the actual return of the property was provided for in the Washington Settlement Agreement of 17 January 2001. The Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution, installed at the General Settlement Fund in Vienna, decides on the applications for restitution. For the most part, the applications concern real estate that was confiscated between 1938 and 1945, was publicly owned on the Agreement deadline (17 January 2001) and in many cases had already been the subject of restitution proceedings after 1945. Since 2003, the Arbitration Panel has decided on a great number of applications, and has recommended the restitution of property to the legal successors of former owners in several cases. In the course of these decisions, the Arbitration Panel has developed a judicature, which exemplarily presents the consequences of National Socialism in Austria regarding the law of property. The decisions of the Arbitration Panel form a part of the current debate about property seizures during the National Socialist era and restitution practices after 1945. Volume 1 contains the decisions of the Arbitration Panel from 2003 and 2004, each in the German original and with the English translation.
