Today, September 10, 1952, at 8 a.m., an agreement was signed in Luxembourg between the Federal Republic of Germany and the state of Israel, by which the Federal Republic, with the intent of making reparations, within the limits of its capacity, for the material harm caused by the National Socialist persecutory measures against the Jewish people, guarantees the state of Israel, on the basis of its demands, repayment of the integration costs that Israel has accrued in the process of taking in Jewish refugees from Germany and the territories formerly under German rule. The agreement was signed by Chancellor Dr. Adenauer and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett. In addition, two protocols were signed by Chancellor Dr. Adenauer and Dr. Nahum Goldmann, a member of the executive committee of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany. The first of these protocols spells out principles for improving the existing restitution legislation in the Federal Republic of Germany; the federal government will initiate its implementation. In the second protocol, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany promises a global payment to the Conference of Jewish Material Claims against Germany. This global payment will be used by the Jewish organizations brought together in the Claims Conference to support, integrate, and settle Jewish victims of National Socialist persecution in various countries.
With the signing of the treaty and the two protocols, the negotiations that have been conducted in the Hague since March 21, 1952, between representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, representatives of the state of Israel, and delegates of the Jewish world organizations brought together in the Claims Conference, have reached a successful conclusion.
Source: Communiqué Regarding Restitution for Israel and the Jews (September 10, 1952), reprinted in Reinhard Bettzuege, ed., Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Dokumente von 1949 bis 1994 [Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Documents from 1949 to 1994]. Cologne: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1995, p. 200 f; also reprinted in Merith Niehuss and Ulrike Linder, eds., Besatzungszeit, Bundesrepublik und DDR, 1945-1969 [Occupation Period, Federal Republic, and German Democratic Republic, 1945-1969]. Deutsche Geschichte in Quellen und Darstellung, edited by Rainer A. Müller, vol. 10. Stuttgart: P. Reclam, 1998, pp. 234-36.
Translation: Thomas Dunlap