The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) has launched a new database of Warsaw properties aimed at helping Holocaust survivors and their heirs identify their property so they can reactivate their claims before a recent law allows the city to take final possession within months.
Announcing the move Monday, the WJRO stated:
Under the new law that took effect on Sept. 17, 2016, Holocaust survivors and their heirs have six months to come forward once their property is published in a Polish newspaper by the City of Warsaw. They then have three months to prove their right to the property. If no action is taken by a claimant before the deadline, the claim will be terminated, and the property transferred permanently to the state treasury or the City of Warsaw. Warsaw can begin at any time to publish addresses of properties from its list – which would start the clock on the six-month deadline for each property.
It said the database for the first time matches different historical Warsaw city records to enable users to look for the names of family members or Warsaw building addresses to help determine if they, or someone else, filed a claim that may remain open for the property.
Many survivors returning to Poland filed claims after 1945 under a Communist decree that nationalized all Warsaw property. However most of those claims were either rejected or not resolved, and many survivors and their families, 70 years later, do not know that they can pursue their claims.
A new WJRO webpage “Property Restitution in Warsaw” contains information and resources – including the searchable database. The new Warsaw property law does not address people who did not file claims right after World War II, or people with property outside of Warsaw. “Today, thousands of cases remain open,” the WJRO said. “Many Holocaust survivors do not remember that they filed claims after the Holocaust. Many of their heirs may not even know that their relative filed claims.”
The City of Warsaw has compiled a list of 2,613 street addresses for open property claims – but without the names of the owners. WJRO’s database matches these street addresses with property owners’ names found in the 1939/1940 Homeowners Directory for Warsaw or, where that was not possible, with the 1930 Homeowners Directory as well as through use of mortgage information. It is not known how many other cases beyond those in the City’s list remains open.
Click here to access the new web page and database