The compensation payments for victims of National Socialism which Austria undertook to make -- in 1995 through the establishment of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, and in 2001 in the Washington Agreement -- are drawing to a close. At the General Settlement Fund, the decision on the last of 2,702 applications for compensation of damages incurred during the National Socialist era meant that the intensive work over the last ten years is coming to an end: around 100,000 individual asset seizures were meticulously historically documented and 209 million US Dollars disbursed to over 20,500 persons.
The tasks with which the Fund was entrusted will therefore soon be completed -- time to step back and consider how we should best continue to come to terms with our past in the future. National Socialism, with its many aspects and consequences cannot simply be filed away and forgotten -- that would be short-sighted and wrong. Addressing the material aspect was an important first step, which must be followed by further steps on another level.
Today, we are faced with the challenge of learning the lessons from our past experiences so they may be put to use in the future. The National Fund shall continue to forge ahead with this undertaking in the future -- because political sensibility, civil courage and tolerance are not values which we can take for granted, even today. They are values that each generation has to comprehend and attain for itself. Making an active contribution towards this learning curve will undoubtedly remain one of the National Fund's most important tasks.
Hannah M. Lessing, Secretary General of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria, the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism and the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria.

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