The World - News from March 24, 1988

Austria, for the first time, agreed to pay reparations to victims of the Nazis. Parliament voted to provide $6.5 million despite objections from some that the figure is too low and represents “an insult.” The measure, approved by a vote of 176 to 7, provides for one-time payments of between $175 and $400 to more than 16,000 victims and the families of those who died as a result of persecution, including Jews, Gypsies and resistance fighters. Several lawmakers attacked the plan as too little too late, pointing to several billion dollars paid out by the West German government since the end of World War II.