E. Germany Accepts Plan to Return Seized Property

East Germany tentatively agreed Friday to return property seized by the Communist regime over the past 40 years, opening the floodgates for hundreds of thousands of West Germans who want to reclaim the homes and businesses they thought they had lost forever.

The draft agreement signed by the East and West German governments is the first major step toward resolving the most emotionally charged issue of German reunification.

The issue is “one of the most difficult with regard to the German-German division, which personally concerns and affects many people,” said Rudolf Seiters, chief of staff for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The four-page document, released in Bonn, did not specify how much property or how many owners could be affected, nor did it estimate the cost of carrying out the historic treaty.

But government officials in both countries previously have estimated that as many as 1 million pieces of property in East Germany were expropriated by the Communist regime toppled in a bloodless revolution last November.

Just who owns what and where has become a painful controversy in recent months as hundreds of West Germans have showed up unannounced on East German doorsteps with old deeds, demanding their abandoned family homes.

East Germans have come to dread what they call simply “the visits.”

Friday’s agreement protects the rights of East German tenants living in disputed apartments or on disputed property, offering former owners unspecified compensation instead of the property.

The two governments agreed that former owners were entitled to compensation but could not retrieve their property if apartment, commercial or public buildings now stand on the land.

West Germans have, among other things, asserted that deluxe hotels and part of East Berlin’s famed Alexanderplatz now stand on property that once was theirs. Claims also have been staked against villas and estates used by corrupt former officials of the Communist government.

The treaty also applies to East Germans whose property was confiscated by the Communists, and to heirs in cases where original owners have died.

However, it does not cover property seized during 1945-1949 by the Soviets during their postwar administration of territory that became East Germany when the country was founded in 1949.

“The Soviet and East German governments see no possibility of reversing the measures taken at the time,” the statement said, adding that the West German government “takes note of this in light of historic developments.”

In part, the document said that “expropriated landed property will be returned to its former owners or their heirs. . . . “

The East German government is expected to release details on applying for compensation or reclaiming property, giving claimants a six-month period to file.

Companies nationalized by the Communist government will be returned to their previous private owners, or compensation will be paid, the agreement said.

Many factories and firms have taken steps to privatize themselves since East Germany elected its first democratic government March 18. It was not immediately clear whether these companies would also automatically revert to original ownership.

A “socially acceptable compensation” is to be ironed out for East Germans who unwittingly bought appropriated land or own buildings erected on confiscated property, the statement said.

However, the accord states that any property obtained through “unfair machinations (i.e., misuse of power, corruption, intimidation or cheating)” is not protected and that the title “is to be reversed.”

The clause will probably be applied to property owned or claimed by members of the former Communist hierarchy, and could conceivably be used against ordinary party members who pulled political strings to get better homes.

What remains unresolved is the responsibility of former owners.

Some West Germans, particularly, worry that in a united Germany they might be held responsible for costly renovations and repairs to old homes or businesses they abandoned decades ago when they fled west after the war.

A lack of materials and skilled labor have left hundreds of thousands of buildings in East Germany virtually crumbling. An estimated one-third of all dwellings are without indoor plumbing.

Friday’s agreement came after weeks of tough negotiations.

The statement said experts from both governments will clarify details in the near future.

TERRORISTS SHELTERED--Communists gave refuge to Red Army Faction. A11