ABSTRACT
In only seventeen and a half months—from February 2000 to July 2001—Austria proceeded from merely announcing the appointment of a special representative for the negotiations about the forced and slave labor related issues of the Nazi era to actually disbursing the first payments to former victims of the NS regime. Austrian companies have always rejected the idea of being legal successors to any of the companies of the Nazi era. When the new Austrian government composed of members of the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Freedom Party took office in February 2000, the fourteen other European Union Member States imposed so-called sanctions on Austria. The Central and Eastern European countries consider the Austrian Reconciliation Fund Law to be fair and generous. The highest representatives of Austria, Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil, the President of the Austrian Parliament, Heinz Fischer, Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel and Vice-Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer all contributed to this national effort.
