Settlement Approved For Jews In Norway

OSLO - Norway's Parliament approved a $57.7 million package yesterday to compensate the nation's Jews for suffering during World War II, a measure that Jewish leaders hailed as "a moral and ethical settlement."

In an unanimous vote, the lawmakers adopted a package that will compensate Jewish families for at least some of the property plundered by the Nazis and fund projects for the Jewish community.

About one-third of Norway's pre-war community of 2,100 Jews died in the Holocaust. When survivors returned from Nazi concentration camps, they got little help from the government.

Much of their property had been seized and was never returned. Now - more than five decades after the war's end - Norway is trying to make amends.

"No one can buy a clear conscience," said Jan Simonsen of the Party of Progress during the 45-minute debate on the bill. "The treatment of Norwegian Jews will remain a black mark that can never been wiped clean."

The compensation package offers up to $26,000 apiece to families for property stolen from individual Jews during the war. The remainder will be used as collective compensation for the Jewish

community.