Envelopes from all over the world addressed to the Hilfsfonds

Before the signing of the State Treaty in 1955, Austria managed at the last minute to negotiate the removal of a passage on shared responsibility for the Nazi crimes, although it was obliged to support those exiled. Laws were passed in 1956, 1962, and 1976 making possible small “assistance payments,” whereupon many letters were received by the "Hilfsfonds" from people in need from all over the world. Politicians never spoke of compensation, as that would have been tantamount to an admission of guilt.