1952 as a Turning Point in the History of the Restitution of Property Rights in Western Europe

In this chapter, the Wassenaar negotiations are situated at a turning point in the immediate postwar history of restitution and reparations in the Netherlands and Western Europe at large. Until 1952, the restitution of property rights to the decimated Jewish population and a few other groups, such as the Sinti and Roma and the Freemasons, was largely based on a legal approach and general national restitution policies. Although these policies did achieve some aims, they suffered from different problems. Around 1952, however, the tide turned – a new restitution paradigm was anticipated, with an emphasis on political, collective answers tailored to particular victim groups. This chapter’s aim is to contextualize and clarify this paradigm shift and to point to its lasting effect as to how we have conceived of restitution, and reparations more generally, from then until the present day.