The legislation passed by the Austrian Federal Government under Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel in the early 2000s provided a new benchmark in Wiedergutmachung and the compensation for victims of National Socialism and was to meet with emphatic international acknowledgement. These measures reflect the sea change that has taken place in Austria's politics in the wake of international debates and correspond to the differentiated picture of Austria drawn by many of the country's political representatives in public statements, with Franz Vranitzky leading the way. The book identifies the most important milestones and sketches the genesis of the political process of Wiedergutmachung and restitution adopted by Austria in the early days of the Schüssel government.

Walter M. Iber, M. A., PhD, Assistent at the Institute of Economic, Social and Business History of Graz University; Fellow of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Kriegsfolgenforschung, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, Graz - Vienna - Klagenfurt. Stefan Karner, Prof., PhD, Head of the Institute of Economic, Social and Business History of Graz University; Head of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Kriegsfolgenforschung, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, Graz - Vienna - Klagenfurt.