Mauerbach - Benefit Sale on behalf of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Austria
As President of Austria, I welcome the Mauerbach auction as the culmination of efforts by the Austrian Government over many years to return objects of art and other items seized from Austrian Jews by the Nazis to their rightful owners and - where this was no longer possible - to sell them to the benefit of the Austrian Jewish Community.
I want to thank Christie's for sponsoring this auction as a non-profit event and hope that this sale will be a most successful one in order to serve its worthy cause in the best possible manner.
Thomas Kiestil, Federal President of the Republic of Austria