BUCHAREST, Romania — The Romanian government on Tuesday approved legislation that would give priority to restitution claims by Holocaust survivors for property lost during World War II and under Communist rule. The move was seen as a small acknowledgment of the treatment of Romanian Jews during the war.

Most of those affected by the legislation are in their 80s and 90s, and have been trying to recover their property for many years.

“This is important because the legislation addresses not only the practical problems, but also acknowledges the history, which is essential,” said Gideon Taylor, the chairman of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which has held meetings with Romanian politicians over the past year.

Romania, an ally of Nazi Germany until 1944, when it switched sides, had a prewar Jewish population of about 800,000. Today that number is about 11,000. A report in 2004 by an international commission led by the Romanian-born Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel estimated that during the war years, 280,000 to 380,000 Jews died in Romania and areas under its control.