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https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/files/original/590a898ec7384cbe1ad3da2214a78a73.pdf
8ad44b1343e314483c0bef02003ac5d8
PDF Text
Text
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
001. email
.
002. email
SUBJECTfITfLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
Marc Masurovsky to Laura Offen; re: For Laura OffenIYour Email
(partial) (1 page)
12/07/99
P6!b(6)
Gene Sofer to Marc Masurovsky; re: Robert Skwirot (2 pages)
01110/2000
P6!b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
Art & Cultural Property Theft
ONBox Number: 40417
FOLDER TITLE:
[Email Correspondence of Commission Researchers] [6]
jp91
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)(
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.c. 552(b)1
PI National Security Classified Information l(a)(I) ofthe PRA)
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office l(a)(2) of the PRA)
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRAI
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information l(a)(4) of the PRAI
P5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors la)(5) of the PRAI
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy l(a)(6) of the PRAI
bel) National security classified information l(b)(1) of the FOIAI
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA(
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute ((b){3) oCthe FOIAI
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information [(b)(4) of the FOIAI
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy l(b)(6) of the FOIAI
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA(
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions l(b)(8) of the FOIAI
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells l(b)(9) ofthe FOIA)
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.c.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�·
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Subj:
TO Mr. MARK MASUROVSY, Eqs.
Date: 1219/992:13:16 PM Eastem Standard lime
From: Akinsha@email.msn.com (Konstantin Akinsha)
To: Prezcomm@aol.com (archives)
Dear Mark,
I read the paper with attention and interest. But as all of your I have some'
concerns. I believe that the paper could be improved and that such
improvement is realistic, but difficult.
1. The first two pages have to be completely rewritten. The introduction
doesn't work. a) because it has quite a few misinterpretations of the
restitution policy; b) the whole discussion about '''replacement in-kind" (the
correct term is "restitUtion in-kind" which means "replacement".) Is wrong
and has to be changed.
.
2. I'm not Nabokov yet, however I noticed some stylistic faults, which, of
course, could be easily corrected. I don't believe that such phrases, as:
"The Commission's initial step .was to request the State Departments POLICY
on restitution POLICY towards cultural POLlCy·i are corresponding to the
highest standards of the language of Shakespeare. I can only guess that such
roughness was to some 'extent a result ofthe tense deadline.
3. I don't believe that the editor had to be armed only by the book of
Kurtz. My advise is to give him "Spoils of War" (texts of conventions and
agreements.) "The Rape of Europe"(Roberts Commission). etc. .
CONCEPTUAL REMARKS.
I noticed two conc~ptual problems•. which I want to discuss with you.
.1. Since the very beginning ofthe paper you are discussing restitution of .
art works and restitution of gold and financial assets as one process.
However from the paper is clear that we are talking about completely
different things. (Basically we are talking about two conceptions - .
restitution and recuperation, reparation, etc.) I believe that somehow the
difference has to be stressed. I'm not saying that we have to divide the
paper in three sections (however I could not see any problem.with such
division.) I just want to have clear statement of difference between
restitution of the unique objects and restitution of monetary gold and
financial assets. One of recommendations I want to make is to name
restitution of cultural property "restitution of cultural property" every .
time. It could provide as minimum terminological clearness of the text.
2. From the beginningofthe text it is stated that the US preferred ,the.
conception of restitution to the country of origin. to the conception of
restitution to private individuals. We now that we are talking about
transfer of responsibility to restore property to the rightful owners by the
US govemment to the government of the country of origin of such property, I
believe that it has to be stressed.
.
...'
.
I will give you the text with my remarks tomorrow.
Konstantin.
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Subj:
To Bob Skwir & Sarah - WH Holiday Tix •••
Date: 1217/993:27:54 PM E, astern Standard lime
From: sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
To: prezcomm@aol.com, sarah_mary74@hotmail.com (Sarah Robinson (E-mail)).Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil
('Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil') , ,
> ... are here for Monday, December 20 at 10:45 AM.
>
> I am under the impression that the following are coming:
>
>
1.
Helene
>
2.
Greg
3.
Sarah
>
>
4.
Jennifer
>
5.
Allison
6.
Marc
>
>
7.
Erin
8.
Bob Sk.
>
>
9.
Laura
10. Aimee
>
>
11. Doug
>
>
>
12. Margretta
13. Lynda
14. KP
15.
Millie
>
>
>
> There are limited extra tickets, I know Allison wanted 1 and
> Marc 2. If anyone else wants, they should communicate that to, me
> post-haste. Anyone not coming should say so, too. No special info
> (SSN, etc) is needed.
>
>
S
>
>
> **Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.govlnews.htm for
> continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
>
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From: Stu Loeser <sloeser@PCHA.GOV> "
'
To: prezcomm@aol.com, "Sarah Robinson (E-mail)...<sarah_mary74@hotmail.com> ,
"'Sarah. Robinson@hqda.army.mil'" <Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army .mil>
Subject: To Bob Skwir & Sarah - WH Holiday lix ...
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 15:32:47 -0500
Wednesday, December 08, 1999
America Online: Prezcomm
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�Subj:
Box Review Form and "copies made"
Date: 1217/992:25:37 PM Eastem Standard Time
From: Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil (Robinson, Sarah Ms HAC)
To: sebsavi@aol.com (Sebastian Saviano (E-mail», hcsugarman@erols.com (Helene Sugarman (E-mail»
CC: rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net (Robert Grathwol (E-mail».prezcomm@aol.com(prezcomm@aol.com.) ,
.. .
.
The "copies made" line on the box review form is so we know if anything was
copied from a given box. It does not mean the copies must already haw been
made when the form is filled out. Instead, the idea is to indicate which
haw materials that had been MARKED for copying. In other words, if you .
place flags in a box you should circleYES for "copies made," if after
reviewing a box you have indicated nothing for copying then circle NO.
Every box either has copies or does not this space should never be left
blank.'
Sorry for any confusion the use ofthei past tense may have caused.
Also, please try to use one form for each box. If you do find yourself
filling out just one form for a number of boxes (say a particularly unuseful
set of boxes) but you make one copy from one box please, please indicate,
which box had the copy(s). Part ofthe value ofthe Box Review Form and the
acompanying database is to keep track of where we are getting our documents.
If you do not tell us which box(es) have copies the database cannot selVe
this function.
Thanks,
Sarah
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From: "Robinson, Sarah Ms HAC" <Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil>
To: "Sebastian Saviano (E-mail).. <sebsavi@aol.com> ,
"Helene Sugarman (E-mailr.<hcsugarman@erols.com>
Cc: "Robert Grathwol (E-mail)..<rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net> ,
"'prezcomm@aol.com'" <prezcomm@aol.com>
Subject: Box Re\Aew Form and "copies made"
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 14:21:58 -0500 .
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Tuesday, December 07. 1999
America Online: Prezcomm
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�Subj:
Date:
From:
1217/99 Holcaust Assets Clips - Part 2 of 2
1217/99 1:44:57 PM Eastem Standard TIme
sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
Hi
Here's the rest ofthe stories:
Companies that used slave labor cited in new list by Jewish group
American Jewish Committee Releases Comprehensi..e List of Gennan
Companies that Used Slave or Forced Labor During World War II
Germany Says lime for Nazi Labor Deal
Nazi Labor Talks Hit Deadline
AP: World War II Compensation Ust
Yad Vas hem opens school of Holocaust studies
Australia's Nazi Hunting Defended
US Nazi Hunter.Lauds Deportation Rule
Den..er archbishop asks Jews for forgiveness
-1 '
We'll be back to one volume per day tomorrow, hopefully.
Stu
*******************************************************************
http://jta.~rtualjerusalem.comlindex .ex e?9912062
Companies that used slave labor
cited in new list by Jewish group
By Toby Axelrod
BERLIN, Dec. 6 (JTA) - The American Jewish Committee has compiled the
largest known list of Gennan companies that used sla..e workers during
the Nazi era.
The list, which contains more than 250 company names, is expected to put
pressure on Germany and German firms negotiating a fund to compensate
slave laborers.
The next round of negotiations was scheduled to resume Wednesday in
Washington.
Up to now, the longest list, with names of 80 companies, was compiled by
a German group known as Action Reconciliation.
"History will not allow these firms to hide," said Eugene DuBow;
outgoing director of AJCommittee's Berlin office.
Even the new list is far from final, according to a source close to the
project.
Certain archives in Gennany remain closed, but hopefully "we will blast
them open," the source told JTA on Monday, a day before the new list was
to be released.
The settlement negotiations have brought together representatives of
Holocaust su~vors, the Gennan, U.S. and Eastern European govemments,
and some 50 Gennan companies.
At the last round of talks last month, the Gennan side made what it
described as its "final offer" - about $4.1 billion at current exchange
rates.
At that time, lawyers for the SU~\K)rs climbed down significantly from
their earlier demand of $28 billion.
Those talks ended with Gideon Taylor, executive director of the
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is among the
groups negotiating on behalf ofthe laborers, speaking optimistically
Tueeday. December 07, 1999
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�'.
that the "gaps had narrowed,"
.
But it remained to be seen whether all parties would be able to strike
deal when talks resumed Wednesday, the deadline for them to state their
final positions,
The list being released this week by the AJCommittee may lead some
negotiators to claim that the German side should increase its offer:
The spokesman for German industry, Wolfgang Gibowski, told JTA after
last month's round of talks that "there are too few companies
participating" in the fund for there to be an increase in the offer.
On Monday, he said, there were 17 firms on the letterhead ofthe fund,
called "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future."
"Another 45 want to join, but not publicly, said Gibowski. "We are
still in negotiations with a lot of those firms" regarding the amount of
their contribution,
He said "nobody.knows" how many firms actually used slave laborers. "It
might be 2,000 or 3,000."
Deidre Berger, associate director ofthe AJCommittee in Berlin, said she
hoped that even ifthere is a settlement, other firms would join in.
The new list compiled by historians working with the AJCommittee will be
released on the organization's Web site, www.ajc.org
a
If
*****************************************
.American·Jewish Committee Releases Forced Labor List
U.S. Newswire
7 Dec 9:25
American Jewish Committee Releases Comprehensive List of German
Companies that Used Slave or Forced Labor During World War II
To: National and Intemational desks
Contact: Kenneth Bandler of The American Jewish Committee,
212-751-4000; e-mail: pr@ajc.org;
Web site: <http://www.ajc.org>
NEW YORK, Dec. 7 IU.S. Newswirel - The American Jewish Committee
announced at joint press conferences in New York and Berlin today the
release of a list of 255 German companies that used forced labor and
slave labor during the Nazi era.
This is the most extensive list that has ever been published of
companies still in existence that once used such labor. Many ofthe
companies have never before been publicly named.
"These unnamed companies can not hide from history," said Eugene
DuBow, the departing director ofthe AJC's Berlin office. He
appealed to those companies on the list to face their historic
responsibility. "These companies, together with others whose
participation historians are still documenting, bear a singular
responsibility to compensate their former forced laborers andslave
laborers. We hope the publication ofthis list will prompt more
companies to join the planned compensation fund and move negotiations
toward a satisfactory settlement."
The list includes major corporations as well as many ofthe
medium-sized businesses that form the backbone of the German economy.
The firms produce a wide range of products.
"We want to make 'clear that German companies in all branches of
industry made use of forced and slave labor," said David Harris, AJC
executive director. "Given the widespread involvement of German
firms in the forced and slave labor system, compensation is a
responsibility of German industry as a whole as well as of the German
government. "
None of the companies on the list have joined a proposed fund of
German industry to prOl..1de compensation to hundreds of thousands of
Tuesday, December 07,1999
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�former forced and slave laborers, both Jews and non-Jews. So far,
only 12 additional companies have joined the 12 founding members of
the fund. The German government has also agreed to contribute funds.
In September, Hanis and AJC President Bruce M. Ramer sent a
letter to the chairman of the board of 117 companies, urging them to
join the fund. Just 23 companies responded, and of these only three
joined the fund.
The most recent round of negotiations in November in Washington,
D. C. failed to produce a settlement on the fund. Both sides agreed
to a moratorium on negotiations until Dec. 8. No further·
negotiations are scheduled.
Deidre Berger, director-designate ofthe AJC Berlin Office,
oversaw the research on the list. "This list is far trom complete,"
she said. "We hope its publication will prompt other researchers to
add their information to our list. This will help reveal the full
extent of participation by German industry during WWII in the
ex ploitation of human labor."
The list is based on information collected by the International
Tracing Service in Arolsen, Germany, which began under Allied
supervision and in 1955 was put under the administration of the
International Red Cross. The extensive information collected by the
ITS on the labor camp system ofthe Third Reich was first published.
in 1949 to assist in the search of missing persons. The information
combines research done by local and international search committees
as well as documents from the Nazi and Allied governments.
The material is the most valuable source of archival material on
Nazi labor camps, despite the difficulties in the collection of
material. The information compiled by hundreds of researchers (by
1951 the ITS had about 1300 employees) didnot include labor sites in
the former Soviet occupation zone in eastern Germany. Information
about labor camps that were dissolved before the end of the war is
also inconsistent.
The Catalogue of Camps and Prisons in Germany and the
German-Occupied Territories contains references to more than 2000
companies that used forced labor and slave labor. The names were
checked the past few weeks against registers of existing companies in
Germany.
The list was compiled for AJC by a team of researchers headed by
Lydia Marhoff, a doctoral candidate at the Free University of Berlin.
Other researchers were Axel Haling, Dietmar Mueller, Manuela Petzold,
Elisa Johnson and Ulla Jung.
The list is available on the AJC website: www.ajc.org
<http://www.ajc.org>
-0
IU.S. Newswire 202-347-27701
1210709:25
*****************************************
http://dailynews.yahoo.comlh/nml19991207/wl/holocaust~ermany_1.html
Tuesday December 7 8:36 AM ET
Germany Says lime for Nazi Labor Deal
By Moritz Doebler
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's negotiator in talks on compensating
Nazi-era forced .laborers said onTuesday time was running oUt to reach a
deal and wamed that some firms might quit a joint fund to make separate
settlements with survi~rs.
Otto Lambsdorff also said in an interview with Reuters that German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had again appealed to President Clinton to
Tuesday,December07.1999
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�help resolve the row, which has put strains on relations between the two
allies in recent months.
The German govemment and a group of leading German firms have steadily.
raised their settlement offer to a combined package worth eight billion
marks ($4.2 billion).
Lawyers for some of the estimated 2.3 million sUMvors haw rejected
that sum and are demanding compensation of between 10 billion and 15
billion marks.
About 233,000 ofthe laborers are Jews classified as "slave laborers"
whom the Nazis took from concentration camps in order to work them to
death.
Much is at stake in the negotiations: Most victims are in their 70s and
80s and a tenth oftheir number dies every year.
The firms, among them household names like DaimlerChrysler and
Volkswagen, want to secure protection from any future claims that might
,be brought by people who toiled in concentration camps and factories in
World War Two.
The last round oftalks in Bonn ended three weeks ago without a deal,
but negotiators set a new deadline to try and settle their differences.
It expires 'on Wednesday.
"There are a number of companies that are considering - let me put
this gently -Iea",;ng the compensation fund and instead compensating
their own sUM",;ng forced laborers individually," Lambsdorffsaid. He
added that would be disastrous.
Lambsdorff Says lime, Is Running Out
A group of about 50 German companies have pledged fiw billion marks and
the govemment added three billion marks to compensate the forced
laborers who worked mainly on the land.
Lambsdorff, a former West German economics minister, said it was crucial
an agreement be reached soon.
"It's two minutes before 12," he said. "We are working flat out at
ewry level and exhausting every possibility to seal an agreement in the
next few days. But I can only warn that time is quickly running out."
He said it was hard to imagine the SUMvors themselves tuming down an
offer of eight billion marks.
"Does someone really want to make the decision to reject this sum and
then have to contend with many years of legal tangles, and perhaps not
receive a single penny while they are still aliw?" Lambsdorff said.
"I can hardly imagine that to be the case," he said, adding that he
talks almost daily with the chief U.S. negotiator, Deputy Treasury
Secretary Stuart Eizenstat
Lambsdorff said it was time for the U.S. gowrnment to put forward
concrete ",;ews on the size of the fund.
"Ifthe other side believes that eight billion marks is not enough,
then it's now time for them to put a figure on the table that would be
acceptable," Lambsdorff said. "The talks could fail unless this
happens quickly."
Lambsdorff said if the talks failed, a number of the large German firms
would mow forward with plans to compensate the indi",;dual sUMvors who
worked in their plants.
"There would be a great danger that the compensation fund, which has a
voluntary nature, would fall apart and if that happened, all our efforts
would be for naught," he said.
*****••*********************************************** ***********
http://dailynews.y ahoo.com/h/aP/19991206/us/naz
MOnday December 6 6: 13 PIVI ET
uabor_1.htmI
Tuesday,December07.1999
Am&rica Online: Prezcomm
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�Nazi Labor Talks Hit Deadline
PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Negotiators said Monday they expect to miss another
deadline for coming up with a plan to pay sUMving Nazi forced
laborers.
"The talks are in a very fragile state,· said Gideon Taylor, who
represents some sUMWrs through the Conference on Jewish Material
Claims Against Germany:
On the table is a plan under which the German government and several
dozen of that nation's businesses would set up a $4.2 billion foundation
to pay an estimated million people who worked as slave or low-paid labor
in Adolph Hitler's war-time machine.
German officials had first offered $3.3 billion and, on raising it by
near1y a billion last month, asked for a response to that latest offer
by Dec.B.
"It's virtually .. unimaginable to me that we'll work this out by the
Bth,· said Mel Weiss, an attomey in a class-action suit by suMWrs.
"The problem is very simple - it's the refusal on the German side to
come up with adequate dollars to satisfy all the needs of the victims."
Representatives of SUMVOrs released a message which, they said, the
main U.S. negotiator, Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, sent
urging an agreement by Wednesday because of a German threat that
companies will drop the foundation plan.
Germany came up with that proposal eanier this year under increasing
pressure from U.S. class action lawsuits. In retum for setting up the
fund, German companies want assurances that no more lawsuits will be
pursued agains~ them.
An estimated 12 million people were forced into labor in Wond War II
Germany in factories, municipalities and on farms to produce things
needed by the country and free German men to fight. Thousands and
thousands of German businesses took advantage of Hitler's captives,
using them as free or cheap labor.
Estimates on how many are still alive vary widely from 900,000 to 2.3
million. But most experts agree that the majority of people who would be
compensated are non.Jews who live in the former Soviet Union and were
left out of previous programs compensating Holocaust victims.
The German government first said it had hoped to have details ofthe
fund worked out by Sept. 1, the 60th anniversary of the start of Wond
War II. But all sides soon acknowledged by mid-summer that the deadline
would be missed because of the difficulty of the negotiations.
Both sides say they want a quick resolution, partly because ofthe age
of ~he victims, thousands of which die every year.
**************************************************************
http://biz.yahoo.comJapf/991206/holocaust_1.html
Monday December 6, 2:0B pm Eastem lime
World War II Compensation Ust
By The Associated Press
A list of ongoing compensation discussions aiming to settle disputes
from World War II:
-SLAVE LABOR: Representatives of Nazi-era slave and forced laborers
face a deadline Wednesday to give their response to an $4.2 billion
offer by German firms and the government. The fund was proposed in
February as a way ofresolving class-action lawsuits in the United
States and elsewhere fending off new ones. About 60 compa~ies are now
participating, although only 20 have announced their involvement
publicly. Lawyers for the victims have said between $5.;3 billion and
Tuesday. Cecember 07,1999
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�$7.9 billion would be a fair amount. No further meetings have yet been
scheduled.
-NAZI GOLD: The U.S. govemment has established a fund to which all
countries that received Nazi gold can voluntarily contribute in order to
benefit Holocaust survivors. These negotiations are also taking place
under the office of Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, who
is the U.S. envoy to the Nazi labor talks.
-INSURANCE: European insurance coinpanies have been involved in talks
led by a London-based claims commission to resolve unpaid insurance
claims for those who died in the Holocaust. So far, companies have set
up a $100 million fund to cover the claims. The commission is expected
to announce details of the claims process after its. next meeting, Dec.
15, although a dispute with one company, Germany's Allianz, over the
release' of Holocaust-era files may delay plans.
The Dutch insurer Aegon (which controls Trans-America in the United
States) has refused to tum over its client list, but because Aegon is a
relatively small player, this will not hold up the compensation process.
However, the commission may decide on a boycott at the Dec. 15 meeting
of Aegon and Trans-America if they do not change their position.
Negotiators at the Nazi labor talks have also discussed including unpaid
insurance claims from Wond War II as part of the compensation from that
industry fund which includes insurance companies.
-PREVIOUS COMPENSAllON: The German government has already paid about
$60 billion in payments, pensions and other programs for
Holocaust-related crimes.
**************************************************************
http://www..jpost.co.il/News/Article-8.html
Tuesday, December 7, 199928 Kislev 5760 Updated Tue., Dec. 0702:08
Yad Vas hem opens school of Holocaust studies
By Tamar Haus man
JERUSALEM (December 7) - Yad Vas hem chairman Avner Shalev yesterday
announced the opening of a new $6.5 million International School for
Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem aimed at training teachers from Israel
and abroad to teach about the Holocaust.
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Education Minister Yossi Sarid will be
attend the school's opening ceremony this afternoon.
The school, believed the largest in the wond teaching about the
Holocaust, expects that in addition to the teacher education programs,
100,000 students and youth and 50,000 soldiers will participate in a
variety of courses and sessions, according to school di rector Dr.. Motti
Shalem.
Teachers have the option of taking courses in any of seven languages.
Perched upon a mountain crest overlooking the western hills of
Jerusalem, the school houses 17 classrooms, a cafeteria, a library,
several large function rooms and a courtyard.
Two rooms are lined from wall to wall with new computers, as multimedia
aids will be a large part ofthe education programs.
American Jack H. Pechter, who is chairman of TriStar Management Inc.,
donated the bulk of the funds for the school.
Shalevalso presented a Yad Vas hem survey of 508 .adults in Israel taken
last month on the importance of Holocaust studies, showing that there is
a general desire for schools to enhance these classes. He also added
that the Education Ministry should "be alert~' so that Holocaust
education won't be constrained by upcoming reforms in bagrut
(matriculation) exams.
Tuesday, December 07,1999
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�The school is one part ofYad Vashem's expansion plan, which includes
the collection and transfer of thousands of Holocaust documents from
Europe, the construction of a new archive building, and enlarging and
refurbishing its museum complex.
*******************************************************************
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991206/wl/australia_nazLhunting_1.htm
I
.
lVIonday December 6 5:12 PM ET
Australia's Nazi Hunting Defended
By IVIIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's justice minister defended her
country's policy on pursuing World War II criminals li'.4ng here after a
U.S. tele'.1sion news show labeled Australia a safe haven for suspected
Nazis.
ABC's 20/20 show, aired Friday, said Australia's government had not done
enough to prosecute Nazi war crimes suspects li'.1ng openly in the
country.
Justice Minister justice Minister Amanda Vanstone said she found the
accusations offensiw, according to Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"On a bipartisan basis, I can say that no gowrnment in Australia has,
while I've been in parliament, taken that attitude," Vanstone said.
Eli Rosenbaum, the top U.S. Justice Department Nazi hunter, told 20/20
that Nazi war criminals in Australia knew they were "home free."
The program also quoted international war crimes investigators as saying
successive Australian governments haw lacked the political will to
prosecute war criminals.
.
The former head ofthe government's special Nazi war criminals
investigations unit, Robert Greenwood, told the program that there were
27 worthwhile investigations on file when his unit was shut down by the
Labor govemment in the early 1990s.
Of three prosecutions proposed by the unit, none resulted in a
con'.4ction, he said.
But Vanstone defended the effort, saying: "Australia poured tens of
millions of dollars into that unit and to the consequent trials, and I
don't see with that ha'.1ng happened that it is an at all reasonable
claim to say that we're a safe haven."
Vanstone said she would ask the Australian Federal Police for an
assessment ofthe investigations on file - an indication authorities may
try again to prosecute known former Nazis.
"Nobody in Australia wants war criminals to sleep here comfortable, but
equally no one wants the Australian government to engage in show
trials. "
But Melbourne academic and Holocaust sUNvor, Harry Redner, accused the
gowmment of '.1rtually gi'.1ng up on prosecuting war criminals li'.1ng in
Australia.
"I don't think Australia has done enough. I think the process began in
Australia wry, wry, wry late," Redner told the Nine Network.
"Certainly with the change of govemment from Labor to the Liberals, it
was more or less given up."
I
f
.
!.
***************************************************************
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991204/us/nazi_deportation_2.html
Saturday December 4 2:48 AM ET
Nazi Hunter Lauds Deportation Rule
CHICAGO (AP) - The U.S. govemment's chief Nazi hunter is welcoming a
federal appeals court's decision to uphold the deportation of a retired
Wisconsin stone cutter who once served as a concentration camp guard ..
TU(\$day. December 07, 1999
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�The move to'deport Anton Tittjung, 75, of Kewaunee, Wis, "affinns that
those, .. who stood guard at Nazi· concentration camps where innocent
civilians were subjected to unspeakable horrors are not entitled to ...
U.S. residence," said Eli M. Rosenbaum, director of the Office of
Special Investigations.
'
A three-judge panel ofthe 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on
Thursday that Tittjung received a fair hearing from the court that
ordered him deported.
Rosenbaum said thousands of Jews, political prisoners and others were
shot, gassed, hanged and electrocuted at camps where Tittjung was a
guard, and called the ruling "a manifestly just resolution of a
clear-cut case."
Attomey Harold D. Block, who represented Tittjung, did not retum a
message left Friday.
Tittjung was bomin Erdud, Yugoslavia, now in the Republic of Croatia.
He was a guard at the Nazi-operated Mauthausen camp and its subcamp
Gross Raming, in Austria.
He joined the Waffen SS in October 1942 and remained a part ofthe
notorious organization until the end of World War II.
Tittjung applied for U.S. residence as a displaced person in 1952 but
did not disclose his Death's Head Battalion membership or work as a camp .
guard. He hid those facts again when he became a citizen in 1974.
Tittjung was stripped of his citizenship in December 1990 after a
federal judge in Milwaukee ruled he had lied about working as a
cpncentration camp guard.
'
, ******************************************************
http://www.trib.comlHOMENEWS/STATE/CatholicsJews.html
Denver archbishop asks Jews for forgiveness
DENVER (AP) - Following the example of other Catholic leaders, Colorado
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is asking Jews to forgive Catholics for a
history of wrongs.
In a letter to be published Thursday in the Intermountain Jewish News,
Chaput apologizes on behalf of 363,000 Catholics in northern Colorado,
"and for myself alone." He also asks forgiveness for "the ignorance
and prejudice which still exist" against the Jewish people.
"I don't know that he's saying, 'Here, I did these things.' He's saying
this as spiritual leader of his people," Chaput's spokesman Bill
Beckman said Monday.
The letter follows recent statements by Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New
York and Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee expressing sorrow and
remorse for a history of Catholic wrongs committed against Jews.
"This letter is even stronger than O'Connor's. I think it's
magnanimous, a breakthrough and very positive," said Miriam Goldberg,
editor and publisher of the Intermountain Jewish News, an 85-year-old
weekly widely read by Colorado's 60,OOO-member Jewish community.
In his November letter, Weakland wrote that Catholics had preached '
doctrines that "contributed to the attitudes that made the Holocaust
possible." Beckman said Chaput's letter likely would not go that far.
"Chaput is talking about the sweep of history ,'~ Beckman said.
'
"Clearly, Catholics have committed wrongs' against the Jewish people in
the past." .
The bishops' gestures are in line with Pope John Paul II's efforts to
Tueeday.December07.1999
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�'.
'"
reach out to the Jewish people as the jubilee year 2000 approaches. At
the heart of a biblicaljubiiee is forgiveness, righting wrongs and
renewing relationships.
A 1998 Vatican declaration repented on behalf of individual Catholics
who failed to stop the Holocaust. The Vatican also has opened its World
War II archives to independent scholarship.
**Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.gov/neWs.htm for
continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
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From: Stu Loeser <sloeser@PCHA.GOV>
,
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To:
I
I
Subject: 1217/99 Holcaust Assets Clips - Part 2 of2
'
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 199913:46:55 -0500
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�Subj:
Date:
From:
1216/99 Holocaust Assets Clips..;. VOLCKER
12/6/997:53.:09 AM Eastem Standard lime
sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
Hi,
Following is the early coverage of the Volcker report. I may not be
able to send the rest ofthe Holocaust Assets clips until tomorrow.
Stu
**************************************************************
http://www.go.comlContent?arn=a0759reuff-19991206&qt=holocaust+or+nazi&s
v=IS&lk=noframes&col=~kt=A&ak=news1486
Panel links 53,886 Swiss accounts to Holocaust
07:17 a.m. Dec 06,1999 Eastem
By Michael Shields
"
ZURICH, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A panel that spent three years investigating
whether Swiss banks hoarded Holocaust \1ctims' unclaimed wealth said on
Monday it had identified nearly 54,000, accounts probably or possibly
, linked to Nazi victims.
\
It recommended publishing the names ori,those with the clearest links
around half - in a final effort to bring long-denied justice to
Holocaust \1ctims and their families.
:
The panel added it had found no evidence that Swiss banks had conspired
to steal the riches in dormant accounts, but criticised some banks for
their callous treatment of victims and sloppy record-keeping, especially
years ago.
The panel, headed by former U.S, Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker,
was set up by Swiss banks and Jewish groups in 1996 to pursue charges
that banks stonewalled families seeking wartime wealth put in neutral
Switzer1and for safekeeping.
.
Unveiling its final report, the committee said it was abl~ to trace
around 60 percent of the accounts in Swiss banks when World War Two
ended in 1945, but was unable to put a final value on the dormant
accounts because its information was too sketchy,
"The auditors have reported no e\1dence of systematic destruction of
records of\1ctim accounts, organised discrimination against the
accounts of \1ctims of Nazi persecution, or concerted efforts to divert
the funds ... to improper purposes," the report found.
But it also cited "confirmed evidence of questionable and deceitful
actions by some individual banks" in handling victims' accounts.
MANY ACCOUNTS TRANSFERRED
,
In thousands of cases, the accounts were eaten up by fees, transferred
to banks' profits, or put in collective accounts that drew no interest,
it noted.
More than 36,000 accounts were closed without any explanation that could
be reconstructed by the 650 auditors who pored over banks' records,
matching 4.1 million accounts with the names of Holocaust victims.
It found 417 accounts that were paid out to Nazi officials who coerced
the owners to withdraw their money.
The committee recommended waiving Swiss banking secrecy to publish the
names on 25,187 dormant or closed accounts which had the best prospects
of belonging to Holocaust victims.
The number is far higher than the 775 foreign dormant accounts
containing 38.7 million Swiss francs ($24.46 million) that banks
reported from a search in 1995, but also includes thousands of accounts
that have been closed in the meantime.
This new list - to follow two earlier lists of dormant accounts that
banks have already published . would give people another chance to
.
Monday, December 06,1999
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�claim money that belonged to their families.
The committee said claims to the money should be sufficiently covered by
a $1.25 billion payment that UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group proposed
last year to settle U.S. class action lawsuits against them, other
companies and the Swiss go~rnment.
MORE WORK TO BE DONE
The panel said more work remained to be done, especially in researching
wealth that was handled for Holocaust 'Jctims by intermediaries or that
was looted by senior Nazis.
For example, it found 1,622 accounts that matched the names of senior
Nazi officials or European Nazi collaborators:
Nevertheless, it said it had done the best job possible to determine the
fate of dormant Holocaust-era accounts.
"The committee is satisfied that its work has now developed the record
of the Swiss banks with respect to the funds of victims of Nazi
persecution with as much detail, objecti'Jty and accuracy as the passage
oftime allows," it said.
"In that sense, the committee belie~s this one chapter inthe long and
sad story of the consequences of Nazi brutality can be drawn to a
close," it said.
The Swiss Bankers Association also called for the curtain to be drawn on
what was at times an acrimonious battle between banks and Jewish groups.
At one point it threatened to boil over into a general boycott of Swiss
banks.
The bankers association said the report - coupled with the big banks'
$1.25 billion settlement and a $200 million humanitarian fund set up by
Swiss banks and businesses in 1997 to help needy Holocaust victims
meant "moral and financial justice has been achieved."
The report "dispels any notion that there was a concerted effort by
Swiss banks to single out victims of Nazi persecution. In other words,
there was no conspiracy and no cover-up as had been pre'Jously alleged
by the Jewish organisations," it added.
The full report was to be posted on the panel's Website at
http:/www.icep-iaep.org.
($1-1.582 Swiss Franc)
******••• *****************************
http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/991206/swiss_bank_2.html
Monday December 6,6:47 am Eastern lime
Report Criticizes Swiss Banks
International Panel Concludes That Search Through Swiss Banks Turned Up
54,000 Unclaimed Accounts That May Have Belonged to Holocaust Victims
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS
Associated Press Writer
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - A search through Swiss. banks turned up
54,000 unclaimed accounts that may have belonged to Holocaust 'Jctims,
an international panel concluded today, criticizing some banks for
stonewalling the victims' heirs.
"The handling ofthese funds was too often grossly insensitive to the
special conditions of the Holocaust and sometimes misleading in intent
and unfair in result," said the fi nal report of a panel, appointed by
Swiss bankers and international Jewish organizations.
But it said the unprecedented search for the rightful owners ofthe
accounts was evidence of a new willingness by the banks to help bring
"a sense of justice and clos ure to one part ofthe horrific ex perience
ofthe Holocaust."
Under the leadership offormer U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A.
Volcker, the panel employed up to 650 international accountants to comb
Monday. Oocombo,06, 1999
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�through 54 Swiss banks in search of accounts opened while.the Nazis held
power in neighboring Germany from 1933 to 1945.
The panel said it was impossible to put a dollar value on the Holocaust
accounts in Swiss banks because so much information was missing, but
that the $1.25 billion being paid by the banks in a U.S. class-action
settlement should cover the claims of ";ctims and their heirs and leave
funds for other claimants.
The panel also said it had found 1,622 accounts that, based on name
matches, might have belonged to top-ranking Nazis or their
collaborators. No names were disclosed.
.
The Swiss Bankers Association, which helped pay for the search, welcomed
the report as 'lAndicating the beha'IAor of Swiss banks during and after
World War II, saying: "The auditors have reported no evidence of
systematic destruction of records of victim accounts, organized
discrimination against the accounts of'IActims of Nazi persecution or
concerted efforts to divert the funds of ";ctims of Nazi persecution to
improper purposes."
But the panel also said the auditors had "confirmed e'IAdence of
questionable and deceitful actions by some individual banks in the
handling of accounts of victims, including withholding of information
from Holocaust ";ctims or their heirs about their accounts."
It said it had found cases of "inappropriate closing of accounts,
failure to keep adequate records, many cases of insensiti..;ty to the
efforts of'IActims or heirs of'IActims to claim dormant or closed
accounts.
And it said it found "a general lack of diligence - even active
resistance in response to ear1ier private and official inquiries
about dormant accounts."
But it added: "Switzer1and and the Swiss banks were not responsible for
those tenible events (of the Holocaust). Nor were they alone in being
havens for 'lActims' funds."
Banks in Britain and the United States also received funds from JeVIIS and
others trying to flee the Nazis, it said.
The search through Swiss banks for assets of Nazi victims has lasted
more than three years and cost $500 million, banking officials said.
The commission said the total assets of the banks at the end of Wor1d
War II were $9.1 billion, and that covered not only customer deposits
but also other assets.
The report said current values are 10 times the 1945 value and noted
that some panel members projected a 1999 value of between $192.3 million
and $442 million for the Holocaust victim accounts, but that too much
information was missing - especially since many ofthe accounts had
been closed.
The audit checked for acti'IAty in the accounts up until this decade, and
bank officials say details from 4 million accounts were entered in one
computer database.
That information was compared with a second database containing the
names of more than 5.5 million Holocaust ";ctims from records in Israel,
the United States and elsewhere.
The panel has been trying to determine how many oftheaccounts belonged
to people killed by the Nazis and how many had nothing to do with the
Holocaust. It recommended the publication of 25,000 more names on
accounts so that relatives can file claims.
Two years ago, Swiss banks published 5,559 names on missing account
holders who lived outside Switzerland. Those accounts are now worth
$44.2 million.
The panel's report was released as last year's $1.25 billion
Monday. December 06, 1999
America Online: PreZc()mm
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�out-of-court settlement between the two biggest Swiss banks and
Holocaust \tctims and their heirs enters its final phase. That accord is
supposed to cover the money turned up by the Volcker commission.
A second report, due Friday from a group of historians from Switzer1and,
Israel and the United States, will document'neutral Switzer1and's
treatment of refugees from Nazi-held areas in the prewar and war years.
***•••••**•••••**•••• **•••••••••*******•••
http://WWN.ft.com/hippocampus/q2f45be.htm
Financial limes (London)
Monday December 6 1999
Swiss banks cleared of looting
By William Hall in Zurich
Swiss banks have been cleared of systematically looting the accounts of
\1ctims of Nazi persecution during and after the second wor1d war.
But after a three-year investigation, costing an estimated SFr800m
($509m), experts have still not been able to determine how much money is
hidden in Swiss banks belongs to \tctims of the Holocaust era.
Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Res erw , who has
owrseen the inwstigation into dormant Swiss bank accounts of\1ctims
of Nazi persecution, will issue his final report at a press conference
in Zurich today.
It is understood that the 300-page report will not contain a
comprehensive estimate of the amount of money owed to \tctims of Nazi
persecution although it will report that it has found 53,886 accounts
which "probably or possibly" are connected to \1ctims of Nazi
persecution.
'
The final report of Mr Volcker's Independent Committee of Eminent
Persons (ICEP made up of representatives of Jewish organisations and the
Swiss Bankers Association, has been delayed by rows over estimates of
the amount of money which might haw been in dormant bank accounts which
had been closed.
There has been considerable speculation about the value the Volcker
committee would attribute to the bank accounts which were closed fOr
unknown reasons.
\
It is understood that the final report includes a footnote in an annex,
inserted at the insistence of a Jewish committee member, which estimates
that the value of the closed bank accounts could be as much as $1. 3bn.
Howewr, the conclusion ofthe final Volcker report. based on the work
of more than 500 forensic accountants. is that the final sums will not
be known until the end of the claims resolution process.
Switzer1and. a neutral country throughout the second wor1d, war, was a
natural safe hawn for Jews facing Nazi persecution.
While many Jews were turned back at the border. Swiss banks were much
more willing to accept their sa\tngs. Many account holders perished in
the Holocaust. '
In 1962 the Swiss banks conducted their first search and,found SFr9.5m
belonging to \1ctims of Nazi persecution. In 1996 a second inwstigation
Monday, December 06, 1999 'America Online: Prezconvn
Page: 4
�found 775 dormant accounts totalling SFr38.7m.
However, in May 1996 the Volcker committee was established to settle the
matter once and for all. In the summer of 1998 it published two lists of
5,570 accounts with SFr67m in total.
Swiss banking sources say that while the report is critical ofthe
insensiti\lity ofthe Swiss banks' handling ofthe dormant account issue,
it found no evidence of "systematic destruction" of the records of the
accounts of victims of Nazi persecution nor of concerted efforts to
divert funds for improper purposes.
********************************************
http://www.jpost.co.iI/News/Article-5.html
The Jerusalem Post
Monday, December 6, 1999 27 Kislev 5760
Furor expected over new reports on Swiss Holocaust actions
By Jerusalem Post Staff And News Agencies
JERUSALEM (December 6) - Swiss bankers and government officials are
bracing for a new onslaught of criticism of their treatment of \lictims
of the Nazis because of two major reports, by independent panels, to be
released this week in Geneva.
.
The first - to be published today - will give the results of a
three-year forensic audit of war-era accounts in Swiss banks. That
audit, which cost more than $200 million, is expected to identify how
much money belonged to Jewish depositors.
The Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick said yesterday that the search,
conducted under the auspices of former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul
Volcker, also found 1,600 accounts belonging to Nazis. .
The second report, which is due Friday, was conducted by an
international panel of historians and is expected to document how
Switzerland treated refugees fleeing Nazi-held areas.
The value of the Swiss accounts was first raised more than three years
ago, when Jewish organizations indicated that victims ofthe Nazis may
haw had some $7 billion in the banks. Agitation owr the accounts led
to class-action lawsuits in the US, charging that the banks UBS and
Credit Suisse hoarded Jewish assets. The banks settled the suits in
August 1998 for $1.25b.
There is not yet a plan to distribute the $1.25b. settlement. The
depositors identified by the Volcker audit will be the first to be paid.
The results of the audit haw been a closely guarded secret. However,
there haw been unconfirmed reports that the tearns of 600 internationi:lI
accountants, re\liewing the records of 54 Swiss banks, found more than
40,000 accounts that may belong to Holocaust \lictims. It was not known
how many were dormant and unclaimed, and whether those that were closed
would have been closed by SUMvors or their families.
Much of the research on the ownership of the accounts was facilitated by
Yad Vashem, which dewloped a database to match account names against
those of\lictims of the Nazis.
There have been suggestions that the value of the accounts may consume
at least halfthe $1.25b. settlement, although that sum is also expected
to compensate some slaw laborers, victims whose assets were looted by
the Nazis, and refugees who tried unsuccessfully to enter Switzerland.
.
The last is an especially sore point for Switzerland, which had been
proud of admitting more refugees during World War II than any European
country. However, it is known that Switzerland refused to admit at least
Monday, Ooeombor 06, 1999
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�·.
30,000 Jews, assuring·their almost certain death at the hands of Nazis
and their collaborators.
**********••• ***••**••• ***•••••••••••••••••••••
http://www.globes.co.illcgi-binlSerw_Arenalpages/English/1.2.1.3
Volcker Ctee Report on Holocaust Victims Deposits in Switzer1and Due Out
Tomorrow
By Itamar Levin
Tomorrow, the Volcker committee is due to publish its report on the
affair of Holocaust victims deposits in Swiss banks. The report is
expected to severely castigate the banks and the Swiss Bankers
Association, and to give details of Holocaust victims accounts traced by
the auditors it engaged.
,
The committee is expected to report that it traced more than 52,000
accounts, the names of whose owners match those of Holocaust victims
according to the list held by "Yad Vashem", the Holocaust Martyrs and
Heroes Remembrance Authority. However, only 25,000 can definite.ly be
ascribed to Holocaust victims, while the others do not contain
'
sufficient identifying particulars to dispel all doubt that these are
the same people.
The report will not specify the monetary value ofthe ac<,:ounts, due to
absence of sufficient detail. Unofficial assessments, however, refer to
billions of dollars if existing details actually constitute a
representative sample of all the accounts.
Ear1ier reports say that the committee will determine that the banks
acted in such a way as to deny survivors and victims heirs access to the
accounts. It will also say, however, that it found no evidence of
conspiracy or collusion in such moves among all the banks. 'The committee
will determine that the banks and the Association furnished incorrect
reports on the accounts.
The Volcker report is not expected to influence the realizationofthe
agreement in the deposits affair, which was reached in August 1998
between the Jewish organizations, the lawyers representing the survivors
and the UBS and Credit Suisse banks.
The agreement does, in fact, determine that first priority in the award
of payment $1.4 billion, will go to the heirs ofthe depositors. But in
absence of sufficient documentation, it seems that few will be able to
obtain the moneys deposited by relations who perished in the Holocaust.
Published by Israel's Business Arena December 5, 1999
**Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.gov/news.htm for
continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
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�Subject: '1216/99 Holocaust Assets Clips - VOLCKER
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�Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
001. email
DATE
SUBJECTrrlTLE
Marc Masurovsky to Laura Offen; re: For Laura Offen/Your Email:
(partial) (1 page)
12/07/99
RESTRICTION
P61b(6)
This marker identifies the original location of the withdrawn item listed above.
For a complete list of items withdrawn froll) this folder, see the
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet at the front of the folder ~
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
Art & Cultural Property Theft
ONBox Number: 40417
FOLDER TITLE:
[Email Correspondence of Commission Researchers] [6]
jp91
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.c. 2204(a)1
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.c. 552(b)]
PI
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information [(b)(I) of the FOIA1
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practiccs of
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA[
b(4) Release would, disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA[
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA[
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
b(8) Release would dis~lose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA[
National Security Classified Information [(a)(I) of the PRA1
Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA1
Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA1
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA1
P5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA1
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA[
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.c.
2201 (3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�Subj:
for laura offen/your e-mail
Date:
1217/99 11 :41 :51 AM Eastern Standard lime
From:. Marc.Masurovsky@hqda.army.mil (Masurovsky, Marc Mr HAC)
To: prezcomm@aol.com ('prezcomm@aol.com)
Laura:
Please send me your e-mail fromyesterdaytomarc.masurovsky@hqda.army.mil
asap. Thanks,
Marc
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.
From: "Masurovsky, Marc Mr HAC" <Marc.Masurovsky@hqda.army.mil>
To: "'prezcomm@aol.com'" <prezcomm@aol.com>
Subject: for laura offen/your e-mail
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 09:24:49 -0500
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}.
Tue.day~ Docember 07,
1999
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�Subj:
for Robert S.,
Date: 1217/9911:45:51 AM Eastern Standard lime
From: Marc.Masurovsky@hqda.army.mil (Masurovsky, Marc Mr HAC)
To: prezcomm@aol.com (prezcomm@aol.com')
I am at McNair this morning. Jennifer is also here.
She and I are meeting with Slaney and Baker at noon.
Afterwards, we'll either go to 15th street or to McNair.
Call if you need anything.
Bye,
Marc
BTW, I sent you a fax last night. Please review it and see if you agree
with evel)'thing so far. Share the experience with Laura.
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From: "Masurovsky, Marc Mr HAC" <Marc.Masurovsky@hqda.army.mil>
To: "'prezcomm@aol.com'" <prezcornm@aol.com>
Subject: for Robert S..
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 09:27: 15 -0500
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Tuesday, December 07,1999
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�I
I
~;
Subj:
Holocaust Museum Conference
Date: 12/6/993:14:02 PM Eastem Standard lime
From: kpage@PCHA.GOV (Katherine Page)
To: prezcomm@aol.com
The Holocaust Memorial Museum will sponsor the Holocaust Research & "
Holocaust Studies in the 21st Century conference December 13-15. A
schedule of presenters may be \.1ewed at
http://www.ushmm.gov/research/conference/agenda/agenda.htm . If you. ha~
not already contacted me about attending sessions, please give your name
/ & the session(s) to Bob Skwirot by noo"n tomorrow (fuesday.the 8th). He
will forward the list to me. Thank you! .
Katherine
I
I
I.
~-~--
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Subject: Holocaust Museum Conference·
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Tuesday, December 07,1999
America Online: Prezcomm
! Page: 1
�Subj:
Infonnation sheets for Dec. 16/17 meeting
Date: 1215/99 11 :04:54 PM Eastern Standard lime
From: rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net (Robert P. Grathwol)
To: sarah.robinson@hqda.army.mil (Sarah Robinson), prezcomm@aol.com (Archives II PCHA)
CC: gsofer@pcha.gov (Gene Sofer)
To All Research Staff
'c/o Sarah Robinson and Bob Skwirot
Please send your completed Information Sheets on research papers to me either at FAX 703313-9461 or at
rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net by the close of business Monday, Dec. 6. Please follow the format presented last week, a copy of
which was e-mailed to Archives II and Fort McNair.
Thanks,
Bob Grathwol
< !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-I/W3CIIDTD W3 HTMUlEN">
<HEAD>
<META content=textlhtml;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-I/W3CI/DTD W3
HTMUlEN">
<META content="'MSHTML 4.71.2016.0'" name=GENERATOR>
</HEAD> '
<DIV>
To All Research Staff
c/o Sarah Robinson and Bob Skwirot
Please send your completed Information Sheets on research papers to me either at FAX 703313-9461 or at
rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net by the close of business Monday, Dec. 6. Please follow the format presented last week, a
copy of which was e-mailed to Archives II and Fort McNair.
Thanks,
Bob Grathwol</DIV>
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From: "Robert P. Grathwol" <rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net>
To: "Sarah Robinson" <sarah.robinson@hqda.army.mil>,
"Archives II PCHA" <prezcomm@aol.com>
Cc: "Gene Sofer" <gsofer@pcha.gov>
Subject; Information sheets for Dec. 16/17 meeting
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 23:04:52 -0500
\
Message-ID: <01 bf3f9f$Oc289780$LocaIHost@robert> '
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
Monday, Decembor06, 1999
America Online: Prozoomm
Page: 1
�Subj:
From Sarah at McNair
Date: 1213/9910:53:23 AM Eastern Standard lime
From: Sarah.Robinson@hqda.anny.mH (Robinson, Sarah Ms HAC)
To: prezcomm@aol.com (prezcomm@aol.com')
Jennifer..:.. I got the forms from Sabastian and don't worry about the recent
forms.
Lucille - Abby called and wanted you to know that the two binders she was
working on for you are basically complete. Maybe you should call her and
chat. ...
EVERYONE
I will accept any old Box Review Forms (i.e. backlog) that are turned in at
the Monday meeting. This is the last chance to get the backlog in to me.
If you do not tum them in by the Monday meeting you are responsible for
entering the information yourself.
Any new fonns which are being completed should be entered into the database,
initialed in the upper right hand corner and placed in the box designated
for getting Box Review Forms to me. Entering information from fonns with
dates after 11118/99 should be happening at Archiws.
Thanks,
Sarah
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.
From: "Robinson, Sarah Ms HAC" <Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil>
To: "'prezcomm@aoLcom'" < prezcomm@aoLcom>
Subject: From Sarah at McNair
Date: Fri. 3 Dec 1999 10:49:22 -0500
Importance: low
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Friday, Docombor 03, 1999
America Onlino: Prezcomm
Pogo: 1
�Subj: Infonnation Sheets
Date: 1213/99 11 :38:31 AM Eastem Standard lime
From: Prezcomm
To: jonathan_petropoulos@mckenna.edu
Hi'Guys,
I just wanted to make sure I understand which topics are yours to complete in regards to the information sheets from Bob
Grathwol, which are due Monday. The following is based on the research plan:
1. Erroneous restitution
2. Baltic Art
3. Website Docs.
4. Transfer of "heir1ess" property to Bavaria
5. German and Central Europe "heirless" cultural property
6. Provenance of Museum Collections
7. Database of lingering claims
I hope this is clear. Also, I will be attending Monday's staff meeting downtown so please let me know if you have any
questions or concems.
'
Sincerely,
A.
Friday, December 03,1999
America Online: Pre2comm
Page: 1
�Subj:
Date:
From:
1212199 Holocaust Assets Clips
121219912:37:57 PM Eastem Standard lime
sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
Hi
Here is today's coverage ofthe coverage. Not included is anything
mentioning last night's "Law and Order" on NBC, which focused on a
murder of a life insurance salesman who kept a list of accounts sold to
Eastern European Jews before and during the Holocaust - and the
culpability ofthe American parent ofthe European insurer for both this
murder and their policy of targeting Holocaust '.Actims. As the promos
for this series often say, "ripped from today's headlines ... "
Today's articles:
Guiliani has links to Swiss Bankers' money, too
One Swiss Bank Blocked Volcker's Auditors - Source
Washington Post: California Faulted On Holocaust Cases
Insurers To Speed Holocaust Claims
California insurance chief warns Italian insurer
Discord In The Court Oncl. Roman Kent)
NY Post: HOLOCAUST ASSETS
Ope! says in talks on joining Nazi-era slaw fund
Stu
************************************************************************
******
The (New York) Jewish Week
December 3, 1999/17 Kislev 5760
Battle Of The Ehuds In Senate Race
By: ADAM DICKTER ,
Israelis Barak and Olmert cause flap with 'endorsements' of Rudy and
Hillary; mayor took $10,000 from Swiss bankers.
deletia
Last week, Giuliani supporters were ha'.Ang a field day with news that
Clinton would be the guest of honor at a Boston fund-raiser hosted by,
among other people, attomey Robert Crowe.
Crowe, a seasoned Democratic fund-raiser, has defended Swiss banks in
the class-action suit filed by Holocaust-era depositors.
Now it turns out that Giuliani has accepted more than $10,000 in
campaign contributions from employees of Swiss banks that colluded with
the Nazis during World War II. According to federal election filings
obtained by The Jewish Week, Friends of Giuliani receiwd $3,000 from
Thaddeus Walkowicz of Credit Swiss First Boston. That contribution was
made in June, three months after the $1.25 million Swiss bank settlement
was announced. But Giuliani also received more than $7,000 from
officials of Credit Suisse, Union Bank of Switzerland and other
companies during his 1993 and 1997 mayoral runs.
"If anyone wants to play the guilt-by-association game, Giuliani has
quite a bit of explaining to do," said Clinton's spokesman, Howard
Wolfson.
Reached during a fund-raising trip in Texas Tuesday night, Friends of
Giuliani director Bruce Teitelbaum said he would look into the
contributions, but had no immediate comment.
Elan Steinberg, executiw director ofthe World Jewish Congress, said he
was unaware of what role Crowe played ill the Swiss defense. But he said
Clinton "was a central figure in bringing about justice for Holocaust
SUMVOrs and directly interwned with the president to set up a meeting
with [WJC President] Edgar Bronfman."
Thursday. December 02, 1999
America Online: Prezcomm
Pag.: 1
�Steinberg said the Clintons were part of the "oddest political alliance
in history" in helping Holocaust suNivors retrieve their assets. That
alliance included fonner Republican Sen. AI D'Amato, city Comptroller
Alan He'o1:!si, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat and state
Comptroller H. Can McCall.
****************************************************
http://infoseek.go.comlContent?am=a4839LBY232reulb-19991201&qt=holocaus
t+or+nazi&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486
One Swiss Bank Blocked Volcker's Auditors - Source
10:44 p.m. Dec 01,1999 Eastern
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Volcker Commission, which is probing Swiss
banks for Holocaust assets, will criticize an important Swiss financial
institution for allegedly keeping auditors from doing their work, a
source close to the commission said on Wednesday.
The Banque Cantonale de Geneve "has not allowed auditors to carry out
any oftheir mandated functions," said the source, quoting from a draft
of the report that the Volcker Commission is expected to issue on Dec.
6.
U.S.-based spokesmen for the Swiss Bankers Association and the World
Jewish Congress were not immediately available or declined comment.
The Volcker Commission was named for its leader Paul Volcker, former
chainnan ofthe U.S. Federal Reserve. The panel was set up in 1996 to
investigate long-standing claims that Swiss banks pre'o1:!nted Holocaust
suNivors from taking out funds their families deposited before the war.
The banks' own audits in 1996 turned up only 755 donnant accounts that
were worth $31 million. But a three-year probe by the Volcker Commission
found that 11 percent of Holocaust-linked accounts that were closed by
the banks held $400 million, a source close to the probe said.
While the remaining 89 percent of the closed accounts lacked enough
records to say how much they were worth. another 20,000 donnant
accounts, which were ne'o1:!r closed, ha'o1:! nearly $250 million in them, he
added.
The Volcker report was expected to criticize nine banks, but the Swiss
Bankers Association and most ofthe 59 banks that were probed will be
praised for their cooperation with the in'o1:!stigation, another source
close to the commission said on Tuesday.
The report was expected to say that Banque Cantonale de Geneve's action
"posed a substantial impediment" to the Commission's work, one ofthe
sources said.
Six cantonal banks were expected to be criticized because they "limited
access to information necessary to analyze accounts" linked to
Holocaust \1ctims, one of the sources said. Two of the banks limited
efforts to allow the names of \1ctims to be matched, he added.
***************************************************
http://WW.N.washingtonpost.comlwp-dyn/world/europe/A6237-1999Dec2.html
California Faulted On Holocaust Cases
By Colum Lynch
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page A35
NEW YORK, Dec. 1 - A California law that is designed to force European
insurance companies to turn O'o1:!r lists of World War II policyholders is
undermining federal attempts to settle claims by Holocaust suNivors, a
senior Clinton administration official said this week.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat, who has coordinated the
Thursday. December 02, 1999
America Online: P,ezcomm
Page: 2
�administration's policy on Holocaust claims, said the new state law may
discourage companies fi'om cooperating with an international commission
established last year to resolve the settlements.
The law, signed in October by California Gov. Gray Oa"";s (0), requires
European insurance firms to publish a list of unpaid Holocaust-era
insurance policies or risk losing their licenses to operate in
Califomia.
In a letter Tuesday, Eizenstat urged Oa"";s and California Insurance
Commissioner Char1es Quackenbush to exempt the subsidiaries offive
insurers-Germany's Allianz AG, France's AXA, Italy's Assicurazioni
Generali and Switzerland's Winterthur and Zurich-that are cooperating
with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims,
headed by former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger.
Executives of several European firms were subpoenaed to attend hearings
in Los Angeles and San Francisco this week to explain what steps they
are taking to comply with the state law, which will go into effect on
April 6, 2000.
California's action is the latest in a campaign by Holocaust sur...,;vors
and their advocates to force European companies to disclose long-hidden
information about bank accounts, insurance policies and other assets
stolen or lost during the Nazi era.
Last year, Eizenstat and former senator Alfonse M. O'Amato (R-N.Y.)
reached an agreement with Swiss banks that promised to pay more than
$1.25 billion to settle Holocaust claims. But negotiating a deal with
the insurance industry is more complicated because foreign insurers are
regulated by all 50 states, while foreign banks are regulated primarily
by the New York State Bank SupeNsor and the Federal Reserve.
The intemational commission headed by Eagleburger promised "safe
harbor" fi'om state regulators to companies that cooperate with the
commission and give auditors access to their archives.
"The companies that are [working with] the commission have all been
acting in good faith," Eagleburger said today. "Under those
circumstances, I don't think it was right for Quackenbush to subpoena
them and bring them in for hearings."
Eizenstat also wamed that California's hard-ball approach could
"undermine the Eagleburger commission, which is the best hope of getting
claims paid quickly."
If other states follow California'S lead, he added, it will complicate
his negotiations with Germany's govemment and private industry to
pro"";de compensation to Holocaust-era slave laborers. The Germans
recently offered a $4.25 billion settlement.
"We are trying to say to the German government and German industry, We
are prepared to give you legal peace in the United States if you
contribute to this German initiative and settle the case and pay
SUbstantial amounts of money,' " Eizenstat said.
·If California pursues its initiative, he said, foreign companies will
ask: "Why should we cooperate in this broader initiative if German
companies cooperating are still going to be subject to subpoenas and
sanctions?"
Quackenbush responded that this week's hearings "don't do anything to
undercut" the Eagleburger commission. On the contrary, he said, the
hearings will kick-start efforts to uncover war-time insurance policies.
****************************************************
http://www.washingtonpost.comlwp-srv/aponli ne/19991202/aponli ne1 02217_00
O.htm
Insurers To Speed Holocaust Claims
Thu",day, December 02, 1999
America Online: Prezcomm
Page: 3
�By Michelle DeArmond
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, Dec. 2,1999; 10:22 a.m. EST
LOS ANGELES - Three Dutch insurance companies are promising to expedite
claims of Holocaust survivors and heirs in California who are named in
World War II-era policies.
Under the deal announced Wednesday, the companies will pay any rightful
claims quickly, giw the state Insurance Department access to records
and provide a list within two months of related companies. They also
will contribute a total of $4.2 million to a Holocaust survivors fund.
"This is the first time I have seen a company act not to hide
information, deny responsibility and pursue avenues to delay payments,"
said Jona Goldrich, a state-appointed liaison on Holocaust affairs and a
member of the California Holocaust Settlement Alliance.
It's unknown how many Californians haw claims with those companies or
exactly when policyholders would be paid, Insurance Department
spokeswoman Dana Spurrier said.
About 20,000 Holocaust survivors live in California and state officials,
frustrated by the slow pace of international efforts to resolve the
cases, are pressing for companies to pay up or lose their right to do
business here.
By agreeing to comply with the state's Holocaust Registry Law, Aegon,
ING and Fortis were excused from a hearing held Wednesday to determine
how companies planned to abide by the law.
Other companies testified, even as federal and international authorities
urged state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush to not subpoena or
sanction businesses they say are cooperating with an international
cornmission.
A second hearing was scheduled for today in San Francisco.
On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat sent a
letter to Quackenbush, arguing that California's hearings could damage
similar talks between the insurance companies and the International
Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
Several European-based insurers have set aside $100 million to pay
claims and administratiw costs, and the international commission has
de'vtsed a formula for payments.
The California law, to go into effect in April, requires insurers doing
business in California to provide lists of policies sold in Europe from
1920 to 1945 and to certify that they have tried to payoff policies
sold to Holocaust victims. If no heirs are found, the proceeds would go
to a private organization for distribution to Holocaust survivors.
*****************************************************
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?am=a4149LBY 103reulb-19991201 &qt=holocaus
t+or+nazi&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486
California insurance chief warns Italian insurer
06:00 p.m Dec 01, 1999 Eastern
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES, Dec 1 (Reuters) - California Insurance Commissioner Chuck
Quackenbush threatened on Wednesday to bar Italy's giant Assicurazioni
Generali insurance company from doing business in the state unless it
obeys a new state law requiring it to rewal the names of Holocaust-era
policy holders.
In a testy exchange with the head of Generali's American branch at a
public hearing, Quackenbush said, "Y ou might want to consider seriously
leaving the state because oblJously you don't intend to comply with the
law. I will lower the hammer on you if you are not going to comply.'
The law aimed at European insurers goes into effect on April 6, 2000 and
Thursday, December 02,1999
America Online: Prezcomm
Page: 4
�requires insurance companies doing business in the state to publish the
names of Holocaust-era policy holders and a list of unclaimed assets.
To push his point further, Quackenbush also told Generali U.S. chief
Chris Carnicelli, "On April 6, you will provide us with a list or you
are going to leave the state."
Camicelli said he "respectfully" disagreed with him.
"I believe the company is doing everything to comply. I don't
understand why you have the feeling that we are not being a good
citizen," said Camicelli.
He said the company had turned over to Israel's Yad Vas hem Holocaust
study centre a list of 98,000 policy holders to determine if they were
Holocaust IActims and might make that list available to Califomia
authorities.
But he added that before doing that the company wanted to study the
constitutionality of the new law.
Quackenbush said Wednesday that two more Dutch insurers, Fortis and lNG,
have agreed to work toward complying with the law - following an
announcement late Tuesday by the major Dutch insurer Aegon that it would
comply.
But an Aegon spokesman in Amsterdam stressed that the company did not
have a list of Holocaust-era policyholders to provide.
Quackenbush said he was not concemed that Aegon had no list because the
company had pledged complete cooperation and he added, "Ifthere is no
list, they will have to put something together."
Aegon, Fortis and Ing also agreed to put $4.2 million into a newly
created fund for Holocaust sUNWrs lilAng in Califomia, where one to
two percent of the world's Holocaust SUNWrs live ..
Quackenbush is holding hearings Wednesday and Thursday in Los Angeles
and San Francisco to hear from insurance firms ifthey intend on
complying with the state's Holocaust Registry Law.
Quackenbush has been among the most aggressive U.S. state officials on
the Holocaust insurance issue. An intemational commission, headed by
former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, is trying to
resolve the question of unpaid Holocaust-era insurance policies.
Califomia, by far the most populous U.S. state with about 33 million
people, is one of five states represented on the commission, which also
includes representatives from the World Jewish Congress, the state of
Israel and five European insurance companies.
*******************************************************
http://\INIW.thejewishweek.com/jwcurr.exe?99120332
The (New York) Jewish Week
December 3, 1999/ 17 Kislev 5760
Discord In The Court
By: ADAM DICKTER , Staff Writer
Disputes over legal fees, potential impact on pending insurance and art
claims mark hearing on approval of $1.25 billion Swiss deal.
The leader of an organization representing defrauded chasidic Holocaust
SUMVOrs lashed out at the World Jewish Congress in open court Monday,
blasting the agency for its criticism of fees requested by lawyers in
the class-action suit against Swiss banks.
Testifying before federal Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn, Rabbi Morris
Shmidman, president of the Wond Council of Orthodox Jewish Communities,
referred to published comments by WJC executive director Elan Steinberg
that plaintiffs in the Holocaust assets suit were being exploited by a
"feeding frenzy offee-grabbing lawyers."
Rabbi Shmidman called the remarks "exceedingly painful and distressing"
Thursday. December 021 1999
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�and said they "dishonored the survivors and the memory ofthe '.4ctims."
Rabbi Shmidman said Steinberg should have expressed his opinion about
the lawyers fees - a major sticking point as Korman considers approval
of the $1.25 billion settlement with Swiss banks - in the courtroom
rather than through the media. Steinberg's comments were published last
week in The Jewish Week.
"I don't mind that an anti-Zionist group that mainly represents Satmar
chasidim speaks in favor of lawyers' fees when they have appointed two
lawyers, each of which is asking for more than $2 million," Steinberg
fired back after the hearing.
The Satmars oppose the creation of a Jewish state before the arrival of
the Messiah. Steinberg said the name World Council of Orthodox Jewish
Communities suggests that it represents a broader spectrum of Jewry.
Korman convened the day long session to prm,'de a forum for comments on
the settlement reached in March, which also pro'.4des $250 million for a
humanitarian fund to aid elderly Holocaust survivors and millions more
to locate accounts opened by Jewish refugees during World War II. Nearly
all ofthe speakers - fi'om plaintiffs' attorneys to Jewish
organizational leaders to indi'.4dual survivors - signaled their approval
while stressing that it was a legal and not a moral remedy for
misconduct by the Swiss banks. A representative of the U.S. Justice
Department related the government's approval of the deal.
A hearing on legal fees will be convened Jan. 5. Many of the lawyers
involved have declined to pro'.4de timesheets and other documents to
justify the millions in compensation they are seeking.
But Rabbi Shmidman, whose organization is a constituent ofthe World
Jewish Restitution Organization, the agency formed to centralize and
coordinate Holocaust-era claims, defended the lawyers as "
public-minded, distinguished and self-sacrificing." He said Steinberg
had characterized them "as ifthey acted outside the pale of what is
professional and ethical conduct."
The controversy could indicate a bumpy road ahead as the final details
of the settlement -considered by most parties to be a done deal heads
for court approval. Another sticking point concerns whether the
settlement money should go to indi'.4dual survivors in lump payments of
$2,000 each, or to Jewish organizations to establish educational or
medical funds.
There is also the question ofthe impact on outstanding lawsuits against
insurance companies, art galleries and banks fi'om other countries that
might be considered exempt fi'om further legal action because of the
settlement. The current agreement lists only three insurers - Basler,
Zurich and Winterther - as excluded from the settlement because of
pending litigation.
"The releases are too nebulous," said Norman Rosenbaum, an Australian
attorney representing the Australia Asia Pacific Jewish Restitution
Committee. "They [affect] people who have excellent stand-alone claims
that could be successful in litigation."
Steinberg said anyone with a pending claim against such companies could
"opt out" ofthe settlement.
Rosenbaum also said he would like to see a pro'.4sion preventing lawyers
fi'om "double-dipping" - collecting contingency fees from plaintiffs as
well as court-approved legal fees.
Anne Weber, chairwoman of the Commission on Looted Art in Europe,
testified that the settlement might also prevent the recovery of items
stolen fi'om Jews that are now in the possession of Swiss institutions.
Since the settlement was announced, notices have been mailed to 1.5
million people in 48 countries who requested information after reading
Thursday. December 02,1999
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�about the settlement in some 1,300 news articles, according to testimony
by Morris Ratner, representing the plaintiff attorneys. A Web site
providing claims information has had more than 330,000 hits, he added.
More than 450,000 people have filled out the initial questionnaire that
screens potential members of the class, or group,. in whose behalf the
suit was filed. Only 200 have expressed comments or objections on the
settlement, said Ratner, roughly half of whom were not in the class but
sought to be included. Some 300 people have asked to be excluded in
order to pursue separate litigation, he said.
But Roman Kent, chairman of the World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors,
in later testimony questioned whether the commission had received data
from all eligible survivors. He added that the damage to Switzerland's
international reputation was another benefit of the suit. "Switzerland
is no longer to be known for cuckoo clocks, skiing and neutrality," he
said.
Kent also reserved a measure of indignation for the lawyers. "They are
eager to make millions in profits, but many are unwilling even to show
timetables to show what they did."
Mel Urbach, one ofthe attomeys who represents Rabbi Shmidman's
organization, insisted that reseNng legal documents was crucial in the
event the settlement was rejected by the court.
"If the case goes back to court and the lawyers' strategy is available
to the defendants, the $1.25 billion would be off the table in a flash,"
he said.
Steinberg believes all attorneys involved should have taken the case on
a pro-bono basis - as some did - or at most charged the minimum fee. He
said many had charged as much as $600 per hour.
The court-appointed special master in the settlement, Judah Gribetz, is
expected to release an initial plan to distribute the funds on Dec. 28.
Survivors who testified Monday were divided over whether the money
should be divided evenly or distributed to Jewish organizations.
In a related development, a fund set up by Swiss banks and industry in
1997 for needy Holocaust survivors - unrelated to the settlement fund
on Tuesday approved $1.27 million in payments for Jewish and Gypsy
applicants, the Associated Press reported.
More than 1,600 people in the Netherlands and Sweden, Germany, Poland
and the Czech Republic will benefit from the payments, which bring to
$160 million the amount now disbursed by the fund. Another $13 million
is yet to be awarded.
*********************************************
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/18774.htm
NY Post 1211 (?)/99
HOLOCAUST ASSETS
By DEVLIN BARRETT
HUNDREDS of Holocaust survivors and supporters packed a Brooklyn
courtroom yesterday to argue over the $1.25 billion Swiss bank
settlement - while the little old woman who started it all looked on
bewildered.
''I'm scared," sighed Greta Beer, who as a Jewish teenager during World
War II escaped the Nazi death squads by hiding in the mountains of
Romania.
Beer, the daughter of a wealthy textile manufacturer, saw her family's
small fortune disappear with the arrival of the Nazis - and the stone
wall of silence about WWII-era assets erected by post-war officials.
"My father told us when I was a child, 'Don't worry children, you're
well provided for, there are accounts in Switzerland'," she said outside
the federal courtroom.
Thursday, December 02, 1999
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�•
When she sought out the banks after the war to trace her family's money,
she was told that without proper documentation she would get nothing.
"But then the bombs were flying, and how could we take our records, our
documents with us to prove what was ours?" she said. "We were trying to
save our lives."
During the '6Os, she fought in vain to trace the accounts. Then in 1995
the plight of Beer and those like her became public, and soon she was
testifying before the U.S. Senate, and leading a legal battle against
the banks.
Beers lonely efforts have resulted in a landmark settlement, with as
many as 450,000 people making claims as Holocaust survivors or
descendants.
Judge Edward Korman yesterday began the painstaking process of putting
that deal into action, holding a public hearing for survivors and their
lawyers to discuss whether the $1.25 billion payment is fair justice for
the Swiss banks' role in genocide.
Now in her 70s, Beer is stunned by what she has wrought.
"I'm scared, because I started the whole thing purely for secret
accounts, to get those secret accounts turned over to the people who
deserve them," she said. "Now they want to spread it to everyone, they
want it to include everything the Nazis did.
"I don't want to be crushed underfoot like a little insect."
Beer hobbled to a podium around noon to speak to Korman, asking him not
to distribute any ofthe money to Jewish organizations, as has been
proposed by some groups.
"This settlement has nothing to do with religious organizations," she
said, echoing near1y all of the sUNVOrs who spoke yesterday.
The hearing marked the first skirmish in the upcoming battle over how to
divvy up the funds. Already, people are arguing about whether lawyers
should receive fees for their work in the case, and who'should be
'
eligible for money as a Io1ctim of the Holocaust.
Korman has appointed Judah Gribetz as "special master," the person in
charge of drafting and executing the distribution plan. The final
decision is almost certain to anger huge groups of people who feel
they've been slighted by the plan.
"He has the most heartbreaking and difficult job in the world," said
Elan Steinberg ofthe World Jewish Congress. "He has the job of
Solomon."
SUNVOrs blasted plans to give money for Jewish education and cultural
institutions.
"I do not need this money," said Emest Lobet, a survivor who now works
as a lawyer in New York. "This money should only go to those people who
have survived and are in dire need."
Lobet said gi'.4ng money to religious groups, no matte\r how worthy, was
an insult to the people slaughtered by the Nazis.
"I did not see the Almighty standing at the ramp in Auschwitz when
selections were made," said Lobet, his voice choking with emotion. "Who
is going to decide among all these different plans who deserves money?"
The son of a sUNvor, Yaron Schwarz, called the $1.25 billion "an
insulting number [that] ignores hundreds of thousands of
second-generation Holocaust sUNVOrs.
"We are all tired, tired to hear about it, tired to speak about it... We
are still paying the price," he said.
Seventy-year-old Czech sUNvor Alice Fischer, whose entire family was
wiped out in the camps, said no amount of money would ever be enough,
but said a settlement would be final proof to reMe Holocaust denial
groups and give a small measure of moral justice.
Thursday. December 02. 1999
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�"
"Nobody should profit from the Holocaust," she said. "But I was left all
alone in the wond at the age of 16. If not for the Holocaust my life
would have been completely different."
As Fischer stood outside the courthouse, Greta Beer walked past filled
with childhood memories of Old Wond grandeur - and compared it to her
life now in a small Boston apartment.
"I used go skiing in the Alps with my family all the time. We had
evelYthing. We rode the Orient Express," she said.
"I had a beautiful childhood, and it was all taken."
*******••• ***********************************
http://infoseek.go.comlContent?am=a1300reuff-19991202&qt= holocaust+or+ n
azi&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak= news 1486
Opel says in talks on joining Nazi-era slave fund
08:51 a.m. Dec 02, 1999 Eastem
RUESSELSHEIM, Gennany, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Adam Opel AG, the German
subsidialY of General Motors Corp said on Thursday it was in talks with
other German finns about the possibility of joining a compensation fund
for Nazi-era slave labourers. "We are talking to all the other
companies," Opel Chief Executive Robert HendlY told Reuters in an
interview. "We will make a decison velY, very soon."
U.S. lawyers and historians said last November they had evidence that GM
and Ford had worked closely with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
Both finns have denied charges of collaboration or profiting from slave
labour.
Opel, which was acquired by General Motors in 1929, has commissioned
historians to write a report about the company's operations during World
War Two. HendlY said he expected the reports to be completed soon.
"We will make a responsible decision," he said.
U.S.-Gennan negotiations to reach a compensation deal for up to 2.3
million people forced to work in factories or farms under Nazi rule in
Gennany have deadlocked over the size of the fund.
In what they tenned a final offer, Gennan firms have so far contributed
five billion marks ($2.58 billion) to the fund, to which the German
government has added a further three billion. Lawyers representing
former slave labourers have said they would consider an offer of between
10 and 14 billion.
The talks are due to continue in Washington on December 8.
($1-1.941 Mark)
*********************************************
**Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.gov/news.htm for
continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
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From: Stu Loeser <sloeser@PCHA.GOV>
To:
Subject: 1212199 Holocaust Assets Clips
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�Subj:
Please find attached an updated version of the
Date:
121219912:49:53 PM Eastern Standard lime
From: Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil (RObinson, Sarah Ms HAC)
To: jcooper@pcha.gov (Jill Cooper (E-mail», ajecase@banet.net (Abraham Edelheit (E-mail», rpgdmm@bellatlantic.net
(Robert Grathwol (E-mail», mholmes@pcha.gov (Millie Holmes (E-mail», mkennedy@pcha.gov (Margretta Kennedy (E-mail»,
kklothen@pcha.gov (Kenneth Klothen (E-mail)), sloeser@pcha.gov (Stuart Loeser (E-maiO), Imounts@pcha.gov (Lynda
Mounts (E-mail», kpage@pcha.gov (Katherine Page (E-mail», gsofer@pcha.gov (Gene Sofer (E-mail»,
Douglas.Wilson@hqda.army.mil (Wilson, Douglas Mr HAC), Marc.Masurovsky@hqda.army.mil (Masurovsky, Marc Mr HAC),
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HAC), Sebastian.Sa~ano@hqda.army.mil (Sa~ano, Sebastian Mr HAC), Greg.Murphy@hqda.army.mil (Murphy, Greg Mr.
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File: Email list 12-2-99(updated).doc (37376 bytes)
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Staff Contract Information memorandum.
Please email me with any corrections or additions.
Thanks,
SMR
«Email list 12-2-99(updated).doc»
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To: "Jill Cooper (E-mail)" <jcooper@pcha.gov>,
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�MEMORANDUM
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
All Staff
Sara h Robinson
December 2, 1999
Staff Contact Information (Updated)
PCHA main office
Phone
Fax
(202) 371 - 6400
(202) 371 --: 5678
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junz@hbj.sonnet.co.uk
Kennedy, Margreffa .
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.kklothen@pcha.gov
Loeser, Stu
sloeser@pcha.gov
Masurovsky, Marc
m masurovsk@aol.com
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�Mounts. Lynda
Imounts@pcha.gov
Murphy, Greg
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O'Connor, Ellen'
oconnor ellen@hotmail.com
(
eoconnor@leland.stanford.edu
Offen, Laura
loffen0621 @cs.com
Page, Katherine
kpage@pcha.gov
Petropoulos, Jonathan
jonathan petropoulos@mckenna.edu
Robinson, Sarah
sarah.robinson@hgda.army.mil
Rodgers, Jennifer
beatrix92@hotmail.com
jennifer.rodgers@hgda.army.mil
Rodgers, Margaret Erin
mrodgers@loyola.edu
margaret.rodgers@hgda.army.mil
Roussin, Lucille
Iroussin@aol.com
lucille.roussin@hgda.army.mil
Saviano, Sebastian
sebsavi@aol.com
sebastian.saviano@hgda.army.mil
Shannon, Allison
ashannon@loyola.edu
allison.shannon@hgda.army.mil
Skwirot, Robert
,. ;0.
'j
Rskwirot@aol.com '
.skwirot .robert@hgda.army.mil
Sofer,.Gene
gsofer@pcha.goc
Sugarmqn~ Helene
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\ ..,.' " Wilson, O'ouglas J.
,I':
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..<,..... _~ .. aouglas.wilson@hgda.army.mil
.
/
�Subj:
Date:
From:
Holocaust Assets Clips 11/30-1211
1211/994:50:26 PM Eastem Standard lime
sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
FYI, HR 2401, the bill to extend the Commission passed on Nov 19th
anived at the White House last night. ghAng the President until
December 11 to sign it. Developing ...
Yesterday and today's coverage:
Trial opens in Hungary for retum of Jewish art
U.S lawyer wants WTO to hit Nazi slave labor firms
Swiss:
Swiss"Account Probe to Leave Holocaust Questions (Volcker)
Report on Holocaust-era Swiss accounts due Dec 6 (Volcker)
J'lem hearing on Holocaust funds set
Holocaust Fund Makes New Awards
New York Court Delays Approval of Swiss Holocaust Bank Deposits
Agreement
.
Holocaust survivors protest over legal fee
Nazi Labor Deal Unlikely This Year -German ,",awyer
ILDC denies holding Holocaust assets
Dutch Insurer Pledges to Meet Holocaust Claims
Polish Slave Labor:
Poles' Suit Claims Nazi Slave Labor
Polish ex-slave laborers sue Germans in Califomia
Clinton Names Two Members to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
A1M Technology Enables a Video Legacy for Holocaust SUNVOrs
Stu
************************••••****••**•••••••••• **•••••• *.*.**
http://infoseek.go.comlContent?am=a2717LBY946reulb:-19991201&qt=%2BReute
rs+%2Bnazi&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486
Trial opens in Hungary for retum of Jewish art
01 :15 p.m Dec 01, 1999 Eastern
By Michael Roddy
BUDAPEST, Dec 1 (Reuters) A case that potentially could embarrass
Hungary by forcing it to retum art works stolen by Nazis from Hungarian
Jews opened on Wednesday in Budapest. where some ofthe paintings are on
display_
The suit was brought by Martha Nierenberg of Armonk, New York, who is a
grand-daughter of Baron Mor Upot Herzoq, who once had a Budapest
mansion filled with a collection valued today at $10 minion to $20
million.
The suit contends that paintings, including EI Grecos, Cranachs and Van
Dycks looted by Nazi SS Commander Adolph Eichmann when he liquidated
Hungary's Jews in 1944, rightfully belong to Herzog's heirs but instead
are hanging in two state museums in Budapest.
"The most important thing we could establish in this case is that
property rights must be respected, and not just in principle," attorney
Tamas Varga, who is representing Nierenberg, said.
Nierenberg, who claims to be the sole heir to certain pieces from the
Herzog collection, is seeking the retum of six paintings hanging in the
Thursday, December 021 1999
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�Museum of Fi ne Arts and four more in the National Gallery.
The works were reco~red by American troops at the end ofthe war and
were turn~ o~r to the Hungarian state in the absence of the rightful
owners.
Glenn Young, an American attorney from the U.S. firm of Squires, Sanders
& Dempsey, said the case was being brought more than 50 years after the
war ended because it had been impossible for Nierenberg, who fled
Hungary in 1944, to sue while Hungary was under communist rule.
IMPOSSIBLE TO SUE EARLIER
"'It was impossible e~n in 1987 or 1989, for ob\Aous reasons," Young
said, refening to the fi nal days of communist power in Hungary.
Attomeys for Nierenberg said the suit was filed only after negotiations
with the Hungarian go~rnment for return of the paintings broke down.
Hungary has made no official comment on the matter.
The opening day of the trial was taken up largely with procedural
issues, among them the valuation ofthe paintings and the issue of
whether Nierenberg can legally claim Hungarian citizenship.
Attorneys defending the Hungarian state won' a ruling from the Budapest
City Court judge that the paintings should be valued at more than $5
million, while Nierenberg's attorneys argued for a 'valuation of about $1
million.
The higher valuation increases the penalty that Nierenberg would ha~ to
pay ifthe court eventually finds against her and she must pay
, compensation for the costs of the trial, attomeys said.
The court also ruled that Nierenberg has 15 days in which to prove she
is a Hungarian citizen or otherwise she will have to post a bond of 30
million Hungarian forints ($118,900), based on the valuation of the
paintings, as a security for the court costs.
Attomeys representing the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery and
the Hungarian state had no comment at the end ofthe proceedings. The
next hearing was set for January 19.
**************************************************
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991130/bbu.html
Tuesday No~mber 30, 7:44 pm Eastem lime
U.S lawyer wants WTO to hit Nazi slave labor firms,
By Joan Gralla
NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. lawyer negotiating a Holocaust
accord with Germany on Tuesday said he would soon ask the World Trade
Organization (WTO) to sanction companies that used Nazi-era sla~s and
forced laborers.
Saying the WTO already was considering sanctions against companies that
use child labor, Michael Hausfeld, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer, said
"'the WTO has under consideration what international reactions are
appropriate for companies that basically violate fundamental labor
principles."
"There's no question but that these companies did that and have ne~r
responded, morally or otherwise," he told Reuters by telephone.
U.S.-German negotiations over a new fund for people whom the Nazis
compelled to work as slaves or forced laborers ha~ bogged down over the
size ofthe fund.
While the talks resume in Washington on Dec. 8, German companies have
ruled out raising a goverment-industry offer of eight billion marks ($4
billion).
Lawyers representing Holocaust \Actims say they would consider an offer
between 10 billion to 15 billion marks.
The list of companies that Hausfeld wants the WTO to sanction is focused
on firms that have not said they ha~ joined the restitution fund now
Thuraday. Oacambor 02, 1999
Amorica Onlln.: Pro"comm
Pag.: 2
�being negotiated.
The firms on that list include: Babcock Borsig, Beiersdorf AG,
Continental AG, FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schafter AG, Henkel AG, Heraeus
Holding Gmbh, Hocktief AG, Kloeckner Werke AG, Merck Kgaa, Miele & Cie
Gmbh, Preussag AG, Reemtsma Cigarettenfabrik Gmbh, Ruhrgas AG, RWE AG,
and RWE Kalk AG.
But a split appeared to be dewloping in the lawyers' ranks over whether
Dec. 8 - the date that fund negotitiaions resume - was a significant
deadline.
.
Victims' attomey Michael Witti in Berlin said an agreement was within
reach, perhaps within two months, but was unlikely this year.
Howewr, Hausfeld said he would quit the talks and file more lawsuits if
no progress was reached by Dec. 8.
The lawsuits he plans include one against the German govemment,
Hausfeld said.
Further, companies that used slaws or forced laborers but that do not
do business in the United States would be sued in countries where they
do have operations, he said.
U.S. Holocaust lawyers have said that one ofthe main reasons they
cannot accept less than 10 billion to 15 billion marks is the difficulty
involved in allocating money to different kinds of Holocaust \1ctims .
while ensuring they all get a meaningful sum.
The new restitution fund is expected to compensate as many as 2.3
million ex-slaves and forced laborers.
******************************************************
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nml19991201/wl/holocaust_switzerland_2.html
Wednesday December 1 12:16 AM ET
Swiss-Account Probe to Leaw Holocaust Questions
By Joan Gralla
NEW YORK (Reuters) After a three-year probe of 59 Swiss banks, the
Volcker Commission has found that 11 percent of Holocaust-linked
accounts that were closed by the banks held $400 million, a source close
to the panel said on Tuesday.
But the remaining 89 percent of the closed accounts lacked enough
records to say how much they were worth.
Another 20,000 dormant accounts, which were newr closed, haw nearly
$250 million in them, he said.
Even after the exhaustive, $200 million audit, a number of other
questions will remain unanswered after the panel reports on its search
for assets that belonged to Holocaust \1ctims and heirs on Dec. 8. The
commission was set up by Swiss banks and the Wond Jewish Congress in
1996 and was headed by former U.S. central bank head Paul Volcker.
Its investigation aims to answer long-standing charges that Swiss banks
blocked Holocaust survivors from collecting their families' funds after
the Second World War.
About 33,000 ofthe accounts that were closed were found to have some
link to a Holocaust \1ctim, according to two knowledgeable sources who
declined to be named.
But the specific language in a draft report makes it clear that proof
was hard to come by 60 years after the war. The 33,000 closed accounts
were referred to as "probably or possibly related to \1ctims of Nazi
persecution. "
Many Accounts Will Never Be Found
As only 60 percent ofthe banks' records from the Nazi era could be
re-created, the commission plans to stress that a large number of
accounts will newr be found, one of the sources added.
And for many \1ctims, the accounting comes too late. "Only a fraction
Thursday, December 02, 1999
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�of these accounts.will have claimants," the source said.
The accounts that have owners will be deducted from the $1.25 billion
that Swiss banks last year agreed to pay to Holocaust 'l.4ctims and their
families.
Due to the small number of Holocaust sUNvors and heirs wh,9 still are
alive, the settlement will be big enough to satisfy current claims, all
the sources agreed.
Other noteworthy findings in the report .included the possibility that
1,600 ofthe accounts might have belonged to looters; which means they
were owned by senior Nazi officials or high.,level collaborators.
But one of the sources said that this did not necessarily mean that the
assets were looted from Holocaust 'l.4ctims. "Nobody knows if ... the
money was a Nazi grandmother's savings," he said.
Not All Banks Cooperated
While the vast majority of Swiss banks cooperated with the Volcker
Commission's extensive audits - at one time, at least 500 accountants
were employed nine cantonal banks did not, the sources said.
"These nine banks rejected full participation in the investigation at
their banks," the draft report said. Six ofthese banks "limited
access to information necessary to analyze accounts," he added.
But a source disputed the importance ofthis resistance, saying: "I
believe that only the actions of one of those nine was an impediment to
the investigation."
Ahead ofthe release ofthe report, there. were other disputes over its
wording and meaning.
For example, the panel is expected to recommend publishing about half of
the 50,000 accounts that it turned up, sources said. About 33,000 of
those accounts were closed, though it is not- known by whom.
And the closures do not mean that the assets were plundered, one of the
sources said.
Saying the Volcker Commission had found no evidence that Swiss banks
conspired to rob Holocaust 'l.4ctims, he said: "The presumption is the
other way. In the absence of other e'l.4dence, it has to be that it was
closed by gi'l.4ng it to a rightful claimant."
The probe,only came up with some ofthe answers, saying 1,350 accounts
were closed by fees levied by the banks, more than 400 were paid to
Nazis, and another 1,000 became part ofthe banks' profits, one source
said.
********************************************************
http://biz,yahoo.com/rfl991129/0g.html
Monday November 29, 2:50 pm Eastern lime
Report on Holocaust-era Swiss accounts due. Dec 6
ZURICH, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The panel that has spent three. years
investigating accusations that Swiss banks hoarded the wealth of
Holocaust 'l.4ctims will publish its report in Zurich on December 6, it
said on Monday.
.
The committee formed in 1996 by Swiss bankers and Jewish groups gave no
advance details about what its audit had turned up and gave no figures
for how much unclaimed wealth might still be sitting in Swiss bank
vaults,
People who have seen draft versions of the Volcker Commission report
have given widely divergent 'l.4ews of what it contains, but panel members
have refused to comment before the full report is published.
Swiss banks - accused by Jewish groups oftaking Holocaust victims'
money sent to neutral Switzerland to avoid the Nazis' clutches - have
already seen the results of individual audits, a Swiss Bankers
Associatiori official said.
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�"They find the results of the individual audits acceptable," said
James Nason, head of international affairs at the bankers.' group. "The
Swiss Bankers Association hopes the final report accurately reflects the
findings ofthe individual audits."
Panel members went owr the draft report in New York last week and were
putting the final touches on it now.
The panel is headed by former U.S. central bank head Paul Volcker, who
with other'committee members will briefthe media on Monday.
Panel auditors haw been comparing millions of accounts that were opened
in Swiss banks between 1933 and 1945 with lists of Holocaust victims.
Many names appear on both lists, but may not necessarily match a
particular Holocaust ",ctim with an account.
Swiss bankers haw played down suggestions that the independent auditors
had found tens of thousands of Nazi-era accounts which could be linked
to Holocaust ",ctims and were now worth billions of dollars.
If big sums are found, this could endanger the $1.25 billion settlement
big Swiss banks agreed last year to cover all Holocaust-era claims
against them, the Swiss gowrnment and the Swiss central bank.
The amounts in any Holocaust victims' accounts that emerge will be
multiplied by 10 to cover interest, and these amounts will be subtracted
from the $1.25 billion settlement that is still before a U.S. judge for
final approval.
.
***************************************
http://www.haaretzdaily.comlhtmls/kat63·asp
Haaretz - Wednesday, December 1, 1999
.
J'lem hearing on Holocaust funds set
A "public hearing" for about 1,000 Holocaust SUN~rs who want to voice
their opinion on the division of $1.25 billion being made available by
Swiss banks for survivors will take place on December 14 in Jerusalem.
The hearing was requested by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman,
who is hearing the arguments in class-action suits submitted against the
banks. He has already heard the views oftheAmerican survivors.
The list of 1,000 Israelis was compiled from the tens of thousands who
haw submitted claims to the American court.
The hearing in Israel will be coordinated by former Supreme Court
Justice Moshe Bejsky, himself a Holocaust survivor.
I'
The hearing will be broadcast via 'o1deo satellite to Judge Korman's home
in New York and he will be able to question the participants.
Meanwhile, the coordinator of the survi~rs' organizations in Israel,
Moshe Zanbar, resigned yesterday as treasurer ofthe "restitutions
committee," which is handling the contacts with Germany regarding
compensation. Zanbar cited weariness after three years in.the position.
***********--***********************************************************
*************************
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/hlap/19991130/wl/swiss_banks_nazisj.html
Tuesday Nowmber 30 11 :57 AM ET
Holocaust Fund Makes New Awards '
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - The Swiss fund for needy Holocaust survivors
on Tuesday approwd payments of $1.27 million to Jewish and Gypsy
applicants anp political opponents of the Nazis.
,
More than 1,600 people will benefit from the latest payment - Jewish'
survivors in the Netherlands and Sweden; Roma and Sinti in Germany,
Thursday. Oeeember 02,1999
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�Poland and the·Czech Republic; and former concentration camp prisoners
who were politically persecuted and now live in Spain.
The fund has now distributed more than $160 million to over 300,000
survivors of the Nazis. That leaves $13 million to be awarded.
The remaining awards "should be decided upon within the next few
months," the fund said in a statement.
The fund was set up by Swiss banks and industry in 1997 following
allegations that they pro\4ded support to the Nazi war machine. Its
board of governors includes representatives of international Jewish
organizations.
Around 88 percent of the money is intended to help destitute Jewish
survivors of the Nazis, while the rest is for non-Jewish survivors,
including Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses,
Christians persecuted as Jews and political opponents of the Nazis.
It is separate from a $1.25 billion fund set up by Switzerland's two big
banks in August last year in an out-of-court settlement with lawyers in
a class-action suit in the United States.
*******~******************************************
http://www.globes.co.il/cgi-bin/Serve.-Arena/pages/English/1.2.1. 7
Headlines
New York Court Delays Approval of Swiss Holocaust Bank Deposits
Agreement
By Itamar Le\4n
Brooklyn District Court Judge Edward Korman delayed on Monday his
approval in principal of the agreement on the Holocaust \4ctims Swiss
bank accounts. The main reason for the delay is the demand raised in
court to ensure that Switzerland commits to return stolen works of art,
which were transferred there during the WWII.
Appearing before Korman in court were representatives of the banks, the
World Jewish Congress, Holocaust survivors organizations, and the US
government. All these asked Korman to approve the $1.4 billion
agreement, which included interest. The agreement was reached with
Korman's mediation in August 1998.
The only significant opposition to the agreement came from a~
researcher Anne Weber, co-chairperson of the European Commission on
Looted Art. She stated that the agreement with the banks did not allow
. legal action for the return of plundered works of art. She asked Korman
"to prevent this injustice", and Korman answered that he would give her
objection his full attention.
Korman decided to hold an additional hearing in Jerusalem on December
14, at which all parties concerned will be able to express their
position. The procedures of the hearing have not yet been announced.
Weiss sharply attacked the Swiss government in court, saying that, not
only did it not assist the reaching of an agreement, but even opposed
it. One ofthe banks' attorneys, Roger Witten, defined the agreement as
"complete closure", which elicited an angry outburst from a Holocaust
survivor, who called out, "You want complete closure? Give me back my
father. Give me back my uncle. Give me back my family".
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 1, 1999
**************************************************
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/12101/timfgnusa01002.html?9
. .
99
The limes (of London) - Dec 1 1999
Holocaust survivors protest over legal fee
Thursday, December 02,1999
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�FROM JAMES BONE IN NEW YORK
A HUGE bill submitted by lawyers in the class-action suit brought by
victims of Nazism against Swiss ·banks has raised the hackles of .
Holocaust victims, who accuse the attorneys of cashing in on their
grief.
While many of America's top legal talents are working pro bono on the
landmark case, a group of nine lawyers is asking the judge to approve
fees of $13.5 million (£8.5 million) for its work in negotiating last
year's $1.25 billion settlement with the Swiss banks.
.
To the disgust of Holocaust survivors, most of the lawyers have
requested that their time-charts be kept secret. One lawyer who did
submit records asked to be paid $2,369 for 8.6 hours' work in reading
Tom Bower's book Nazi Gold - and still miss pelt Mr Bower's name ..
"Holocaust surviwrs are being' exploited by a feeding frenzy of
fee-grabbing lawyers," complained Elan Steinberg, of the World Jewish
Congress, whose lawyers are working for free on the case. "Their
application to the court looks like a script for Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?"
The hefty legal bill, which is expected to be followed by claims by
other lawyers, dominated a public hearing of Holocaust survivors in
Brooklyn federal court on Monday to discuss the settlement ofthe
class-action suit.
.'
"If those gold rings and gold teeth which were taken from the Jews were
placed here on the table, I don't think any of the attorneys would reach
for them," said Yakov Goodman, a spokesman for Jews from the former
Soviet republic of Belarus. "Maybe I'm naive, but that's what these
attorneys are reaching for now." .
To make matters worse, some of the lawyers are claiming what is known as
a "lodestar" multiplier to increase their fees almost threefold because
of the complexity of the case, boosting their fees to $700 an hour.
Steven Whinston, a Philadelphia lawyer who is seeking close to $2
million in legal fees for his work over three years, insisted that the
request was "very fair". He noted that courts routinely allow lawyers in
class-action suits to take up to 25 per cent of the final settlement.
"Some of the comments I heard about fees were repugnant," said Robert
Swift. another of the lawyers. "We worked extremely hard at great risk
to accomplish a world-class result."
More than 440,000 people have applied to be included in the massive
settlement reached by the Swiss banks that profited fi:om looted Jewish
property and abandoned bank accounts during and after the Second World
War.
Some Claimants have expressed unhappiness, however, that the
beneficiaries will include a wide range of victims of Nazism, with
Jewish charities and religious institutions among those seeking money.
If divided evenly, the settlement would be about $2,000 for each
claimant.
**************************************************
. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nml19991130Its/holocaustJjermany_2.html
Tuesday November 3010:12 AM ET
Nazi Labor Deal Unlikely This Year -German Lawyer
BERLIN (Reuters) - A lawyer representing Nazi-era slave laborers said on
Tuesday it was unlikely surviving victims would reach a compensation
deal with German companies before the end of the year.
Officials had set a December 8 target date set to come to an agreement,
but on Monday German industry ruled out an increase in their'offer of
compensation.
Victims' attomey Michael Witti said that an agreement was within reach
Thurnday, December 02, 1999
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�. - perhaps within two months - but was unlikely this year.
"We know that it is no longer far off," he told Reuters. "It is no
great loss if it comes in January or February:"
Efforts to reach a deal with \1ctims' representatives failed earlier·
this month as an offer of eight billion marks ($4 billion), of which
. fiw billion comes from industry and the rest from the German
gowrnment, was rejected as insufficient.
Lawyers representing a section ofthe SUN\1ng victims - many of whom
liwin eastern Europe say they would consider acceptable an offer of
10-15 billion marks.
Negotiators agreed to continue talks until December 8 in the hope of .
launching the fund by the end of this year. lVIany of the survivors are in
their seventies and eighties.
**************************************************
http://www.haaretzdaily.comlhtmls/kat19_4.asp
Haaretz - Tuesday, November 30, 1999
ILDC denies holding Holocaust assets
By Moshe Reinfeld
.
The Israel Land Development Corporation (Hachsharat Hayishuv) is denying
allegations that it holds land belonging to Holocaust ,",ctims and that
it has a card-i ndex of "dormant accounts." The ILDC presented its
statement of defense to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court last weekend
following a petition filed against it by attorney Roland Roth on behalf
of the victims' heirs.
In its statement of defense, the corporation, which is now owned by the
Nimrodi family, claims that all land belonging to Holocaust victims was
transfered to the AdministratorGeneral's office in the early 1980s when
it was still under the control of the Jewish Agency. No land or assets
were transfered to sUNvorsor heirs. Minutes of an October 1979
meeting that took place at the Administrator General's Office in
Jerusalem were also included and deals with the .transferance of assets
belonging to Holocaust victims to the Administrator General.
The ILDC confirms that in the 1920s it was involved in purchase of larid
upon which now stand Herzliya and Herzliya Pituach, but claims that the
land was bought with its own funds and not those of DiasporaJews, as
the plaintiffs claim. The ILDC also adamantly denies that its Jerusalem·
office ever confirmed-the existence of a card-index to Roth.
***********************
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nml19991201/ts/holocaust_aegon_1.html
Wednesday December 1 5:42 AM ET
Dutch Insurer Pledges to Meet Holocaust Claims
THE HAGUE (Reuters) ~ Dutch insurer Aegon said on Wednesday it had
pledged full cooperation with California's Department of Insurance (CDI)
to resolve insurance claims of Holocaust SUNVOrs.
But it said it could not publish names and details of.all unpaid
Holocaust-era policies because it had no such list.
"We don't haw a list of unpaid policies. We can only work on the basis
of claims," Aegon spokesman Ewold de Bruijne said.
.
A new Califomia law requires firms to make public the names and details
of unpaid Holocaust-era policies.
- The CDI on Tuesday hailed its deal with Aegon as "the first-ever
agreement in the United States to comprehensively address the insurance
restitution concems of Holocaust survivors and the heirs and
beneficiaries of Holocaust victims."
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�De Bruijne confirmed that under the terms of the agreement Aegon would
provide a list of companies currently in the Aegon group and predecessor
Aegon companies that had insured potential Holocaust victims.
He also said Aegon was actively following up all requests for
information about policies taken out before and during World War Two.
Unpaid policies would be honored if claims were made, De Bruijne said.
"We feel very strongly about doing what is right for the people that
never claimed on their policies. If we can trace that a policy has not
been paid out, then we will honor it now," he said.
Aegon has been under threat of boycott from Jewish groups for its
perceived refusal to join an international commission headed by former
Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger which is trying to track down
unpaid Holocaust-era claims.
But De Bruijne said Aegon had always stated its willingness to join the
commission provided the latter recognized that the company had always
acted in good faith.
"We are willing to take place in the commission when it is recognized
that we have dealt with claims made and have withheld no information,"
he said.
*****•••••••• ***************•• *••• **
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991129/us/slave_labor_suit_2.html
Monday November 29 8:59 PM ET
Poles' Suit Claims Nazi Slave Labor
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Poles who say they were forced into slave labor
by the Nazi regime during World War II have filed a class-action lawsuit
seeking restitution from several German companies.
The federal lawsuit was filed this month against several companies,
including DaimlerChrysler and chemical giant BASF. The.companies have
not yet been served with the suit.
The case was filed on behalf of Poles living in the United Kingdom. It
was filed in Oakland because of a new state law allowing people who
claim to have been forced into slave labor to seek reparations from
companies that profited from their work and now do business in
California.
An estimated 12 million people were forced in Adolf Hitler's Germany to
work in industry and on farms. Representatives of companies that
operated under the Nazi regime met this month in Germany with Polish
officials as part of continuing discussions over how to settle several
claims of slave labor.
German industries have offered $4.2 billion in exchange for legal
protection against class-action lawsuits, but lawyers representing the
victims have demanded much more.
The California lawsuit is filled with accounts by people who say they
worked a minimum of 72 hours per week while under constant threat of
being whipped or kijled by Nazi guards. Hitler thought the Polish were
"especially born for low labor," the suit says.
DaimlerChysler spokesman Steve Rossi said he couldn't comment directly
on the suit but said his company has been a leader in trying to do
what's right for the survi...urs.
"We really have a deep understanding of the meaning of what that
terrible period of history was all about," Rossi said.
*.******************************.****************
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991129/ba1.html
Monday November 29, 7:33 pm Eastern lime
Polish ex-slave laborers sue Germans in California
By Michael Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A group of Polish former slave
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�laborers has sued seven German firms for allegedly subjecting them to
inhumane conditions during the Nazi regime, an attomey said on Monday.
The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Oakland,
Califomia, alleges that German firms including DaimlerChrysler, Bayer
and Siemens violated international law by beating Polish workers and
depriving them of food.
Steve Berman, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said it was too
early to specify how much compensation the lawsuit would seek, but added
the suit would request class-action status for tens of thousands of
Poles who worked as slaves and forced labor during the Hitler years.
The suit marks the latest wave in a tide of litigation as Holocaust
victims and others have sought money, art, insurance payments and other
assets stolen amid the terror wrought by the Nazi war machine.
The California lawsuit also comes as lawyers representing Nazi~ra
slaves and forced laborers from across Europe negotiate with German
industry over compensation in exchange for legal protection from future
prosecution.
.
At a meeting in Berlin last week, lawyers for these workers rejected an
offer of 8 billion marks ($4.21' billion), made up of 5 billion ($2.63
billion) from firms taking part in a compensation fund and 3 billion
marks ($1.58 billion) from the German govemment.
Lawyers representing a section ofthe sul'.1ving victims - many of whom
now live in eastem Europe - say they would consider an offer of 10
billion t015 billion marks ($5.3 billion.:s7.9 billion).
But Berman said he filed a separate lawsuit in Califomia because these
talks do not adequately represent the interests of tens of thousands of
slave laborers who were exiled from Poland after the Second World War.
"We flied it becaus'e there is a lot of litigation going on right now
involving people who were forced to work for the Nazis and these people
were among them," Berman said. "They are not being represented, in my
view, very adequately by the talks that are going on right now."
The plaintiffs all live in the United Kingdom, but the lawsuit was filed
in the United States under a federal law that allows noncitizens to sue
anyone who has violated intemationallaw, Berman said in a telephone
interview. All the firms do business in California.
The lawsuit named as defendants: DaimlerChrysler AG , BASF AG , Bayer Ag
, Thyssen Krupp AG, Siemens'AG and Hoechst AG .
Representatives from the firms could not be reached for comment, but
lawyers representing the plaintiffs said they had not yet served the
German companies with the lawsuit.
Califomia has been at the center of a struggle by Holocaust survivors
who are seeking compensation for unpaid wartime insurance claims. The
state's insurance commissioner has vowed to strip the licenses affirms
that do not cooperate with the effort to identify the policyholders owed
money.
"
******************************************
http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p= /products/washfile/lat
est&f=99113005.tlt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
30 November 1999
Text: Clinton Names Two Members to U.S. Hol9caust Memorial Council
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary ,
(Aboard Air Force One en route San Francisco, California)
November 30, 1999
Thursday, Oacembar02, 1999
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�PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES TWO MEMBERS TO ll-iE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST
MEMORIAL COUNCIL
The President today announced his intent to appoint John T.
Pawlikowski and Jerome J. Shestack to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Council.
Father John T. Pawlikowski, of Chicago, Illinois, is a Priest of the
Servite Order and Professor of Social Ethics at the Catholic
Theological Union, a constituent school of the Hyde Park Cluster of
Theological Schools at the University of Chicago. He is also the
author/editor of several' books, including The Challenge ofthe
Holocaust for Christian Theology and Christ in the Light of the
Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Father Pawlikowski is past Co-Chair of the
National Polish American-Jewish Councii and Vice President of the
American Association for Polish-Jewish Studies. He is also a member of
several Boards, including the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace
in the Middle East, the International Ethics Advisory Board of the
World Conservation Union and the Institute of World Spirituality. He
has appeared frequently on radio and telelAsion in the U.S., Canada,
Australia, Israel and the Vatican. Father Pawlikowski received his
B.A. from Loyola University in Chicago and his Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago.
Mr. Jerome J. Shestack, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is Chair ofthe
Litigation Department of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen. He
served as President ofthe American Bar Association (ABA) in 1997-98.
Ear1ier, Mr. Shestack served in several other key positions within the
ABA, and was cited by the National Law Journal as one of the "100 Most
Influential Lawyers" in the United States. Recognized as a world
leader in the intemational human rights movement, Mr. Shestack served
as U.S. Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights under
President Carter. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of
the International Commission of Jurists. Mr. Shestack is also
Counselor to the American Society of International Law, and was
founder and first chair of the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights, as
well as a founder ofthe Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law. He chaired the International League for Human Rights for the past
20 years. Mr. Shestack received his BA from the University o(
Pennsylvania and his LLB from Harvard Law School.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Council was established in 1979 .
to provide for the annual commemoration and observance of the Days of
Remembrance of the Holocaust, and to construct and operate a living
memorial to its victims. The Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated
in 1993.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of Intemationallnforrnation Programs, U.S.
Department of State.)
**************************************************
Tuesday November 30, 11:44 am Eastern lime
Company Press Release
ATM Technology Enables a Video Legacy for Holocaust Survivors
Shoah Foundation Displays Results of an Advanced
,Thursday, December 02,1999
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�· AlM Data Network ... More than 50,000 Videotaped Holocaust SUN~r
Testimonials Preserved
Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation has preserved more than
100,000 hours of Holocaust testimonies from survivors and witnesses
using asynchronous transfer mode (AlM) in an advanced data network. AlM
enables a breakthrough digital computer storage network library system
to house the archives, eliminating the risk of losing the testimonies
due to videotape deterioration. Filmmaker Stewn Spielberg's mission to
maintain firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and witnesses in
order to preserve their memory and promote tolerance education for
future generations led to the Shoah Foundation following completion of
his 1994 Academy Award?-winning film "Schindler's List."
The attributes of a high-performance network will masterfully maintain
the content of the Shoah Foundation Archive over time. "Our hope is
that the Archiw will be a resource so enduring that ten, or fifty, or
ewn one hundred years from now, people all around the wond will leam
directly from sUN~rs and witnesses about the atrocities ofthe
Holocaust - what it means to survive, and how our very humanity depends
on the practice oftolerance and mutual respect," said Steven
Spielberg, Shoah Foundation founder and chairman.
The network that accesses the video archives uses AlM technology as the
necessary communication infrastructure for information transport,
reliably routing multimedia traffic owr the network using fixed-length
53 byte cells. It is designed to maintain high-quality output in
delivering video and voice. The Shoah Foundation created this high-speed
fiber-optic computer network that uses A lM to link Shoah headquarters
with museums and other organizations around the world possessing the
ability to access the Shoah digitized information.
"As we turn the comer to the next century, The AlM Forum is pleased to.
see AlM technology at work for a noble cause. Through transporting the
memories of the prior century into the minds and hearts ofthe next
millennium, we are ensuring our historical legacy is not lost," said.
Manis Humphrey, chairman of the Board and president of The A lM Forum.
"Leading work items now being addressed within The A lM Forum such as IP
owr AlM, Voice over DSL, H.323 and new testing concepts will continue
to further the technologies' capabilities."
The Shoah Foundation computer storage and data facility is comprised of
computer hardware in the form oftwo refligerator-sized boxes one is a
colossal computer and the other is fundamentally the archive's RAM, 200
gigabytes of memory .
"AlM Technology enables the Foundation to distribute 180 terabyte
database," said Sam Gustman, Shoah Foundation executive director of
technology.
A major attribute of AlM technology is exhibited althe Shoah Foundation
where networking equipment enables carriers to rapidly transport all
different types of traffic, including video, ~ice and data. A wide
range of applications share available bandwidth enabling the AlM
backbone to ensure Quality of SeNce (QoS) to all connected users.
Using the high-speed network, the Shoah Foundation can provide a
valuable historical record of the Holocaust events, enabling future
generations to vicariously leam the lessons of one of the most
devastating events of the 20th century.
AlM allows users to build secure, high performance access networks that
require a low cost access technology, such as the Shoah Foundation
archives. Customers benefit by paying only for the capacity needed,
rather than committing a large monthly fee for circuits that go unused.
Efficiencies in sparing, support and personnel training also result in
Thursda~,
Docember 02, 1999
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�significant cost reductions.
More about A 1M Technology
A1M deployment has increased dramatically in the 1990s as the proven
competing standard for which strategic planning requires. At the
forefront of the movement toward efficierit communication, the demand for
A1M accelerates.
A1M has been defined as the "glue" that interconnects heterogeneous
networks into a single, larger intemetwork, seamlessly connecting
various link and network layers. The technology's maturity (with roots
in the telephone company networks and branches in data networking)
demonstrates A 1M as the lAable solution for the enterprise backbone,
transporting data and images as well as delay-sensitive applications
such as voice and IAdeo over the same network.,
.
About the SUMvorsof Shoah Visual History Foundation After filming
"Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg established SUMvors ofthe
Shoah Visual History Foundation to develop archives and teaching
materials based on the IAdeotaped testimonies by SUMVOrs of and
witnesses to the Holocaust in order to preserve their memory and
establish a basis for tolerance education around the wond for
.
generations to come. To date, the Shoah Foundation has collected more
than 50,000 testimonies in 57 countries, with inteMews conducted in 32
languages. The Foundation has produced an educational CD-ROM,
"SUMvors: Testimonies of the Holocaust" and three documentaries:
Academy Award®-winning :'The Last Days;" "The Lost Children of
Benin," honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award; and the Peabody and
two Emmy Award-winning "SuMvors of the Holocaust"lndi";duals
interested in supporting the efforts of the Shoah Foundation are
encouraged to call 818/777-4673 or.write to P.O. Box 3168, Los Angeles,
CA 90078-3168. The Foundation's home page is www.vhf.org
<http://www.vhf.org>.
About The A 1M Forum
The A1M Forum is a non-profit intemational organization of more than
550 companies representing all sectors of the world's computer and
communication industries, as well as government agencies, research·
organizations and end users. Established in 1991, it is ,dedicated to
speed the development and mass-market deployment of A1M broadband
communications technologies, thus enabling existing infrastructures and
new seMce technologies to take advantage of A 1M's inherent QoS
(Quality of SeMce), security and management features.
The Forum is focused on development of interoperability specifications,
promotion of industry-wide cooperation and educational awareness ofthe
technology's capabilities, explaining why an A1M core is the best option
for implementing a multiseMce network. Further information on The A 1M
Forum is available at www.atmforum.com <http://www.atmforum.com>.
The next A 1M Forum Technical Committee Meeting will take place in
Yokahama, Japan, February 20th - 25th, 2000, followed by a meeting in
San Francisco, California, May 8th-12th, 2000.
**Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.gov/news.htm for
continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
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From: Stu Loeser <sloeser@PCHA.GOV>
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�\
Lisa:
In case Sebastian or I are not at College Park before noon {we may be at Ft. McNair], go ahead and research the "P" files in
RG 260, Boxes 1-24. Box 1 has been started.
We're interested in:
Securities
Currency
f,
Patents
Trademarks
Copyrights
Property
pensions
Diamonds
Jewelry
Life Insurance
ctatt W WI
ytJ£li\\ Vfl
Just tab good documents, don't worry about xeroxing.
FYI, we may all be going out to lunch tomorrow to honorJa departing employee, so you may not want to bring lunch .
.
'
Greg
/:Je HI'S
c3fJJ --6tccl 7LJ
Thursday, November 11,1999
I
Amenca Online: LISALGI
'.
,;: "
i. :t
,
~
Page: 1
��.-
Subj:
LAST TIME: claims conference update on restitution ta
Date: 1/12100 1:23:58 PM Eastern Standard lime
From: alissak@claimscon.org (Alissa Kaplan)
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@earth.cosmoweb.net;@aol.com;
File: update3.doc (42496 bytes)
DL lime (53333 bps): < 1 minute
,
this is the latest update on our restitution negotiations. please distribute it in any way you see fit. i'm sending it as an
attachment and within the text ofthis e-mail.
.
Alissa Kaplan
Director of Communications
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
New York, N.Y. 10010
Tel: 2121696-4944 ext. 242
Fax: 2121696-9545
E-mail: alissak@claimscon.org
CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS
AGAINST GERMANY
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
New York, N.Y. 10010
2121696-4944
Israel Miller, President
Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice President
Wednesday, January 12, 2000
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�SPECIAL UPDATE
ON RESllTUll0N NEGOllA110NS
FEBRUARY 2000/SHVAT-ADAR 5760
SLAVE LABOR
Background
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany has been an instrumental player in the series of slave labor talks
that recently culminated in a framework agreement of DM 10 billion (about $5.2 billion).
Other parties to the talks include the U.S., Israeli and German governments, five Eastern European governments (Russia,
Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic), plaintiffs' lawyer.; as well as a group of German companies and banks.
Wedneeday, January 12, 2000
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�In February 1999, about a dozen prominent German firms, including DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens,
together with Deutsche and Dresdner banks, agreed to create a foundation to compensate former slave and forced laborers
who worked for German industrial enterprises. Since that time, other companies have pledged to join the fund, bringing the
total number of German firms and banks to about 75. The negotiations have been ,co-hosted by U.S. Deputy Treasury
Secretary Stuart Eizenstat and Count Otto Lambsdorff of Germany.
Our negotiating committee is primarily made up of Holocaust SUMVOrs and is chaired by Claims Conference Vice President
Israel Singer, who also is one ofthe leaders of the World Jewish Congress. The committee includes Claims Conference
directors Roman Kent and Benjamin Meed of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust SUMwrs, Noach Flug of the Centre
of Organizations of Holocaust SUMVOrs in Israel and Ben Helfgott from the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Also on the committee are Saul Kagan, Karl Brozik and Gideon Taylor. Claims Conference President Israel Miller serves as
an ex-oflicio member.
Major Issues
A number of important issues were dealt with during these talks.
Some of the most important:
a.. Moral Nature of Issue
The slave labor negotiations ultimately are a moral matter. No amount of compensation can ever make up for the atrocities of
the Third Reich. We insisted that part of the settlement be an. appropriate acknowledgment of the responsibility of German
industry for the morally unjustifiable use of slave labor during the Second World War.
a.. Slave Labor V5. Forced Labor
All parties to the negotiations now accept the essential distinction between slave labor and forced labor, and a working group
was formed specifically to address this issue.' The conditions of slave laborers, who were "worked to death," were
fundamentally different than others who were forced to work. The Claims Conference is inSisting that the structure ofthe
compensation plan reflect this distinction.
a.. Banking Claim
The German Foundation Initiative must also include a component that specifically addresses the wrongs committed by the
banking industry. The banking industry must accept moral responsibility for its active participation in the aryanization of
Jewish assets. As the oflicial1946 Report of the U.S. military govemment of Germany indicates, the three largest German
banks often bought Jewish property, businesses and securities at below market price for their own account and otherwise
profited from aryanization through the pro"';sion of loans and receipt of commissions, brokerage fees, etc. The basic moral
principle of,all restitution is that the parties that engaged in and/or profited from unconscionable acts are not entitled to retain
such profits. Therefore, the banks are required to divest the profits that resulted from their active participation in this program.
Current Status
All parties to the slave and forced labor negotiations in mid-December reached a framework agreement of OM 10 billion (about
$5.2 billion) that will be pro"';ded by the German foundation. The German govemment and German industry will pro"';de the
funding for the folloWing areas: slave labor; forced labor; banking/aryanization; insurance; special hardship fund; and future
fund. In addition, some American firms that did business in Germany will contribute.
Representatives of the Claims Conference met with German President ~Iohannes Rau conceming the inclusion ofa statement
of moral responsibility with any settlement. Rau's- announcement of the framework of the agreement was accompanied by a
powerful statement. "I know that for many [SUMVOrs] it is not really money that matters. What they want is for their suffering to
be recognized as suffering and for the injustice done to them to be named injustice," he said in his statement. "I pay tribute to
Wednesday, January 12, 2000
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�all those who were subjected to slave labor under German rule and,in the name ofthe German people, beg forgiveness. We
will not forget their suffering."
'
In February, a series of meetings will take place in Washington, D.C., to deal with allocations and other outstanding issues
surrounding the pact, which needs to be finalized. At that time, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
will ,press the case for Jewish slave and forced laborers as well as for adequate compensation for aryanization. The status of
insurance companies needs clarification in connection with the initiative as well as with the International Commission on
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
The initiative still needs the approval of the German Parliament.
The parties to the negotiations, including the Claims Conference, continue to finalize a claims process. When this process is
determined, it will be widely publicized. When announcing the agreement in Berlin, Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart
Eizenstat, who also publicly acknowledged the special role of the Claims Conference, said it may take up to a year before
payments are made.
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�Hardship fund/Article 2 fund/CeEF
Background
Hardship Fund
Reaches 200,000 Mark
The Claims Conference is pleased to announce that a total of more than 200,000 payments ha~ been made to survivors under
. the Hardship Fund. In 1980, the Claims Conference reached an agreement with the German federal govemment for the
establishment of a special hardship fund primarily for compensation in the form of a one-time payment to the Holocaust
survivors who left Eastem Europe and the Soviet Union 'after the expiration date ofthe filing periods under the original German
Federal Indemnification Law (BEG). The Claims Conference administers the Hardship Fund.
Article 2 Fund
or
We .entered into talks in 1990 with the newly unified Germany that focused on new compensation measures for the benefit
Holocaust survivors who previously recei~ no or only minimal compensation. As a result of this effort and the strong support
of the U.S. State Department, we concluded an agreement with the German federal govemment to establish the Article 2
Fund, which provides pensions for survivors meeting the agreed-upon eligibility criteria. Between the years 1995 and 1998, the
Clai ms Conference, which administers the fund, paid out in excess of DM 1.5 billion to Holocaust survivors. A total of about
50,000 payments ha~ been made to survivors under the Article 2 Fund.
Central and Eastem European Fund
In 1998, the Claims Conference was instrumental in the creation of the Central and Eastern European Fund, known as the
CEEF. This fund entitles some of the most persecuted Nazi victims in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern
Europe to compensation for the first time. It helps survivors whose li\1ng conditions are much different than in Western Europe,
Israel and the United States. We ha~ set up a liaison desk in nearly e~ry country co~red by the CEEF. Under the CEEF,
about 18,000 survivors will benefit. Thus far, about half have received payments.
Issues
With all these funds, the Claims Conference continually presses for the liberalization of eligibility criteria.
For example, concerning the Article 2 Fund, we are arguing for the inclusion of Holocaust survivors who:
a.. were in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps not currently recognized as such by Germany;
b.. lived under false identity, while older than 18;
c .. were subjected to persecution for periods oftime less than currently stipulated;
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�d.. were confined in open ghettos;
e.. have income in excess of the current income ceiling; or
f.. were Western Europeans at the time of persecution and have not received compensation under programs from their
native countries.
In addition, we are pressing for cost of li'..1ng adjustments and increased funding for one-time payments.
Current Status
After a recent series of intense negotiations, the Claims Conference was able to increase significantly the numbers of
Holocaust SUNVOrs able to qualify for pensions. Until these talks, eligibility was restricted to those SUMVOrs who met all fund
criteria and whose income in the United States, for instance, was not greater than $16,000 for a single indi'..1dual or $21,000 for
a married couple. We successfully pressed for the liberalization of these limits as of January 1, 1999, with the exclusion of
Social Security payment in the computation of annual income for persons who are age 70 and older and who meet all other
fund criteria.
Also as of January 1, as a result of Claims Conference efforts, additional groups of sUMwrs were declared eligible forthe
Article 2 Fund, including those incarcerated in special camps in Austria for Jews, forced labor camps on the Austro-Hungarian
border or the Bor copper mines, as well as SUMVOrs offorced military labor battalions for Hungarian Jews on the Ukrainian
front.
Conceming the Hardship Fund, a substantial increase in funding will help to diminish the backlog of cases, most of which
involve elderly sUMWrs from the former So'..1et Union who are trying to establish new lives in the West.
In the case of the CEEF, Germany is contributing DM 200 million to the fund over the next four years, in equal annual
installments, beginning January 1, 1~99.
We are awaiting a date for the next round of negotiations with the German government and hope to begin talks in the near
Mure. Again, the need for continued talks is urgent; as too many of us are well-aware, Holocaust SUMwrs are dying every
day.
INSURANCE
Background
The Intemational Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence
Eagleburger, was established in October 1998 by the National Association"of Insurance Commissioners in conjunction with
several European insurance companies Qncluding Generali of Italy, Allianz of Germany, AXA of France, and Zurich and
Winterthur of Switzerland), European regulators, representatives of several Jewish organizations Oncluding the Claims
Conference) and the State of Israel.
The commission is charged with establishing a just process that will expeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance
policies issued to '..1ctims of the Holocaust.
Wednesday. January 12. 2000
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�Issues
Some of the issues before the commission have been resolved; for instance, the panel has agreed on a complex formula
pegged to long-term government bonds for valuing policies from before World War II. This amounts to the face value of policies
multiplied by a factor of an average of 10, depending on the country in question. The Claims Conference, represented by its
treasurer, Moshe Sanbar of the Centre of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors of Israel, argued that Holocaust survivors or
their heirs should be entitled to the "real value" of the policy; there should be no loss of the value of the policy as a result of
postwar currency devaluations.
The insurance companies did not accept this, arguing that survil"Qrs should suffer the ravages of currency devaluations as all
other persons residing in Europe did. After a long and difficult battle on this issue within the commission, Eagleburger
eventually ruled largely in our fal"Qr.
·In addition, the insurance companies initially contended that the assets of their Eastern European subsidiaries and branches
were nationalized by the Communist govemments and thus the Communist govemments, not the companies, were liable to
Holocaust survivors and their heirs for these policies. The Claims Conference \Agorously argued that the companies were liable
to pay the beneficiaries regardless of nationalization.
The insurance companies and the Jewish representatives were deadlocked, and Eagleburger decided that Holocaust survivors
with nationalized policies would have to be paid at an adjusted real value.
In addition, the Claims Conference was one of the parties that successfully argued for the creation of a fast-track mechanism
to compensate aging Holocaust survil"Qrsand their families who have insurance policies, pending final assessments of their
claims.
.
The Insurance Commission intends to publish the lists of unpaid policies ·from the companies' archives. Upon publication,
Holocaust survivors and their heirs will be in a' position to check whether family members held insurance policies with the
participating companies. The commission also will seek to overcome the difficulties of verification as a result of incomplete
company records by undertaking searches of independent external archives. Claims Conference Vice President Roman Kent,
of the American Gathering and a member of the Insurance Commission, has stressed the importance ofthe publication of lists
of names of unpaid policies.
However, the companies now participating in the negotiations only compose a portion ofthe prewar European insurance
market. Eagleburger also has contacted other insurance companies, including German insurance giant Munich Re, Dutch
insurer Aegon NV, Germany's Gerling Konzern and Swiss Life, to ask them to join the panel.
The Claims Conference is working with the insurance commissioners in New York, Califomia and Florida in pursuing
administrative and other methods available to them to encourage companies with local offices that are not currently members
of the commission to join its efforts.
Current Status
The launch of the worldwide advertising campaign to inform potential claimants ofthe claims process is scheduled for January
31, 2000. The outreach program will provide a toll-free number with operators trained to assist potential claimants with forms.
In recognition ofthe devastation suffered by \Actims ofthe Holocaust, the companies also have agreed to accept relaxed
standards of proof in the processing of claims.
More than 500 claims already have been sent to the insurance companies from the U.S. state insurance offices for processing
as part ofthe "fast track" mechanism. We are closely monitoring the processing ofthese claims. The commission also
continues to work out a resolution ofthe issue of heirless policies. Certain aspects ofthe relationship between the
commission and the German Foundation Initiative have yet to be determined.
Wednesday, January 12, 2000
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�AUSlRlA
Background
Through our Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria, we have recently intensified restitution and compensation efforts in that
country.
In addition, the International Steering Committee on Restitution in Austria was established earlier this year. It comprises the
Federation of Jewish Communities in Austria, the Council for Jews From Austria in Israel, the American Council for Equal
Compensation of Nazi Victims from Austria, the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Congress. The Claims Conference
asked Ronald Lauder, former U.S. ambassador to Austria, to chair the International Steering Committee.
Issues/Current Status
An amended settlement agreement was reached Nov. 1 as a direct result of the efforts of the Claims Conference. In January, a
U.S. federal court ruled it fair.
Initially, certain plaintiffs attorneys had signed an agreement with Bank Austria/Creditanstalt concerning its involvement in
aryanization and other wartime activities. The Claims Conference was strongly opposed to that settlement, because it was
unfair to Holocaust survivors in and from Austria and purported to release thousands of Austrian companies for liability for
aryanization and slave labor.
Bank Austria has now agreed to terms that include a statement of moral responsibility. The agreement also has been
amended so that 1,450 companies will not be released for liability for acts of aryanization and slave labor and so that
Holocaust victims' rights against slave labor companies are preserved.
In addition, the agreement establishes a supplemental humanitarian fund of $5 million to be allocated by the Claims
Conference to Jews in and from Austria.
'
Meanwhile, the International Steering Committee on Restitution cO,ntinues to press for its declaration of principles, which
include that all assets robbed between 1938 and 1945 be returned to the victims or their heirs.
Austria, which held elections in October, has yet to form a new government. Once that occurs, the Claims Conference will
hold discussions with its leaders.
Wednesday. January 12, 2000
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�<!DOClYPE HlML PUBLIC "-IIW3CIIDTD HlML 4.0 TransitionaIIlEN">
<HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content="MSHlML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR>
<SlYLE></SlYLE>
</HEAD>
. <DIV>this is the latest update on our
restitution negotiations. please distribute it in any 'Mly you see fit. i'm
sending it as an attachmen t and \";thin the text of this e-mail. <lDIV>
<DIv> <lDIV>
<DIV>Alissa Kaplan
Director of Communications
Conference on Jewsh Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
.
New York, N.Y. 10010
Tel: 212/696-4944 ext. 242
Fax: 212/696-9545
E-mail: alissak((l!claimscon.org<IDIV><DIV> <IDIV><DIV>
<l'ABLEborder=l ceUPadding=7 cellSpacing=l width=6OO> <rEODY> <1'R> <TD height=754 vAlign=top>
AGAINST GERMANY
Miller, President
·
CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS
15 E. 26thSt. Room 906
NewYork,N.Y.lOOlO
Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice
President
21?J6%-4944
Israel
SPECIAL UPDATE
ON RESTITUTION
NEGOTIATIONS
FEBRUARY2000/SH’VAT-ADAR5760<lTD><lTR><ITBODY><ITABLE>
&nbs p;<DIR><DIR>
SLAVE LABOR<JOIR><JOIR>
Background<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany has been an instrumental player in the series of slave labor talks that
recently culminated in a framewOlk agreement ofDM 10 billi()n (about $5.2 billion).
Other parties to the talks include the U.S., Israeli and German governments, five Eastern European governments (Russia, Poland,
Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic), plaintiffs’ lawyers as well as a group of German companies and banks.
In February 1999, about a dozen prominent German furns, including DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens, together with
Wodno.day, January 12, 2000
Amorlca Onllno: Pre.comm
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�Deutsche and Dresdner banks, agreed to create a foundation to compensate fonner slave and forced laborers who worked for Gmnan
industrial enterprises. Since that time, other companies have pledged to join the fund, bringing the total number of German fIrrns and
banks to about 75. The negotiations have been co-hosted by U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat and Count Otto
Lambsdorff of Germany.
Our negotiating committee is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and is chaired by Claims Conference Vice President Israel Singer,
who also is one of the leaders of the World Jewish Congress. The committee includes Claims Conference directors Roman Kent and
Benjamin Meed ofthe American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Noach Flug ofthe Centre of Organizations of Holocaust
Survivors in Israel and Ben Helfgott from the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Also on the committee are Saul Kagan, Karl Brozik and Gideon Taylor. Claims Conference President Israel Miller serves as an ex-officio .
member. <lDIR><IDIR><IDIR><lDIR>
Major hs ues<Dffi><Dffi><Dffi><D1R>
A number of important issues were dealt with during these talks.
Some of the most important:<lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><lDIR><Ul> <LI>Moral Nature of
Issue<lLI><lDL><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The slave labor negotiations ultimately are a moral matter. No amount of compensation can ever make up for the atrocities ofthe Third
Reich. We insisted that part of the settlement be an appropriate acknowledgment ofthe responsibility of German industry for the
morally unjustifIable use of slave labor during the Second World War.
<lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><Ul> <LI>Slave Labor vs. Forced
Labor<ILI><IUl><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
All parties to the negotiations now accept the essential distinction between slave labor and forced labor, and a working group was
fonned specifIcally to address this issue. The conditions of slave laborers, who were "worked to death," were fundamentally different
than others who were forced to work. The Claims Conference is insisting that the structure of the compensation plan reflect this
distinction. <lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><lDIR><Ul> <LI>Banking· Clai.rn<lLI><IUl><D1R><Dffi><D1R><Dffi><D1R><D1R>
The German Foundation Initiative must also include a component that specifIcally addresses the wrongs corrnnitted by the banking
industry. The banking industry must accept moral responsibility for its active participation in the ary anization of Jewish assets. As the
official 1946 Report of the U.S. military government of Germany indicates, the three largest German banks often bought Jewish property,
businesses and securities at below market price for their own account and otherwise profIted from ary anization through the provision of
loans and receipt of co1l11l1i.ssions, brokerage fees, etc. The basic moral principle of all restitution is that the parties that engaged in
and/or profIted from unconscionable acts are not entitled to retain such profIts. Therefore, the banks are required to divest the profIts
that resulted from their active participation in this program <lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR>
Current Status <lD1R><ID1R>
<D1R><DIR><DIR><DIR>
All parties to the slave and forced labor negotiations in mid·December reached a framework agreement ofDM 10 billion (about $5.2
billion) that will be provided by the German foundation. The German government and German industry will provide the funding for the
following areas: slave labor, forced labor; banking/aryanization; insurance; specialhardship fund; and future fund. In addition, some
American fmns that did business in Germany \-\;11 contribute.
Representatives of the Claims Conference met with German President Johannes Rau concerning the inclusion of a statement of moral
responsibility with any settlement. RauRl7;s announcement of the framework ofthe agreement was accompanied by a powerl'ul
statement. "I know that for many [survivors] it is not really money that matters. What they want is for their suffering to be recognized as
suffering and for the injustice done to them to be named injustice," he said in his statement. "I pay tribute to all those who were
subjected to slave labor under German rule and, in the name of the German people, beg forgiveness. We will notforgettheir
suffering."
In February, a series of meetings will take place in Washington, D.C., to deal with allocations and other outstanding issues surrounding
the pact, which needs to be fmalized. At that time, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany will press the case for
Je\-\;sh slave and forced laborers as well as for adequate compensation for aryanization. The status of insurance companies needs
clarification in connection with the initiative as well as with the International Cormnission on Holocaust:Era Insurance Claims.
The initiative still needs the approval of the German Parliament.
The parties to the negotiations, including the Claims Conference, continue to fmalize a claitns process. When this process is determined,
it will be widely publicized. When announcing the agreement in Berlin, Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, who also publicly
acknowledged the special role of the Claims Conference, said it may take up to a year before payments are made.
.
Wedn...day, January 12, 2000
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�
<lDIR><IDIR>
Hard'lhipfuntllArticle 2 funtllCeEF
Background
Hardship Fund
Reaches 200,CXJO Mark<DIR><DIR>
The Claims Conference is pleased to announce that a total of rmre than 200,CXJO paY11:k!nts have been made to sUIvivors under the
Hardship Fund. In 1980, the Claims Conference reached an agree11:k!nt with the German federal govern11:k!nt for the establishment of a
special hardship fund primarily for compensation in the fonn of a one-time pay11:k!nt to the Holocaust survivors who left Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union after the e'>q)iration date of the filing periods under the original GenTIan Federal Indenmification Law (BEG). The
Claims Conference administers the Hardship Fund,
Article 2 Fund
We entered into talks in 195X) with the newly unified Germany that focused on new compensation 11:k!asures for the benefit ofHolocaust
survivors who previously received no or only minimal compensation. As a result of this' effort and the strong support of the U.S. State
Department, we concluded an agreement with the German federal government to establish the Article 2 Fund, which provides pensions
for survivors meeting the agreed-upon eligibility criteria. Between the years 1995 and 1998, the Claims Conference, which administers the
fund, paid out in excess of DM 1.5 billion to Holocaust survivors. A totalof about 50,000 payments have been made to survivors under
the Article 2 Fund, <lDIR><lDIR>
Central and Eastern European Fund<DIR><DIR>
In 1998, the Claims Conference was instrumental in the creation of the Central and Eastern European Fund, known as the CEEF. This
fund entitles S011:k! of the most persecuted Nazi victims in the fonner Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe to compensation for
the ftrst time. It helps survivors whose living conditions are rrnlch different than in Western Europe, Israel and the United States. We
have set up a liaison desk in nearly every country covered by the CEEF. Under the CEEF, about 18,000 survivors will benefit. Thus far,
about half have received payments. <IDIR><IDIR><JDIR><JDIR>
hs ues <DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
With all these funds, the Claims Conference continually presses for the liberalization of eligibility criteria.
,For example, concerning the Article 2 Fund, we are arguing for the inclusion of Holocaust survivors
who:<lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><UL> <DIR> <DIR> <UL> <LI>were in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps
not currently recognized as such by Germany;<lLI> <LI>lived under false identity, while older than 18;<lLI> <LI>were subjected to
persecution for periods of time less than currently stipulated;<lLI> <LI>were confmed in open ghettos;<lLI> <LI>have income in
e)<I;ess of the current income ceiling; or<ILI> <LI>were Western Europeans at the time of persecution and have not received
compensation under programs from their native countries .<lLI><IUL><lDIR><lDIR><IUL><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
In addition, we are pressing for cost of living adjustments and increased funding for one-time payments.<lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><IDIR>
Current Status
<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
After a recent series of intense negotiations, the Claims Conference was able to increase significantly the numbers of Holocaust
survivors able to qualify for pensions. Until thes'e talks, eligibility was restricted to those survivors who met all fund criteria and whose
income in the United States, for instance, was not greater than $16,CXJO for a single individual or $21 ,000 for a married couple. We
successfully pressed for the liberalization of these limits as of January I, 1999, with the e)<I;lusion of Social Security payment in the
computation of annual inC011:k! for persons who are age 70 and older and who meet all other fund criteria,
Also as of January I, as a result of Claims Conference efforts, additional groups of survivors were declared eligible for the Article 2
Fund, including those incarcerated in special camps in Austria for Jews, forced labor camps on the Austro-Hungarian border or the Bar
copper mines, as well as survivors of forced military labor battalions for Hungarian Jews on the Ukrainian front.
Concerning the Hardship Fund, a substantial increase in funding will help to diminish the backlog of cases, most of which involve
Wednesday. January 12, 2000
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�elderly survivors from the former Soviet Union who are trying to establish new lives in the West.
In the case of the CEEF, Germany is contributing DM 200 million to the fund over the next four years, in equal annual installments,
beginning January 1,1999.
We are awaiting a date for the next round ofnegotiations with the Gennan .government ~nd hope to begin talks in the near future. Again,
the need for continued talks is urgent; as too many of us are well-aware, Holocaust survivors are dying every day.
<lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><lDIR>
lNSURANCE<DIR><DIR>
Background<DIR><DIR>
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, was
established in October 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in conjunction with several European insurance
companies (including Generali of Italy, Allianz of Gennany, AXA ofFrance, and Zurich and Winterthur of Switzerland), European
regulators, representatives of several Jewish organizations (including the Claims Conference) and the State ofIsrael.
The commission is charged with establishing a just process that will ellpeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance policies issued
to victims of the Holocaust. <lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR>
hs ues <DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
Some ofthe issues before the corrnnission have been resolved; for instance, the panel has agreed on a complexformula pegged to long
term government bonds for valuing policies from before World War II. This amounts to the face value of policies multiplied by a factor
of an average of 10, depending on the country in question. the Claims Conference, represented by its treasurer, Moshe San bar of the
Centre of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors ofIsrael, argued that Holocaust survivors or their heirs should be entitled to the" real
value" ofthe policy; there should be no loss of the value of the policy as a result of postwar currency devaluations.
The insurance companies did not accept this, arguing that survivors should suffer the ravages of currency devaluations as all other
persons residing in Europe did. After a long and difficult battle on this issue within the commission, Eagleburger eventually ruled
largely in our favor.
In addition, the insurance companies initially contended that the assets of their Eastern European subsidiaries and branches were
nationalized by the Communist governments and thus the Communist governments, not the companies, were liable to Holocaust
survivors and their heirs for these policies. The Claims Conference vigorously argued that the companies were liable to pay the
beneficiaries regardless of nationalization.
The insurance companies and the Jewish representatives were deadlocked, and Eagleburger decided that Holocaust survivors with
nationalized policies would have to be paid at an adjusted real value.
In addition, the Claims Conference was one of the parties that successfully argued for the creation of a fast-track mechanism to
compensate aging Holocaust survivors and their families who have insurance policies, pending [mal assessments of their claims.
The Insurance Commission intends to publish the lists of unpaid policies from the companiesR 17; archives. Upon publication,
Holocaust survivors and their heirs will be in a position to check whether family members held insurance policies with the participating
companies. The commission also will seek to overcome the difficulties of verification as a result of incomplete company records by
undertaking searches of independent external archives. Claims Conference Vice President Roman Kent, ofthe American Gathering and a
memberofthe Insurance Commission, has stressed the importance of the publication of lists ofnarnes of unpaid policies.
However, the companies now participating in the negotiations only compose a portion of the prewar European insurance market.
Eagleburger also has contacted other insurance companies, including Gennan insurance giant Munich Re, Dutch insurer Aegon NV,
Gennany ’s Gerling Konzern and Swiss Life, to ask them to Join the panel.
The Claims Conference is working with the insurance commissioners in New York, California and Florida in pursuing administrative and
other methods available to them to encourage companies with local offices that are not currently members of the commission to join its
efforts. <lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR>
Current Status
<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The launch of the worldwide advertising campaign to inform potential claimants of the claims process is scheduled for January 31,2000.
The outreach program will provide a toll-free number with operators trained to assist potential claimants with forms.
In recognition ofthe devastation suffered by victims of the Holocaust, the companies also have agreed to accept relaxed standards of
proof in the processing of claims.
More than 500 claims already have been sent to the insurance companies from the U.S. state insurance offices for processing as part of
the "fast track" mechanism We are closely monitoring the processing of these claims. The commission also continues to work out a
resolution of the issue of heirless policies. Certairi aspects of the relationship between the commission and the German Foundation
Initiative have yet to be determined.
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�
<lDlR><IDlR><lDlR><JDIR>
AUS1RJA<DIR><DIR>
Background<DIR><DIR>
Through our Corrnnittee for Jewish Claims on Austria, we have recently intensified restitution and compensation efforts in that country.
In addition, the International Steering Corrnnittee on Restitution in Austria was established earlier this year. It comprises the Federation
of Jewish Connntmities in Austria, the Council for Jews From Austria in Israel, the American Council for Equal Compensation of Nazi
Victims from Austria, the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Congress. The Claims Conference asked Ronald Lauder, fonner U.S.
ambassador to Austria, to chair the International Steering Committee.<lDIR><lDIR></DIR><IDIR>
hsues/CurrentStatus<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
An arrended settlement agreement was reached Nov. I as a direct result of the efforts of the Claims Conference. In January, a U.S.
federal court ruled it fair.
Initially, certain plaintiffs attorneys had signed an agreement with Bank AustrialCreditanstalt concerning its involvement in aryanization
and other wartime activities. The Claims Conference was strongly opposed to that settlement, because it was unfair to Holocaust
survivors in and from Austria and purported to release thousands of Austrian companies forliability for aryanization and slave labor.
Bank Austria has now agreed to terms that include a statement of moral responsibility. The agreement also has been amended so that
1,450 companies will not be released for liability for acts of aryan ization and slave labor and so that Holocaust victims’ rights
against slave labor companies are preserved.
In addition, the agreement establishes a supplemental humanitarian fund of$5 million to be allocated by the Claims Conference to Jews
in and from Austria.
Meanwhile, the International Steering Committee on Restitution continues to press for its declaration of principles, which include that all
assets robbed between 1938 and 1945 be returned to the victims or their heirs.
Austria, which held elections in October, has yet to fonn a new government. Once that occurs, the Claims Conference will hold
discussions with its leaders.
&nbs p; <lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR>
<IDlY>
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From: "Alissa Kaplan" <alissak@claimscon.org>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:@earth.cosmoweb.net;@aol.com;>
Subject: LAST llME: claims confef~nce update on restitution talks
Date: Wed, 12 Jan,2000 13:25:25 .
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�Subj:
claims conference negotiations update
Date: 1/1210010:43:07 AM Eastem Standard lime
From: alissak@claimscon.org (Alissa Kaplan)
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@earth.cosmoweb.net;@aol.com;
File: update3.doc (40448 bytes)
DL lime (53333 bps): < 1 minute
Here is our latest update on restitution negotiations. Please distribute it in any way you see fit. If you have any questions, do
not hesitate to contact me. O'm sending it as an attachment as well as within the text of this e-mail so be sure to scroll
down all the way to the end.) A few of you may receive it more than once - I'm using a few different e-mail distribution lists (I'm
apologizing in advance).
Best,
Alissa
Alissa Kaplan
Director of Communications
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
New York, N.Y. 10010
Tel: 2121696-4944 ext. 242
Fax: 2121696-9545
E-mail: alissak@claimscon.org<
<
<.
CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS
AGAINST GERMANY
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
New York, N.Y. 10010
2121696-4944
Israel Miller, President
Wednesday, January 12, 2000
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�Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice President
SPECIAL UPDATE
ON RESllTUllON NEGOllAllONS
FEBRUARY 2000/SHVAT-ADAR 5760
SLAVE LABOR
Wednesdsy, January 12, 2000
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�Background
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany has been an instrumental player in the series of slave labor talks
that recently culminated·in a framework agreement of DM 10 billion (about $5.2 million).
Other parties to the talks include the U.S., Israeli and German governments, five Eastern European govemments (Russia,
Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic), plaintiflS' lawyers as well as a group of German companies and banks.
In February 1999, about a dozen prominent German firms, including DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens,
together with Deutsche and Dresdner banks. agreed to create a foundation to compensate former slave and forced laborers
who worked for German industrial entetprises. Since that time, other companies have pledged to join the fund, bringing the
total number of German firms and banks to about 75. The negotiations have been co-hosted by U.S. Deputy Treasury
Secretary Stuart Eizenstat and Count Otto Lambsdorff of Germany.
Our negotiating committee is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and is chaired by Claims Conference Vice President
Israel Singer, who also is one ofthe leaders ofthe World Jewish Congress. The committee includes Claims Conference
directors Roman Kent and Benjamin Meed ofthe American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust SUNVOrs, Noach Flug of the Centre
of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel and Ben Helfgott from the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Also on the committee are Saul Kagan, Karl Brozik and Gideon Taylor. Claims Conference President Israel Miller serves as
an ex-officio member.
Major Issues
A number of important issues were dealt with during these talks.
Some ofthe most important:
a..
Moral Nature of Issue
The slave labor negotiations ultimately are a moral matter. No amount of compensation can ever make up for the atrocities of
the Third Reich. We insisted that part ofthe settlement be an appropriate acknowledgment ofthe responsibility of German
industry for the morally unjustifiable use of slave labor during the Second World War.
a.. Slave Labor vs. Forced Labor
All parties to the negotiations now accept the essential distinction between slave labor and forced labor, and a working group
was formed specifically to address this issue. The conditions of slave laborers, who were "worked to death," were
fundamentally different than others who wereforced to work. The Claims Conference is inSisting that the structure ofthe
compensation plan reflect this distinction.
a.. Banking Claim
The German Foundation Initiative must also include a component that specifically addresses the wrongs committed 'by the
banking industry. The banking industry must accept moral responsibility for its active participation in the aryanization of
Jewish assets. As the official 1946 Report of the U.S. military govemment of Germany indicates, the three largest German
banks often bought Jewish property, businesses and securities at below market price for their own account and otherwise
profited from aryanization through the provision of loans and receipt of commissions, brokerage fees, etc. The basic moral
principle of all restitution is that the parties that engaged in and/or profited from unconscionable acts are not entitled to retain
such profits. Therefore, the banks are required to divest the profits that resulted from their active participation in this program.
Current Status
All parties to the slave and forced labor negotiations in mid-December reached a framework agreement of DM 10 billion (about
$5.2 billion) that will be provided by the German foundation. The German govemment and German industry will provide the
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�funding for the following areas: slave labor; forced labor; banking/aryanization; insurance; special hardship fund; and future
fund. In addition, some American firms that did business in Germany will contribute.
Representatives of the Claims Conference met with German President Johannes Rau concerning the inclusion of a statement
of moral responsibility with any settlement. Rau's announcement of the framework of the agreement was accompanied by a
powerful statement. "I know that for many [SUMVOrs] it is not really money that matters. What they want is for their suffering to
be recognized as suffering and for the injustice done to them to be named injustice," he said in his statement. "I pay tribute to
all those who were subjected to slave labor under German rule and, in the name of the German people, beg forgiveness. We
will not forget their suffering."
In February, a series of meetings will take place in Washington, D.C., to deal with allocations and other outstanding issues
surrounding the pact, which needs to be finalized. At that time, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
will press the case for Jewish slave and forced laborers as well as for adequate compensation for aryanization. The status of
insurance companies needs clarification in connection with the initiative as well as with the International Commission on
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
The initiative still needs the approval of the German Parliament.
The parties to the negotiations, including the Claims Conference, continue to finalize a claims process. When this process is
determined, it will be widely publicized. When announcing the agreement in Berlin, Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart
Eizenstat, who also publicly acknowledged the special role of the Claims Conference, said it may take up to a year before
payments are made.
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�Hardship fund/Article 2 fund/CeEF
Background
Hardship Fund
Reaches 200, 000 Mark
The Claims Conference is pleased to announce that a total of more than 200,000 payments haw been made to SUMVOrs under
the Hardship Fund. In 1980, the Claims Conference reached an agreement with the German federal government for the
establishment of a special hardship fund primarily for compensation in the form of a one-time payment to the Holocaust
sUMVOrs who left Eastern Europe and the So"';et Union after the expiration date of the filing periods under the original German
Federal Indemnification Law (BEG). The Claims Conference administers the Hardship Fund.
Article 2 Fund
We entered into talks in 1990 with the newly unified Germany that focused on new compensation measures for the benefit of
Holocaust SUMVOrs who pre"';ously receiwd no or only minimal compensation. As a result ofthis effort and the strong support
ofthe U.S. State Department, we concluded an agreement with the German federal government to establish the Article 2
Fund, which pro.,,;des pensions for SUMVOrs meeting the agreed-upon eligibility criteria. Between the years 1995 and 1998, the
Claims Conference, which administers the fund, paid out in excess of DM 1.5 billion to Holocaust SUMl"Ors. A total of about
50,000 payments haw been made to sUMVOrs under the Article 2 Fund.
Central and Eastern European Fund
In 1998, the Claims Conference was instrumental in the creation ofthe Central and Eastern European Fund, known as the
CEEF. This fund entitles some of the most persecuted Nazi "';ctims in the former So"';et Union and Central and Eastern
Europe to compensation for the first time. It helps SUMVOrs whose li"';ng conditions are much different than in Western Europe,
Israel and the United States. We haw set up a liaison desk in nearly ewry country cowred by the CEEF. Under the CEEF,
about 18,000 SUMVOrs will benefit. Thus far, about half have received payments.
Issues
Wedneeday, January 12, 2000
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�With all these funds, the Claims Conference continually presses for the liberalization of eligibility criteria.
For example, concerning the'Article 2 Fund, we are arguing for the inclusion of Holocaust sUNVOrs who:
a..
b..
c ..
d..
e..
were in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps not currently recognized as such by Germany;
lived under false identity, while older than 18;
were subjected to persecution for periods of time less than currently stipulated;
were confined in open ghettos;
have income in excess ofthe current income ceiling; or
f.. were Western Europeans at the time of persecution and have not receiwd compensation under programs from their
natiw countries.
In addition, we are pressing for cost of li\1ng adjustments and increased funding for one-time payments.
Current Status
After a recent series of intense negotiations, the Claims Conference was able to increase significantly the numbers of
Holocaust SUMvors able to qualify for pensions. Until these talks, eligibility was restricted to those SUMVOrs who met all fund
criteria and whose income in the United States, for instance, was not greater than $16,000 for a single indi\1dual or $21,000 for
a married couple. We successfully pressed for the liberalization of these limits as of January 1, 1999, with the exclusion of
Social Security payment in the computation of annual income for person~ who are age 70 and older and who meet all other
fund criteria. '
Also as of January 1, as a result of Claims Conference efforts, additional groups of SUNVOrs were declared eligible for the
Article 2 Fund, including those incarcerated in special camps in Austria for Je'NS, forced labor camps on the Austro-Hungarian
border orthe Bor copper mines, as well as sulVivors offorced military labor battalions for Hungarian Je'NS on the Ukrainian
front.
Concerning the Hardship Fund, a substantial increase in funding will help to diminish the backlog of cases, most of which
involve elderly SUNVOrs from the former Sm,;et Union who are trying to establish new lives in the West.
In the case ofthe CEEF, Germany is contributing DM 200 million to the fund over the next four years, in equal annual
installments, beginning January 1, 1999.
We are awaiting a date for the next round of negotiations with the German govemment and hope to begin talks in the near
Mure. Again, the need for continued talks is urgent; as too many of us are well-aware, Holocaust sUNvors are dying ewry
day.
'
INSURANCE
Background
The Intemational Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence
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�Eagleburger, was established in October 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in conjunction with
several European insurance companies Qncluding Generali of Italy, Allianz of Germany, AXA of France, and Zurich and
Winterthur of Switzer1and), European regulators, representatives of several Jewish organizations uncluding the Claims
Conference) and the State of Israel.
The commission is charged with establishing a just process that will expeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance
policies issued to ~ctims ofthe Holocaust.
Issues
Some ofthe issues before the commission have been resolved; for instance, the panel has agreed on a complex formula
pegged to long-term government bonds for valuing policies from before World War II. This amounts to the face value of policies
multiplied by a factor of an average of 10, depending on the country in question. The Claims Conference, represented by its
treasurer, Moshe Sanbar of the Centre of Organizations of Holocaust SUMVOrs of Israel, argued that Holocaust SUMVOrs or
their heirs should be entitled to the "real value" ofthe policy; there should be no loss ofthe value of the policy as a result of
postwar currency devaluations.
The insurance companies did not accept this, arguing that SUNwrs should suffer the ravages of currency deValuations as all
other persons residing in Europe did. After a long and difficult battle on this issue within the commission, Eagleburger
'
eventually ruled largely in our fawr.
In addition, the insurance companies initially contended that the assets oftheir Eastern European subsidiaries and branches
were nationalized by the Communist govemments and thus the Communist govemments, not the companies, were liable to
Holocaust SUMVOrs and their heirs for these policies. The Claims Conference \1gorously argued that the companies were liable
to pay the beneficiaries regardless of nationalization.
'
The insurance companies and the Jewish representatives were deadlocked, and Eagleburger decided that Holocaust SUMVOrs
with nationalized policies would have to be paid at an adjusted real value.
In addition, the Claims Conference was one of the parties that successfully argued for the creation of a fast-hack mechanism
to compensate aging Holocaust SUNwrs and their families who have insurance policies, pending final assessments oftheir
claims.
The Insurance Commission intends to publish the lists of unpaid policies from the companies' archives. Upon publication,
Holocaust sUMVOrs and their heirs will be in a position to check whether family members held insurance policies with the
participating companies. The commission also will seek to overcome the difficulties of verification as a result of incomplete
company records by undertaking searches of independent external archives. Claims Conference Vice President Roman Kent,
of the American Gathering and a member of the Insurance Commission, has stressed the importance ofthe publication of lists
of names of unpaid policies.
However, the companies now participating in the negotiations only compose a portion ofthe prewar Europe,an insurance
market. Eagleburger also has contacted other insurance companies, including German insurance giant Munich Re, Dutch
insurer Aegon NV, Germany's Gerling Konzern and Swiss Ufe, to ask them to join the panel.
The Claims Conference is working with the insurance commissioners in New Yark, Califomia and Florida in pursuing
administrative and other methods available to them to encourage companies with local offices that are not currently members
ofthe commission to join its efforts
Current Status
The launch of the wor1dwide advertising campaign to inform potential claimants of the claims process is scheduled for January
31, 1999. The outreach program will pro~de a toll-free number with operators trained to assist potential claimants with forms.
In recognition of the devastation suffered by ~ctims of the Holocaust, the companies also have agreed to accept relaxed
standards of proof in the processing of claims.
W&dnuday. January 12. 2000
Amari.a Onlin&: Pr&2COmm
Page: 7
�More than 500 claims already have been sent to the insurance companies from the u.s. state insurance offices for processing
as part of the "fast track" mechanism. We are closely monitoring the processing of these claims. The commission also
continues to work out a resolution of the issue of heirless policies. Certain aspects of the relations hi p between the
commission and the German Foundation Initiative have yet to be determined.
AUSTRIA
Background
Through our Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria, we have recently intensified restitution and compensation efforts in that
country.
.
In addition, the Intemational Steering Committee on Restitution in Austria was established earlier this year. It comprises the
Federation of Jewish Communities in Austria, the Council for Jews From Austria in Israel, the American Council for Equal
Compensation of Nazi Victims from Austria, the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Congress. The Claims Conference
asked Ronald Lauder, former U.S. ambassador to Austria, to chair the Intemational Steering Committee.
Issues/Current Status
An amended settlement agreement was reached Nov. 1 as a direct result of the efforts ofthe Claims Conference. In January, a
U.S. federal court ruled it fair.
Initially, certain plaintiflS attorneys had signed an agreement with Bank AustrialCreditanstalt concerning its involvement in
aryanization and other wartime activities. The Claims Conference was strongly opposed to that settlement, because it was
unfair to Holocaust survivors in and from Austria and purported to release thousands of A u?tri an companies for liability for
aryanization and slave labor.
Bank Austria has now agreed to terms that include a statement of moral responsibility. The agreement also has been
amended so that 1,450 companies will not be released for liability for acts of aryanization and slave labor and so that
Holocaust victims' rights against slave labor companies are preserved.
In addition, the agreement establishes a supplemental humanitarian fund of $5 million to be allocated by the Claims
Conference to Jews in and from Austria.
Meanwhile, the International Steeling Committee on Restitution continues to press for its declaration of principles, which
include that all assets robbed between 1938 and 1945 be returned to the victims or their heirs.
Wednesday, January 12,2000
America Online! Pr8zcomm
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�Austria, which he.ld elections in October, has yet to fonn a new government. Once that occurs, the Claims Conferen~e will
hold discussions with its leaders.
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<DIV> <IDlY>
<DIY>Here is our latest update on
restitution negotiations. Please distribute it in any \vay you see fit. If you
have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. (I'm sending it as an
attachment as 'llell as within the text of this e-mail -- so be sure to seroll
doW! all the way to the end.) A fewofyou may receive it more than once
-- I'm using a few different e-mail distribution lists (I'm apologizing in
advance). <IDlY>
<DlY> <IDlY>
<DIY>Best, <IDlY>
<DIY> <IDlY>
<DlY> Alissa<IDIY>
<DlY> <IDlY>
<DIY>Alissa Kaplan
Director of Communications
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)
15 E. 26th St. Room 906
New York, N.Y. 10010
Tel: 212/696-4944 ext. 242
Fax: 212/696-9545
E-mail: alissak((llclaimscoll.org<
&It;
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CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS
Israel
AGAINST GERMANY 15 E 26th St. Room 906· NewYork,N.Y.IOOIO 212/696-4944
Miller, President
Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice
President
&Ilbsp;
&Ilbsp;
SPECIAL UPDATE
ON RESTITUTION
NEGOTIATIONS
.
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&nbi p;<DIR><DIR>
SLAVE LABOR<!DIR><!DIR>
&nbip;&nbip;&nbip; &nbip;&nbipi&nblpi &nbip;&nbip;&nbip;&nblp;&nbip;&nbip; &nblp;&nbip;&nbip;
&nbip;&nbip;&nbip; &nblp;&nblp;&nblp; Background<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Gennany has been an instrumental player iii the series of slave labor talks that
recently culminated in a framework agreement ofDM 10 billion (about $5.2 million).
Other parties to the talks include the US., Israeli and Gennan governments, five Eas tern European governments (Russia, Poland,
Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic), plaintiffsRl7; lawyers as well as a group ofGennan companies and banks.
In February 1999, about a dozen prominent German firms, including DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens, together with
Deutsche and Dresdner banks, agreed to create a foundation to compensate former slave and forced laborers who worked for Gennan
industrial enterprises. Since that time, other companies have pledged to join the fund, bringing the total number of German firms and
banks to about 75. The negotiations have been co-hosted by US. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat and Count Otto
Lambsdorff of Gennany .
Our negotiating committee is primarily made up ofHolocaust survivors and is chaired by Claims Conference Vice President Israel Singer,
who also is one of the leaders of the World Jewish Congress. The committee includes Claims Conference directors Roman Kent and
Benjamin Meed ofthe American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Noach Flug ofthe Centre of Organizations of Holocaust
Survivors in Israel and Ben Helfgott from the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Also on the committee are Saul Kagan, Karl Brozik and Gideon Taylor. Claims Conference President Israel Miller serves as an ex-officio
member. <lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR>
&nbl p;&nbl p;&nbi p; &nbl p;&nbl p;&nbl Pi &nbl p;&nblp;&nblPi &nbl Pi&nblpi&nbl Pi &nbl p;&nblp;&nbl p;
&nbl p;&nbl p;&nbl p; &nbl Pi&nbl p;&nbl p; &nblp;&nbl Pi&nblpi &nbip;&nblp;&nblPi Major Iss ues<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
A number of important issues were dealt with during these talks.
Some of the most important:<lDIR><IDIR><IDIR><IDIR><UL> <LI> Moral Nature of
Issue<lLI><IUL><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The slave labor negotiations ultimately are a moral matter. No amount of compensation can ever make up for the atrocities of the Third
Reich. We insisted that part ofthe settlement be an appropriate acknowledgment of the responsibility of Gennan industry for the
morally unjustifiable use of slave labor during the Second World War.
<lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><UL> <LI>Slave Labor vs. Forced
Labor<ILI><IUL><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
All parties to the negotiations now accept the essential distinction between slave labor and forced labor, and a working group was
formed specifically to address this issue. The conditions of slave laborers, who were "worked to death," were fundamentally different
than others who were forced to work The Claims Conference is insisting that the structure of the compensation plan reflect this
distinction. <lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><IDIR><lDIR><lDIR><UL> <LI>Banking Claim<lLI><IUI><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The Gennan Foundation Initiative must also include a component that specifically addresses the wrongs committed by the banking
industry. The banking industry must accept moral responsibility for its active participation in the aryanization of Jewish assets. As the
officiall94D Report of the US. military government of Gennany indicates, the three largest Gennan banks often bought Jewish property,
businesses and securities at below market price for their own account and otherwise profited from aryanization through the provision of
loans and receipt of commissions, brokerage fees, etc. The basic moral principle of all restitution is that the parties that engaged in
and/or profited from unconscionable acts are not entitled to retain such profits. Therefore, the banks are required to divest the profits
that resulted from their active participation in this program <lDIR><lDIR><lDIR><lDIR>
Current Status<lDIR><IDIR>
<Dr R><D1 R><Dr R><D1 R>
All parties to the slave and forced labor negotiations in mid-December reached a framework agreement of DM 10 billion (about $5.2
billion) that will be provided by the Gemlan foundation. The Gennan government and Gennan industry will provide the funding for the
following areas: slave labor, forced labor; banking/aryanization; insurance; special hardship fund; and future fund. In addition, some
American fums that did business in Gennany will contribute.
Representatives of the Claims Conference met with Gennan President Johannes Rau concerning the inclusion of a statement of moral
responsibility with any settlement. Rau’s announcement of the framework of the agreetrent was accompanied by a powerful
statement. "I know that for many [survivors] it is not really money that matters. What they want is for their suffering to be recognized as
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�suffering and for the injustice done to them to be named injustice," he said in his statement "I pay tribute to all those who were
su~ectedto slave labor under German rule and, in the name of the German people, beg forgh-eness. We will notforgettheir
s uttering."
In February, a series of meetings will take place in Washington, D.c., to deal with allocations and other outstanding issues surrounding
the pact, which needs to be fmalized. At that time, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany will press the case for
Jewish slave and forced laborers as well as for adequate compensation for a!},anization. The status of insurance companies needs
clarification in connection with the initiative as well as with the International Commission on Holocaust:Era Insurance Claims.
The initiative still needs the approval of the German Parliament.
The parties to the negotiations, including the Claims Conference, continue to fmalize a claims process. When this process is determined,
it will be widely publicized. When announcing the agreement in Berlin, Deputy Treasu!}' Secreta!}, Stuart Eizenstat, who also publicly
acknowledged the special role of the Claims Conference, said it may take up to a year before payments are made.
.
&n.hsp;
<lDlR><lDIR>
Hard! hip fundi Article 2 fundiCeEF
Background
Hardship Fund
Reaches 200,000 Mark<DlR><DIR>
The Claims Conference is pleased to announce that a total of more than 200,000 payments have been made to survivors under the
Hardship Fund. In 1980, the Claims Conference reached an agreement with the German federal government for the establishment of a
special hardship fund primarily for compensation in the form of a one-time payment to the Holocaust survivors who left Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union after the expiration date ofthe filing periods under the original Getman Federal Indemnification Law (BEG). The
Claims Conference administers the Hardship Fund.
Article 2 Fund
We entered into talks in 19~ with the newly unified Germany that focused on new compensation measures for the benefit ofHolocaust
survivors who previously received no or only minimal compensation. As a result of this effort and the strong support ofthe US. State
Department, we concluded an agreement with the German federal government to establish the Article 2 Fund, which provides pensions
for survivors meeting the agreed-upon eligibility criteria. Between the years 1995 and 1998, the Claims Conference, which administers the
fund, paid out in excess ofDM 1.5 billion to Holocaust survivors. A total of about 50,000 payments have been made to survivors under
the Article 2 Fund. <lDIR></DIR>
Central and Eastern European Fund<DIR><DlR>
In 1998, the Claims Conference was instrumental in the creation of the Central and Eastern European Fund, known as the CEEF. This
fund entitles some of the most persecuted Nazi victims in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe to compensation for
the flfSt time. It helps survivors whose living conditions are much different than in Western Europe, Israel and the United States. We
have set up a liaison desk in nearly eve!}' count!}' covered by the CEEF. Under the CEEF, about 18,000 survivors will benefit. Thus far,
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�about half have received payments. <lDIR><lDIR><JDIR><lDIR>
Is s ues<DIR><DIR><DIR><DJR;>
With all these funds, the Claims Conference con tinually presses for the lIberalization of eligibility criteria.
For example, concerning the Article 2 Fund, we are arguing for the inclusion of Holocaust survivors
who:</DIR><IDIR><IDJR;></DIR><UL> <DJR;> <DJR;> <Ul> <LI>were in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps
not currently recognized as such by Gennany; <U>lived under false identity, while older than 18; <LI>were subjected to
persecution for periods of time less than currently stipulated; <LI>were confmed in open ghettos; <U>have income in excess of
the current income ceiling; or . <LI>were Western Europeans at the time of persecution and have not received
compensation under
programs from their native countries. <lLI><IUl></DIR></DIR><IUl><DJR;><DIR><DJR;><DJR;>
In addition, we are pressing for cost of living adjustments and increased funding for one-time payments.</DJR;></DJR;></DIR><IDIR>
Current Status
<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
After a recent series of intense negotiations, the Claims Conference was able to increase significantly the numbers of Holocaust
survivors able to qualifY for pensions. Until these talks, eligibility was restricted to those survivors who met all fund criteria and whose
income in the United States, for instance, was not greater than $16,000 for a single individual or $21,000 for a married couple. We
successfully pressed for the liberalization of these limits as of January I, 1999, with the exclusion of Social Security payment in the
computation of annual income for persons who are age 70 and older and who meet all other fund criteria.
Also as of January I, as a result of Claims Conference efforts, additional groups of survivors were declared eligible for the Article 2
Fund, including those incarcerated in special camps in Austria for Jews, forced labor camps on the Austro-Hungarian border ortheBor
copper mines, as well as survivors of forced military labor battalions for Hungarian Jews on the Ukrainian front.
Concerning the Hardship Fund, a substantial increase in funding will help to diminish the backlog of cases, most of which involve
elderly survivors from the former Soviet Union who are trying to establish new lives in the West.
In the case ofthe CEEF, Germany is contributing DM 200 million to the fund over the next four years, in equal annual instalhnents,
beginning January 1,1999.
We are awaiting a date for the next round ofnegotiations with the German government and hope to begin talks in the near future. Again,
the need for continued talks is urgent; as too many of us are well-aware, Holocaust survivors are dying every day.
</DJR;><lDIR><IDJR;></DJR;>
INS URANCE<DJR;><DJR;>
Background<DJR;><DJR;>
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, was
established in October 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in conjunction with several European insurance
companies (including Generali of Italy, Allianz of Gennany, AXA of France, and Zurich and Winterthur of Switzerland), European
regulators, representatives of several Jewish organizations (including the Claims Conference) and the State of IsraeL
The commission is charged with establishing a just process that will expeditiously address the issue ofunpaid insurance policies issued
to victims of the Holocaust. </DIR;></DIR;></DJR;></DJR;>
Iss ues<DIR><DJR;><DJR;><DJR;>
Some ofthe issues before the commission have been resolved; for instance, the panel has agreed on a complexforrnula pegged to long
term government bonds for valuing policies from before World War II. This amounts to the face value of policies multiplied by a factor
of an average of 10, depending on the country in question. The Claims Conference, represented by its treasurer, Moshe Sanbar of the
Centre of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors ofIsrael, argued that Holocaust survivors or their heirs should be entitled to the "real
value" ofthe policy; there should be no loss of the value of the policy as a result of postwar currency devaluations.
The msurance companies did not accept this, arguing that survivors should suffer the ravages of currency devaluations as all other
persons residing in Europe did. After a long and difficult battle on this issue within the commission, Eagleburger eventually ruled
largely in our favor.
In addition, the insurance companies initially contended that the assets of their Eastern European subsidiaries and branches were
nationalized by the Communist governments and thus the Communist governments, not the companies, were liable to Holocaust
survivors and their heirs for these policies. The Claims Conference vigorously argued that the companies were liable to pay the
beneficiaries regardless of nationalization.
The insurance companies and the Jewish representatives were deadlocked, and Eagleburger decided that Holocaust survivors with
nationalized policies would have to be paid at an adjusted real value.
In addition, the Claims Conference was one of the parties that successfully argued for the creation of a fast-track mechanism to
compensate aging Holocaust survivors and their families who have insurance policies, pending fmal assessments of their claims.
The Insurance Commission intends to publish the lists of unpaid policies from the compan ies R 17; archives. Upon publication,
Holocaust survivors and their heirs will be in a position to check whether family members held insurance policies with the participating
companies. The commission also will seek to overcome the difficulties of verification as a result of incomplete company records by
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�'Q
•
undertaking searches of independent external archives. Claim,> Conference Vice President Roma:n Kent, of the American Gathering and a
member of the Insurance Commission, has stressed the importance of the publication of lists of names of unpaid policies.
However, the companies now participating in the negotiations only compose a portion of the prewar European insurance market.
Eagleburger also has contacted other insurance companies, including Gennan insurance giant Munich Re, Dutch insurer Aegon NY,
Gennany ’s Gerling Konzern and Swiss Life, to ask them to join the panel.
The Claims Conference is working with the insurance commissioners in New York, California and Florida in pursuing administrative and
other methods available to them to encourage companies with local offices that are not currently members of the commission to join its
effo rts <lDlR><lDlR><lDlR><lDlR>
Current Status
<DIR><DIR><DIR><DIR>
The launch ofthe worldwide advertising campaign to inforrnpotential claimants ofthe claims process is scheduled for January 31, 1999.
The outreach program will provide a to U-free number with operators tramed to assist potential claimants with forms.
In recognition ofthe devastation suffered by victims of the Holocaust, the companies also have agreed to accept relaxed standards of
proof in the processing of claims.
More than 500 claims already have been sent to the insurance companies from the US. state insurance offices for processing as part of
the "fast track" mechanism We are closely monitoring the processing of these claims. The commission also continues to work out a
resolution ofthe issue of heirless policies. Certain aspects of the relationship between the commission and the German Foundation
.
Initiative have yet to be determined.
<!DIR><IDIR></DIR><!DIR>
AUSTRIA<DIR><DIR>
Background<DIR><DIR>
Through our Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria, we have recently intensified restitution and compensation efforts in that country.
In addition, the International Steering Committee on Restitution in Austria was established earlier this year. It comprises the Federation
ofJewish Communities in Austria, the Council for Jews From Austria in Israel, the American Council for Equal Compensation of Nazi
Victims from Austria, the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Congress. The Claims Conference asked Ronald Lauder, former US.
ambassador to Austria, to chair the International Steering Committee. <lDlR><lDIR><IDIR><IDlR>
Issues/CurrentStatus<DlR><DlR><DIR><DlR>
An amended settlement agreement was reached Nov. I as a direct result ofthe efforts of the Claims Conference. In January, a US.
federal court ruled it fair.
Initially, certain plaintiffs attorneys had signed an agreement with Bank Austria/Creditanstalt concerning its involvement in ary anization
and other wartime activities. The Claims Conference was strongly opposed to that settlement, because it was unfair to Holocaust
survivors in anq from Austria and pU1ported to release thousands of Austrian companies for liability for aryanization and slave labor.
Bank Austria has now agreed to terms that include a statement of moral responsibility. The agreement also has been amended so that
1,450 companies will not be released for liability for acts of aryanization and slave labor and so that Holocaust victims’ rights
against slave labor companies are preserved.
In addition, the agreement establishes a supplemental humanitarian fund of$5 million to be allocated by the Claims Conference to Jews
in and from Austria.
Meanwhile, the International Steering Committee on Restitution continues to press for its declaration of principles, which include that all
assets robbed between 1938 and 1945 be returned to the victims or their heirs.
Austria, which held elections in October, has yet to form a new government. Once that occurs, the Claims Conference will hold
discussions with its leaders.
<lDlR><lDlR><lDlR><lDIR>
<IDlY>
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From: "Alissa Kaplan" <alissak@claimscon.org>
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Subject: claims conference negotiations update
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�RE: confinnation
Subj:
1/11/0010:01:17 AM Eastern Standard Time
Date:
From: Herbits1
To: Prezcomm
ok. i'li be there.
't·,.
".4 ..
I·
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RE: New State Deparbnent Records
Date: 1/11/00·9:09:59 AM Eastem Standard lime
From: kklothen@PCHA.GOV (Ken Klothen)
To: james.bradsher@arch2.nara.gov (Greg Bradsher'), ira.kirshenbaum@arch2.nara.gov
CC: prezcomm@aol.com, da'..1d.vantassel@arch2.nara.gov, dick.myers@arch2.nara.gov, mike.kurtz@arch2.nara.gov,
steve.hamilton@arch2.nara.gov, william.cunliffe@arch2.nara.gov, gsofer@PCHA.GOV (Gene Sofer), kklothen@PCHA.GOV
(Ken K l o t h e n ) ·
.
Thanks, Greg. The Commission does indeed want to look at any such
records. Can you coordinate with Marc Masurovsky on this?
Kenneth Klothen
Executive Director
Presidential Ad\Asory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
-Original Message-
From: Greg Bradsher [mailto:james.bradsher@arch2.nara.goVJ
Sent: Tuesday, January 11,20007:12 AM
To: ira.kirshenbaum@arch2.nara.gov
Cc: Prezcomm@aol.com; da\Ad.vantassel@arch2.nara.gov;
dick.myers@arch2.nara.gov; mike.kurtz@arch2.nara.gov;
steve.hamilton@arch2.nara.gov; william.cunliffe@arch2.nara.gov;
gsofer@pcha.gov; kklothen@pcha.gov
Subject: Re: New State Department Records
Ira, Let's talk about these records. I would like to take aJook. We
were led to believe they related to the Swiss settlement of 1946. But
in any case the Presidentail Ad'..1sory Commission on US Holocaust Assets
will defintely want to look at them. Please see me as soon as possible
so we can talk about the records and I can take a look. Thanks. Greg
»> Ira Kirshenbaum 01/10/00 05:36PM >>>
Hi Greg,
I just went through the fi rst box and a half of the 5 feet of State
Dept. records. Bad news for anybody hoping for e'..1dence of Nazi war
crimes. So far all I've found is records relating to claims against the
US for property seized under the Trading With the Enemy Act!!!
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�Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
002. email
DATE
SUBJECTffITLE
Gene Sofer to Marc Masurovsky; re: Robert Skwirot (2 pages)
01110/2000
RESTRICTION
P61b(6)
This nlarker identifies the original location of the withdrawn item listed above.
For a complete list of items withdrawn from this folder, see the
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet at the front of the folder.
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
Art & Cultural Property Theft
OA/Box Number: 40417
FOLDER TITLE:
[Email Correspondence of Commission Researchers] [6]
jp91
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)[
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)[
National Security Classified Information [(a)(I) of the PRA]
Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
Release would disclose trade-secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA[
P5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
P6 Release would constitute a Clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA[
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an agency l(b)(2) of the FOIAI
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information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
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purposes l(b)(7) of the FOIAI
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b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells l(b)(9) of the FOIA]
PI
P2
P3
P4
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.c.
2201 (3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�Subj:
Happy New.••
Date: 12130/99 1:31 :56 PM Eastern Standard lime
From: Akinsha@email.msn.com (Konstantin Akinsha)
To: prezcomm@aoLcom
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Happy New Year, Century, Millennium!
Yours,
Konstantin Akinsha.
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�Subj:
12129/99 Holocaust Assets Clips
Date: 12129/9911:27:51 AM Eastem Standard lime
From: sloeser@PCHA.GOV (Stu Loeser)
CC: kpage@PCHA.GOV (Katherine Page)
HiNot included in today's Holocaust Assets clips is Holman W. Jenkins
Jr.'s Op-Ed in today's Wall Street Joumal (page A 15 of my copy) "Nazi
Slavery and the Politics of Business." Excerpt: "The $5 billion
settlement is a negligible addition to the cost of rebuilding Berlin,
but it serves the same purpose, to clear the way for Germany's
reassertion of it's power." (Said clip in not included because ofthe
Journal's unique policy of charging even daily print subscribers for
online content _and_ only putting abstracts on Lexis.) Please let me
.
know if you'd like me to fax you a copy.
Also, please note that I will be on leave from the Presidential
Commission for the month of January. In my absence, my colleague (and
fellow grasshopper) Katherine Page (kpage@pcha.gov) will prepare and
disseminate the clips. If, for some reason, you are lost in transition,
please email her.
And, now, on to the news:
Toronto Star - Opinion Dark shadows of German industrY
Continuing Konrad Kalejs Coverage from the London Evening Standard, the
BBC, Haaretz, and The Independent
US Holocaust Memorial Museum Teaches Police Moral Lessons
I will be in the office through tomorrow evening and should be reachable
for the duration at stuJoeser@hotmail.com.
Stu
*****************************************************************
December 29, 1999·
Toronto Star - Opinion
Dark shadows of German industry
Many firms didn't just use slave labour. They actually financed Adolf
Hitler's rise to power and were involved in plundering
By Harry Sterling
How much should it cost to silence survivors of Nazi slave labour camps?
Exactly $5.2 billion (U.S.)," according to the German government and
approximately 60 German· firms who've agreed to compensate about 2
million survivors of slave labour camps for their suffering endured
during World War II.
Putting aside the moral issues inwlved, most German firms implicated in
the slave labour issue ob~ously regarded the settlement as tolerable
from a purely business standpoint, since it ends the threat of an
extremely embarrassing boycott of such companies' products in the United
States.
German authorities claimed compensation demand was unrealistic
However, German authorities had initially claimed the compensation
demanded was unrealistic, even excessive, offering instead only $3.3
billion. The attitude seemed to be that just because millions of
Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, French and others - Jews and Christians
were enslaved to work for German industry under the Nazis didn't mean
they should expect present-day German taxpayers to compensate them for
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�their years of suffering and degradation.
According to Germany's negotiator, Count Otto Graf Lambsdorff, pro~ding
more money would be difficult at a time when German citizens "are '
suffering cutbacks in social seMces and other financial problems."
But with such major companies as Bayer Pharmaceutical, Siemens, Daimler
and Ford Motors Germany confronting what was becoming a public relations
nightmare, they finally begrudgingly agreed to $5.2 billion.
Although the controversy centred on the reluctance to give slave
labourers appropriate compensation, there was also another issue lurking
in the background: Many German firms didn't just use slave labour, they
actuallY'financed Adolf Hitler's rise to power and were deeply involved
in the Nazis' plundering and looting of countries invaded by the Third
Reich.
In fact, after Hitler's accession to power in 1933 (with 44 per cent of
the \,Ute) his main fundraiser was Gustav Krupp, head ofthe giant Krupp
steelworks. He diligently brought other industrialists onboard,
including I.G. Farben, then one ofthe world's largest conglomerates.
Krupp willingly became chairman ofthe Adolf Hitler Fund, which helped
finance the National Socialists' needs, including salaries ofthe
half-million strong Nazi storm troopers and black-shirted special police
force, Schutzstaffel or SS. He also pushed through a system whereby
firms, including banks, contributed - some under duress - a fixed
percentage of marks to the fund.
Many industrialists understandably saw Hitler as an ally against the
spread of Marxist parties and unions. They were prepared to overlook his
anti-Semitism and racist ~ews - as did Britain's King Edward VIII and
the U.S.'s Henry Ford - since they represented no danger to their own
interests.
Some present-day German firms benefited from Hitler's economic measures
against Jewish businesses. Hitler's backers took over the country's
Jewish-owned newspapers and publishing houses, along with the largest
department stores and other retail firms, often paying less than 10 per
cent oftrue value. For a cash-strapped government, confiscating the
wealth of Jews increased revenue.
Representatives of industrial firms actually accompanied German forces .
as they swept across central and eastern Europe; carting off entire
plants or participating in their requisition by German occupation
authorities, putting them at the disposalofthe German war effort. I.G .
. Farben took over So~et rubber and chemical plants. German steel makers
wanted the iron ore and coal mines of Russia's Donets Basin. Other firms
wanted the oil from the Caucasus.
While some German executives opposed such blatant plundering, others
were eager to seek special concessions. In Poland, i'n addition to
factories and firms seized without compensation to their owners, the
Nazis also confiscated hundreds ofthousands of homes and farms,
expelling their occupants. German business groups supporting Hitler were
the ultimate beneficiaries.
For pro-Nazi German industrialists, Hitler's war was a business
proposition. They were p'articular1y keen to take advantage of slave
labourers, most of whom were "purchased" from the Gestapo, who ran the
concentration camps. So eager was I.G. Farben to use cheap slave
labourers, it established separate work camps with its own guards. (The
son of Gustav Krupp, Aimed, even organized "slave raiding"
operations in occupied territories.)
Such German firms made little effort to improve the li~ng conditions of
their slave workers, jammed into squalid barracks with appallingly
unsanitary conditions and grossly inadequate .food rations. Hundreds of
Wedneeday, December 29,1999
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�.'
thousands were literally worked to death, (One Nazi study estimated
Jewish prisoners could live approximately three months from their own
accumulated body fat before finally succumbing.)
LG. Farben designed ovens and developed Cyklon B gas
But such prisoners were the "lucky" ones.
Those who were unfit for work were quickly exterminated at death camps,
such as Auschwitz, using Cyklon B gas (crystallized prussic acid),
developed by LG. Farben. Once stripped of any gold fillings, corpses
were incinerated in massive ovens especially designed by LG. Farben.
(The company was split up by Allied occupation authorities after 1945.)
Some would like to close the door on such horrors from half a century
ago.
But the determination of slave labour prisoners to obtain justice is a
reminder that the ghosts of the past can continue to haunt the present.
Harry Ster1ing is a former Canadian diplomat who now lives in Ottawa.
************************************************************************
***********************************
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/newS/story.html?in_review_id=24043
7 &in_review_textjd= 188807
London Evening Standard
Straw under fire over Nazi suspect
«
»
by Hugh Muir
Jack Straw today faced mounting pressure to explain why alleged Nazi war
criminal Konrad Kalejs, who has been implicated in the murder of 30,000
Jews, was allowed into Britain.
As police officers stood guard around Kalejs's room at Catthorpe Manor
retirement home, near Rugby, Nazi hunt campaigners and union officials
questioned Britain's arrangements for detecting the movements of war
crimes suspects.
Kalejs, now 86, is said to have taken part in atrocities in his native
Latvia during the Second Wor1d War. He came to Britain last year after
being deported from th~ US and Canada. Campaigners say he should face
trial in Latvia.
The Home Office said it does have a "watch list" of undesirables who
should be denied entry but admitted Kalejs was not on it. It was also
forced to deny union claims that people who should be barred are able to
enter because customs staff are too busy dealing with asylum seekers.
************************************************************************
**********************************
BBC News Online:
http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/low/english/uk/newsid_581000/581639.stm
Straw under mounting pressure to explain why an alleged Nazi war
criminal was allowed into Britain
.
Wednesday, 29 December, 1999, 14:26 GMT
Police examine 'Nazi' war record
Police investigating claims that a man li'..1ng in a British nursing home
is a Nazi war criminal are preparing to examine evidence of his alleged
wartime acti'..1ties.
The move comes as the Home Office admits it is powerless to stop Konrad
Kalejsfrom lea'..1ng the country if he wishes.
Wednesday, December 29,1999
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�The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which brought the allegations to the
attention of police in the UK, is sending its dossier on Mr Kalejs to
Leicestershire police at their request:
Mr Kalejs, who is currently li..nng in a nursing home in Lutterworth,
Leicestershire, is alleged to have taken part in the murder of thousands
of Jews in his nati~'Lat\t1a during World War II.
He is thought to ha~ arrived in the UK 18 months ago after being
deported from both the US and Canada.
The Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which is dedictated to
hunting Holocaust war criminals, said it feared Mr Kalesj may try to
leave the UK if faced with prosecution.
A Home Office spokesman confirmed that under present law there was
little to stop him lea..nng.
Police guard
"There is no extradition warrant, no arrest warrant and no court order
against him, so, yes, that would mean there is no way we could stop him
lea..nng," he said.
Two uniformed police officers remain at the entrance to Catthorpe Manor.
Home Secretary Jack Straw is under mounting pressure to explain why an
alleged Nazi war criminal was allowed into Britain.
Campaigners say he should be sent back to Lat'o.1a to face trial.
But there is concern about Lat'o.1a's attitude to prosecuting pro-Nazi
collaborators .
The Lat\t1an ambassador to the UK, Normans Penker, told BBC Radio 4's
Today programme no such prosecutions had taken place in independent
Lat\t1a.
He said any legal move would "depend very much on the file we can
gather" on Mr Kalejs.
?
"So far there are not enough charges to allege anything in any ofthe
countries whether in the US, Canada or Australia," said Mr Penker.
Six months' grace
There is no automatic, international system to flag up indi..nduals who
ha~ been deported pre'o.1ously from other countries - unlike in the US,
which operates a Watch List system.'
The Home Office said an Australian passport holder - after the war, Mr
Kalejs became an Australian citizen - on a ..nsit to Britain would be
allowed to stay for six months.
On arrival, such a ..nsitor would be asked to declare that there was no
reason why he should be refused entry.
Wednesday, December 29,1999
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�Mr Kalejs, now 86, is alleged to have been an officer in the Latvian
Auxiliary Security Police, which collaborated with the Nazis in
anti-Jewish and anti-gypsy pogroms.
Nazi-hunters say at least 30,000 Jews and other minorities were murdered
by the force, led by Viktors Arajs, who was jailed for life in Hamburg
in 1979 for war crimes including murder.
Mr Kalejs is also alleged to have worked as a guard at the Salaspils
concentration camp near the Latvian capital, Riga, .where other murders
were committed.
He has always denied the accusations, and says he was a student during
the war.
Mr Kalejs moved to Australia after the war, where he obtained
citizenship in 1957.
He then moved to the US, but was deported in 1994 after legal action was
taken against him.
'Insufficient evidence'
He subsequently moved to Canada, where he lived for three years before
an investigation into his past and deportation back to Australia in
August 1997.
The focus of much media attention there, he escaped conviction last year
when a court considered the evidence against him insufficient.
He is thought to have left the country in July 1998 and moved to England
with his common-law wife.
The 1991 War Crimes Act permits prosecution of suspects on charges
alleging crimes committed outside of Britain.
The first trial under the Act was held in March this year.
Retired British Rail worker Anthony Sawoniuk was sentenced to life in
prison for murdering Jews while serving as a policeman in Nazi-occupied
Belarus .
••w•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• *.*.**•••••**
http://www.haaretzdaily.comlhtmls/kat3J.asp
Source: Haaretz
Wednesday, December 29, 1999
UK is pressured to prosecute alleged Nazi
By Vikram Dodd
LONDON - Nazi hunters last night demanded that British police
investigate a suspected war criminal who has entered the country and is
alleged to have been involved in the murder of 30,000 people during
World War II.
Konrad Kalejs is believed to have come to Britain this summer and to be
living in Rugby, having been deported by the United States and forced to
leave Canada because of his alleged involvement in war crimes.
Wednesday, December 29,1999
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�A U.S. court branded him a "key officer" in the murder ofthousands of
Jews in the Baltic state of LaMa. E'idence seen by British daily The
Guardian and gathered by the U.S. Justice Department implicates Kalejs
in atrocities while he allegedly selVed as a member of a Lat'ian death
squad that collaborated with the Nazis after they invaded the country.
Yesterday Warwickshire police were considering a demand trom the Simon
WiesenthalCenter, which tracks Nazi war criminals and collaborators, to
prosecute the 86-year-old Kalejs or deport him. Any charges would
re-ignite the debate over whether aging war criminals should be
prosecuted for crimes committed more than 50 years ago.
Immigration officials in Britain were set to investigate whether Kalejs,
an Australian citizen, entered the country illegally;
Kalejs was joint second-in-command in the Lat\Aan security auxiliary
police, known as the Arajs Kommando. It was headed by Victor Arajs, who
was sentenced to life for war crimes after being tried in Germany ..
Kalejs selVed at the Salaspils concentration camp outside Riga, where
Jews and political prisoners were executed or died due to appalling
conditions.
After the war Kalejs gained Australian citizenship before mo'ing to the
United States in 1959.
There he made a fortune, but in 1984 the U.S. started deportation
proceedings against him. After a lengthy battle, he was expelled when
documented e'idence emerged of his wartime past. Upon his entry to the
United States, he had claimed to have been a farmhand during the war.
After being deported, Kalejs returned to Australia before being
discovered in 1997 in Canada, which deported him.
Eli Rosenbaum who led the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into
Kalejs, told the Guardian: "The e'idence we presented in court was
documentary e\Adence that he was in the Arajs Kommando, a mobile killing
unit, andwe presented testimonies of people who selVed with him who
implicate him in atrocities."
Etraim Zuroff ofthe Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem claimed Kalejs
was one of the worst war criminals still at large. In his letter to
police he wrote: "We believe that Kalejs does not deserve the pri'ilege
of residing in the United Kingdom, given his active seMce as an
officer in a unit which murdered tens of thousands of innocent men,
women and children."
The U.S. Justice Department has gathered e'idence that implicates Kalejs
in massacres by 'ictims and his fellow soldiers.
Private Rudolf Soms testified that in 1942, Kalejs led a company that.
"exterminated" gypsies in a 'illage near Zabolyte, on LaMa's eastern
tront, before razing it to the ground. A month later another \Allage,
Sanniki, was burned to the ground and inhabitants in its central section
killed.
***********************************************************
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/This_Britain/nazi291299.shtml
W~dnesdaY. December 29. 1999
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�Source: The Independent
British police to get files on 'Nazi death camp chief
By Paul Lashmar
29 December 1999
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre,the organisation which tracks down alleged
Nazi war criminals, said it is sending files to British police on Konrad
Kalejs, aged 86, who is li"';ng in a Leicestershire old peoples home and
is said to haw been implicated in the murder of 30,000 Jews in Lat..na
in the Second World War.
The documents are beliewd to contain information about the period when
Mr Kalejs was a supervisor at the Salaspils concentration camp in
Lat..na, where prisoners were starwd, tortured and executed.
Dr Eftaim Zuroff, firom the centre, said there had already been contact
with the Leicestershire police and he would be faxing up to 20 witness
statements to detectives.
Mr Kalejs is believed to have arrived in Britain with his common law
wife in the summer firom Australia, where Jewish groups had demanded his
arrest. He was a lieutenant in the notorious Lat..Aan Arajs Kommano
security force, which operated as a murder squad. He fled firom Europe at
the end ofthe war and became an Australian citizen in 1957.
It is also claimed that he was the second in command of a concentration
camp near Riga in which children were systematically murdered. Mr Kalejs
has always denied the charges.
Nazi hunters tracked him down to a retirement home for Lat1Aan
pensioners called Catthorpe Manor in the "';lIage of Catthorpe near
Rugby.
Although staff at the red~brick mansion refused to comment on whether Mr
Kalejs was there, residents were more forthcoming. "He arriwd with his
wife a few months ago but they left after a short while, said one
elderly female resident. "But then he retumed alone ... and is still
here." It is understood his .wife has returned to America.
Even by the standards of Eastem Europe during the Second World War, the
Arajs Commando were exceptionally brutal. In the US, Private Rudolf Soms
testified that in February 1942, the company exterminated gypsies in a
"';lIage near Zabolyte close to Lat..na's eastern border.
.
A month later it destroyed the Lat..nan town of Sanniki and surrounding
.,,;IIages , killing the ci1Alian population, according to Mr Soms.
After the war, Mr Kalejs emigrated to Australia, posing as a refugee, it
is alleged. In 1959, he mowd to Florida, where he lived for more than
30 years. His US entry form states that he had been a farm labourer
during the war. In recent years, he has been deported firom both the US
and Canada over his alleged war crimes.
In a 1993 opinion, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago
described him as a company commander in a pro-Nazi unit that killed
thousands at the Salaspils labour camp. He was deported firom the US in
1994 and went back to Australia but faced renewed pressure there firom
Jewish groups who wanted him prosecuted ..
The chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, the former Labour MP
Lord Janner of Braunstone, said he would ask Jack Straw, the Home
Secretary, to investigate the allegations against Mr Kalejs. If there is
sufficient e1Adence, Mr Kalejs should be prosecuted under war crimes
legislation, he said. But iftherewas not enough e1Adence for a
prosecution, the Govemment should follow the example of the US and
Canada and deport him. "They only do that if they are sufficiently
satisfied that a person is guilty of war crimes. They don't want him in
their country. Ifthat is correct, we don't want him in our country
If
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�either." Lord Janner said.
Immigration officials are in~stigating whether Mr Kalejs, who has an
Australian passport, entered this country legally. Under British law,
people suspected of war crimes abroad can be tried here. Scotland Yard's
war crimes unit only achie~d one successful prosecution. Anthony
Sawoniuk, 78, was jailed for life after an Old Bailey trial for
murdering Jews in Nazi-occupied Belarus.
The court heard that he murdered two Jewish men and a woman, and also
ordered 15 Jewish women to strip and face an open gra~ before
machine-gunning them.
**********************************************
http://www.apbnews.com!cj professionals/behi ndthebadge/1999/ 12128/h616cau
st1228_01.html
Holocaust Museum Teaches Police Moral Lessons
New Recruits Discuss Limits of Obedience
Dec. 28, 1999
By James Goi"don Meek
WASHINGTON (APBnews.com) - It's tough to second-guess life or death
decisions made by police officers on the street. But when the police
were Nazis and the decisions they made often favored death o~r life,
reconsidering their actions 60 years latercan teach today's officerS
valuable lessons.
That is why some local law enforcement agencies are sending new recruits
to the Holocaust Museum to learn how police officers in Nazi Germany
assisted in the annihilation ofthose deemed racially impure. Twelve
million Jews, Gypsies, the mentally ill and others were slain between
1933-1945 in Germany's effort to purge Europe of non-Aryans;
In the 1920s, members of Adolf Hitler's emerging National Socialist
(Nazi) Party battled with police and were arrested. Their leader himself
spent time in prison.
But as Hitler and his party became more powerful in the early 1930s, the
police aided the Nazis in their persecution ofthe unwanted. In 1933,
Hitler became chancellor of Germany, and the country began adopti ng
anti-Semitic laws.
From racial profiling to concentration camps?
"In the early stages of the Holocaust, Hitler used the ci~lian police
'to start classifying the public; and to segregate cities and'
neighborhoods," said Anne Arundel County, Md., Police Chief P. Thomas
Shanahan.
In Nazi Germany, the police eroded ci~lliberties and rights, Shanahan
said. "And as we do that in this country - by racial profiling, for
instance - what could it lead to?"
Shanahan approached the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and,
asked for help educating new recruits on the bitter history of the Nazi
era.
Earlier this month, a class of 21 trainees at the Anne -Arundel County
police academy toured the museum and learned about the rise ofthe Nazi
Party and the Holocaust from expert educators. The new program is
cosponsored by the Anti-Defamation League (.A:DL) and was first conc~ived
by District of Columbia. Police Chief Charles Ramsey.
The museum, designed by Holocaust sur,,;\,Qr James Ingo Freed, is
considered a masterpiece of architecture that compels \1sitors to travel
through shadowy metal-plated conidors strewn with artifacts ofthe
"thousand-year Reich" and its ~ctims.
Recruits watch records of horror
The recruits watched flickering footage of Nazi rallies and speeches.
Wednesday, December 29,1999
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�They saw the suppression of news and information and how some citizens
were belittled in public, forced to wear mocking signs about the neck.
other displays showed necks stretched from gallows.
Video monitors unveiled sick "medical" experiments where inmates of
concentration camps were subjected to torture and dismemberment. Models
explained the clinical process of killing hundreds of people in a gas
chamber and disposing of their remains in crematorium ovens with
assembly-line efficiency.
The future police officers respectfully listened to guides such as
Andres Abril, who detailed Nazi atrocities to his listeners as calmly as
a police officer would read a crime blotter.
'
But most significantly, the recruits saw evidence that the police aided
and abetted criminals who tried to stamp out races, religions and
cultures that flourished for centuries until they met the Nazis.
Walking the line
When graduated from the academy, the Anne Arundel recruits will have
power not unlike those who enforced Nazi law, Abril told APBnews.com.
"They have to walk that line, how do they know they're not crossing it?"
he asked..
Sgt. Scott Davis, a police academy instructor, said, "What should open
the eyes of our recruits is that these guys had the same police
authority and they took it to the extreme."
Arthur Nebe had such authority.
An SS general in charge of the Reich Criminal Police Division, Nebe
commanded mobile killing squads that executed over 45,000 people, mostly
Jews. He believed that criminal anti-social behavior was hereditary and
publicly adwcated forced sterilization and murder of deviants.
In a speech he said, "Practical results will emerge ... which will
prevent the development of such anti-social types. That is the really
practical preventative police action."
Officer broke ranks, saved lives
But there were exceptions to police barbarity in those wicked days, the
recruits also learned.
Paul Emst Grueninger was a high-ranking Swiss police official who
defied orders to bar Austrian Jews' entry into Switzerland, allowing
thousands across the border. For that he lost his job in disgrace.
During a classroom session after the tour, the recruits and their police
trainers discussed Grueninger's decision with Holocaust scholars Peter
Black, Joan Ringelheim, Lynn Williams, Abril and the ADL's Brittanie
Werbel.
Cpl. Wayne Tanis said Grueninger was a good, moral person.
"He defied his superiors," Tanis said.
Disobeying an immoral order?
That is a dilemma for every police officer. What if an order is
unlawful? Or just immoral?
lVIaybe disobeying an order and losing your job isn't such a bad thing in
some cases, Sgt. Dennis O'Toole said.
Several Anne Arundel County officers recounted a period recently when
the county's former police chief enacted an aggressive "zero tolerance"
drug enforcement policy.
"A lot of us felt we were bordering on the line of civil rights
violations," training academy commander Lt. David Pressley said. "We
were being made to do this. It made a lot of us feel uncomfortable with
what we were being asked to do and accomplish."
The veteran officers agreed no one in the department openly objected to
the policy. They followed orders.
Chief wants police to challenge superiors
Wednesday, December 29,1999
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�•
During the Nuremberg war crimes trials of the surviving Nazi leaders
after World War II, many said they simply obeyed Hitler's orders and
destroyed millions of lives.
"I want everyone in my organization to be able to challenge orders,"
Chief Shanahan later said. "I think you can be a good police officer and
disobey orders if they are unlawful."
But did Grueninger disobey an unlawful order? No one could agree.
Museum revives recruit's Bosnia memories
Recruit Matthew Maxwell experienced warfare against civilians firsthand
as a U.S. Army military policeman in Bosnia from 1995-1996. The museum
brought back a lot of bad feelings.
"I witnessed atrocities,devastation, grave sites - things of that
nature," Maxwell said. "It directly impacted somebody. Either somebody
lost a family member or somebody lost a neighbor."
For others, such as recruit Jenna Eichen, the museum was inspirational
and overwhelming at the same time.
"That people can overcome it and continue to live and fight for their
rights is inspiring," she said.
Besides Anne Arundel County, officers from the District of Columbia and
FBI agents-in-training also have taken part in the program.
In a Nov. 17 speech, FBI Director Louis Freeh said, "We do that for a
very simple purpose: to reminq [agents] of the horror as well as the
evil which can result from not just a government, but particular1y a
police force, abandoning its mission to protect people and becoming the
engine of oppression."
**Visit the Commission's website at www.pcha.gov/news.htm for
continually-updated coverage of Holocaust Assets issues **
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�Subj:
Date: 11/29/993:11:30 PM Eastem Standard lime
From: kklothen@PCHA.GOV (Ken Klothen)
To: agilbert@PCHA.GOV (Abby Gilbert), aimee.breslow@hqda.army.mil (Aimee Breslow (E-mail», ashannon@loyola.edu
(Allison Shannon (E-mail 2», allison.shannon@hqda.army.mil (Allison Shannon (E-mail», gsofer@PCHA.GOV (Gene Sofer),
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Although, we believe that all of our computer systems and software are
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has not previously been created.
Please use your discretion in identifying mission critical documents to
back up, erring on the side of over-inclusiveness whenever there is any
question.
If you have any questions or suggestions pertaining to Y2K preparedness,
please let me know.
KLK
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From: Ken Klothen <kklothen@PCHA.GOV>
To: Abby Gilbert <agilbert@PCHA.GOV>,
"Aimee Breslow (E-mail)"
<aimee. breslow@hqda.army.mil>,
"Allison Shannon (E-mail 2)"
<ashannon@loyola.edu>,
"Allison Shannon (E-mail)"
<allison;shannon@hqda.army.mil> ,
Tuesday, Novomber30, 1999
America Online: Prezcomm
Poge: 1
�Gene Sofer <gsofer@PCHA.GOV>.
"Greg Murphy (E-mail)..<gscmurphy@aol.com> ,
Helen Junz <hpjunz@PCHA.GOV>,
"Helen Junz (E-mail)" <junz@hbj.sonnet.co.uk>,
"Helene Sugarman (E-mail)"
<hcsugarman@erols.com>.
"Jennifer Rodgers (E-mail 2)"
<beatrix92@hotmaiLcom> ,
"Jennifer Rodgers (E-mail)"
<jennifer.rodgers@hqda.army.mil>,
Jill Cooper <jcooper@PCHA.GOV> ,
Jonathan Petropoulos <jpetropoulos@PCHA.GOV>,
"Jonathan Petropoulos (E-mail)" <jonathan....Petropoulos@mckenna.edu>,
"Karen Pienknagura (E-maiO" <kpienknagura@hotmaiLcom>,
Katherine Page
<kpage@PCHA.GOV>, Ken Klothen <kklothen@PCHA.GOV>,
"Konstantin Akinsha (E-mail 2).. <Konstantin.Akinsha@hqda.army.mil> ,
"Konstantin Akinsha (E-mail)..<akinsha@msn.com> ,
"Laura Offen (E-mail)"
< loffen0621@csi.com> ,
"Lucille Roussin (E-mail 2)..<lroussin@aol.com> ,
"Lucille Roussin (E-mail)..<lucille.roussin@hqda.army.mil>.
Lynda Mounts
<lmounts@PCHA.GOV> ,
"Maragret Rodgers (E-mail 2)" <mrodgers@loyola.edu>,
"Maragret Rodgers (E-mail) .. <margaret.rodgers@hqda.army.mil>.
Marc Masurovsky <mmasurovsky@PCHA.GOV>,
"Marc Masurovsky (E-mail)"
<MMasurovsk@aoLcom>,
Margretta Kennedy <mkennedy@PCHA.GOV>,
MILDRED HOLMES <mholmes@PCHA.GOV>, prezcomm@aol.com,
"Robert Skwirot (E-mail 2)..<skwirot.robert@hqda.army.mil> ,
"Robert Skwirot (E-mail)..<rskwirot@aol.com> ,
"Sarah Robinson (E-mail)"
<Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil>,
"Sebastian Saviano (E-mail 2)"
<sebastian.saviano@hqda.army.mil>,
"Sebastian Saviano (E-mail)"
<SebSavi@aol.com>,
Stu Loeser <sloeser@PCHA.GOV>
Subject:
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 199915:14:26 -0500
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\.......
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Amorica Onlino: P,ezcomm
Pago: 2
�·:Tmportant Informallon
"Robinson, Sarah Ms HAC" <Sarah.Robinson@hqda.army.mil> .
"Konstantin Akinsha (E-mail)..<Akinsha@msn.com>. .....
.
Fri, Jun 23, 2000 10:58 AM
Important Information
From:
To:
Date:.
Subject:
. Just a couple of footnote format reminders:
1) All footnotes should be organized in a from 1 to fashion NOT in a to (
from fashion. For example: Letter from Dept. of State, to Dept. of Justice
[NOT To Dept. of Justice, from Dept. cif State]. '
.
'
.
2) Dates should be written month, day, year. Months should be abbreviated
. to three letters. For example: Jan. 28,1945 [NOT 28 Jan. 1945 or January
28, 1945 or 1/28/45 or 28/1/45]. If a document does not have a date simply
insert "no date". Note, if the date is part of a title you are quoting type
it as written.
3) Archives II should be cited as NACP [not NARA or NARAlCP].
4) The bates range should be entered as [321002-005] NOT [321002-321005].
5) No Ibid. Because papers will be cut and pasted we will not use Ibid.
until we are at the final version.
6) Use "&" and not "and" when describing a document in a footnote. Note, jf
"and" is part of a title you are quoting type it as written ..
cc:
"Wilson, Douglas Mr HAC" <Douglas.Wilson@hqda.army ...
�AOL.COM I AOL Mail
http://aolmail.aol.comlmail.dci?id=l &count=2&box=inbox&list= 1-2&read.x= 1
L.COM
diMW'dili·ii
M
AOLMair
10f2_
Subj:
Date:
From:
To:
o
Re: Pres. Comm.
Tue, 13 Jun 2000 6:17:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time
"Julie Jacoby" <tuxedocat2@hotmail.com>
Jgpetrop@aol:com
Inclu
original te
in Reply
Dear Professor Petropoulos,
Thank you for getting back to me. I do app~eciate it. I understand why Dr.
Sofer wants .a 9-5 schedule, but I have to take the German class if I want to
go to Berlin (and visit you in Munich :-) ).
For me, it ~s German class
this summer or no study abroad at all.
I don't mean to disappoint you, but
I'm sure you can understand that I don't have too much of a choice.
I had really hoped that we could work out a schedule. I had thought that I
was working for y00
and that this would be possible. For instance,
if I had specific ~rojects that I could work on with an~agreement that I
would complete so much work within the six week period.
. Forward
Please let me know
you would still like me to help out with anything
since I will h~v~ afternoons free. Or, if you know of anybther volunteer
opportunities available with a flexible schedule:
The phone number Y9,u have for me (818 222-2509 or you can'call 818 222-2502)
is correct until J~ly 5 if you would still like to call. I· don't have my
summer housing info yet. I will be in DC on July 17 (that's when my class
starts) .
I would definitely like to hear more about what you are doing in Munich and
any advice you have for study abroad/Berlin, etc. I have never been to
Europe before, so this is a totally new adventure for me! I will be in
Berlin from Aug 31 until Dec. 18.
I will have my same
1 address, but I
won't know my host family's address/phone until I arrive in Berlin.
Also, should I call Dr. Sofer, or will you take care of tKat?
Thank you for trying though!
in touch.
Julie
>From: Jgpetrop@aor.com
>To: ...<tuxedocat2@hotmail. corn>
>Subj e'ct; Re:. Pres.' Comm.
-: Tue jG~ 13 1&:50:38 2000
>Dear Julie
So.• '.
>Hi there.
I jbst tried to call you, but all J have
i~
an 818 number and I
'~have this fe~ling that it is the number for your parents back in CA.
> ·'_r.,
' ...'"
>1 'Ju~t ';'.rr1ved in DC from Germany last night.
>day.'
>
>1 met with Gene Sofer this morning and we
10f3
I have been catching up all
about your internship.
He
06114/2000 1:08 PM
�SUbj:
Records for Decla!'fification
Date:
9/14/998:50:43 PM Eastem Daylight Time
From: Jonathan]etropoulos@MCKENNA.EDU (Jonathan Petropoulos)
Sender: jpetropou)os@MCKENNA.EDU
To: Prezcomm@aol.com
Dear Erin,
Thanks for the letter. I'm about to rush off home and will
reflect on the matter at 70 mph, but a couple of thoughts. We
would want to see the following materials that are still
classified:
j
\
II
1) OSS files on Operation Safeha\en.
~/
2) FBI files on individuals that we ha\e identified :as having
potentially encountered victims' art (I'd like fur us to submit
all the names of the Americans in Austria on that list you sent
me recently).
/
.
3) CIA files on the abO\e-mentioned individuals.
4) Army records pertaining to abo\e-individuals.
5) Army records on in\eStigations into looting by U.S. forces
(was there an in\estigation into thy Gold train, into the looting
of the Salzburg P.roperty Warehm1se?).
\
'
You all know better about the Treasury records and whatnot. I
I
should mention that I talked to/Bert Haggett at the Army about
their MuehlmatUl documents apd he is going to send them to us.
That will be the first newly deClassified items that we'll ha\e
recei\ed (to my knowledge). Ye~, Bradsher ga\e us first crack at
some State Dept. stuff earlier in ihe summer, but they weren't
de-dassified just fur us. The Muehlmann material includes some
docs. of British origin that still need their approval, so we
won't see the entire file right away.\ But he's working on it.
OK, time to run.
,
More soon.
I
~-,
I
!
Best,
IP
\
'.
.
,
Jonathan Petropolous
. Associate Professor of History
Claremont McKemla College
Columbia A\enue
\Claremont, CA 91711
IOltUillmyetropouJos@mckenna.edu
\
~/,
\,)
Q
\... ,
':----.------------.----- Headers --------------------~----------< Jonathan_Petropoulos@MCKENNA.EDU >
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Wednesday, September IS, 1999
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Page: 1 ,
�SUbj:
Date:
9/14/99 2:27:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: kklothen@PCHA.GOV (Ken Klothen)
To: prezcomm@aol.com
To: Marc, Jonathan, Konstantin, Helen
At the Inter-Agency Working Group hearing later this month, I will have
the opportunity to make a statement about "areas of inquiry that might
be furitful" with regard to records that are or may still be classified.
In this category I think: we should include records that may not be
classified but have not been thoroughly searched for - e.g. the Fed's
licensure applications for art importation. Please supply me by Friday,
Sept. 17th with talking points on records we know are classified and
need declassified quickly, and records we believe may exist but have not
been thoroughly sought.
Thanks.
KLK
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From: Ken Klothen < kklothen@PCHA.GOV >
To: prezcomm@aol.com
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Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 14:31: 19 -0400
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�Subj:
Prewar US Gold Policy MM 5-26-00
Date:· 00-06-0422:52:56 EDT
From: jiwaniec@starpower.net (John lwaniec)
Reply-to:
assets@lyris.holocaustassets.gov (holocaustassets)
To: assets@lyris.holocaustassets.gov (holocaustassets)
1
I
I
Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets in the US
See Report at:
I .
http://holocaustassets.gov/rs h000604/P rewa~~
rus
.
%20Gold%20Policy% 2OMM%205-26.j)O.htm
You are currently subscribed to assets as: gscmurphy@aollcom
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ass~ts-201506T@lyris.holocaustassets.gov
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Date: Sun, 4 Jun 200022:56:45
.
Subject: Prewar US Gold Policy MM 5-26-00 1
To: "holocaustassets" <assets@IYriS.holocaustassets.gOV>I
.
From: "John Iwaniec" <jiwaniec@starpower.nett·
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Subj:
Re: Financial Assets - Bank for Intern*ional Settlements 1938-1948
I
I
Date: 00-05-31 22:09:02 EDT
From: jiwaniec@starpower.net (John Iwaniec) I
Reply-to:
assets@lyris.holocaustassets.gov (holocaustassets)
To: assets@lyris.holocaustassets.gov (holocau~stassets)
I
Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets in the US
I
A reminder the Bank for International Settlements 1938-1948 report is
I
I
located as follows: http://holocaustassets.gov/aisetgo/ga1.htm
'.
I
You are currently subscribed to assets as: gscrrurphy@aol,com
.
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Date: Wed, 31 May 200022:12:45
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Subject: Re: Financial Assets - Bank for International Settlements 1938-1948
To: "holocaustassets!' <assets@IYriS.holocaustassets.gov>ll·
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..
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.
. '.
.
�To:
From:
Re:
Date:
All Staff
Ken Klothen, Execlltive Director
Outside Speaking :t;ngagement~s
September 25, 199~
;
'
I.
. I I
,
I want to take thIS opportumty to reIterate, can'fyand expand our poI'ICY on acceptmg
I
outside speaking engagements.
I
It is important to remember:I that all of 1-1s are staff to a Commission made up of 21
,
,
members appointed by the President of the United States and the leadership of the Senate
and the House of Representatives. It iJI those 21 members who comprise the
I
Commission, and only they!can speak ~fficially for the Commission or delegate others to
do so. Moreover, the Commission must consider any research findings to determine what
conclusions it will reach ab6ut historic~l facts or policy matters related to them,
I
For this reason, we must be particularly attentive to the possibility that the press or public
might misconstrue a staff member's views as the views of the Commission or any
individual Commissioner. We must alko respect the right of the Commissioners to hear
about our research results fitst and from us, as opposed to any other source. Finally, we
must guard against the rele~se of infonriation that was obtained from ~Iassified
documents.
I
Therefore, we have adopted a strict pol~cy with regard to staff members speaking to
individuals or groups about the work of the Commission. Staff are not to speak to people
outside the Commission abdut the Conhnission' s work. If requested to do so, they should
contact Gene Sofer for guid~nce. If a staff member wants to request authorization to
accept a speaking engagem~nt on a topic relevant to the Commission's work, he or she
must obtain a written reque~t from the ~ponsor of the event. That request must state the
nature of the sponsoring org~nization, the date and location of the event, and represent
that any identification of thd staff persdn that identifies his or her association with the
Commission will make it cl~ar that the iCommission is listed for identification purposes
only.
I
I
In addition to this request, t~e staff member must submit a memo stating the title of the
proposed talk, a detailed outline of its dontents and the staff member's understanding that
he or she must begin the tal~ with a disblaimer that the views expressed are the staff
.
member's indi,vidual views and do not represent those of the Commission, any
I
,
Commissioner, or the United States government. The staff member may not accept the
invitation until authorizatiori to do so h~s been made in writing by the Executive Director
or Deputy Director.
'
an~
While we do not want to interfere in
way with the ability of our staff to share their
general expertise in their resbective are1s with the public, we must be able to guarantee
our Commissioners that we
protect their ability to shape the conclusions reached by
will
l
�the Commission about any particular matter. I trust that no one will find these procedures
overly burdensome. If you Ihave any q1uestions or concerns, please contact me.
I
I
i
I
'" .. ,
.
,
.
r
.'
I
;
�A~l
I·
To:
Staff
..
\...
From: Ken Klothen, ExecutIve DIrector .
.
I
:
Re:
Supervision of Research.
.
Date:· September 24, 199Q
I
I
In keeping with our efforts Ito facilitat~ communication between the research and
administrative functions of the Commission, effective immediately the Deputy Director's
position will include. direct supervisioh of the research staffand functions of the
..
I
ComnusslOn.·
I· t
.
.
Gene will be communicatidg with both the research directors and me to determine how he
can. best be helpful and remain inform6d ona current basis about the progress of and
challenges facing the research staff,add how he can communicate matters of Commission
policy to that staff. As befqre with Tdcy, Darren will handle purely administrative
matters pertaining to payroll, leave, tdvel, etc. and will refer matters requiring a policy
.!
I
.
decision to Gene.
tJ
tl
I hope this will facilitate
work of
research staff and will enable us to continue the
excellent progress we are m'aking in fulfilling the Commission's mandate.
.
I
I
.
I
�Subj:
rg319
Date: 12115/9911:53:40 AM Eastem Standard lime
From: Prezcomm
I
To: kklothen@pcha.gov
CC: gsofer@pcha.gov
I heard through the grapevine that you are going to see PTwith Michael K. to discuss declass. and what not. Here is a story
that might assist you. And if it does not, pretehd I never told you.
I have gone through 15 boxes of rg 319 classifi~d personal files. My personal opinion, which does not count for much these
days, is that 90% of these documents are not ~orth the paper that they are printed on. Hence, they do not deserve to be
classified. For instance, one entire box is aboJt an American nutcake. The remaining 10% would perhaps embarrass our
government agencies and, if people really stret<~h their sense of shame, one or two foreign governments. But firankly, if the
ratio of 90% of drivel persists, the argument that rg319 rem~in classified is overwhelmingly overblown.
That's all for today. Good luck! See you tomoIT1'ow.
Marc Masurovsky
I
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'
Wednesday, December 15,1999
I
America Online: Prezcomm
Page: 1
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, formed in 1998, was charged with investigating what happened to the assets of victims of the Holocaust that ended up in the possession of the United States Federal government. The final report of the Commission, <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/pcha/PlunderRestitution.html/html/Home_Contents.html"> “Plunder and Restitution: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report"</a> was submitted to President Clinton in December 2000.</p>
<p>Chairman - Edgar Bronfman<br /> Executive Director - Kenneth Klothen</p>
<p>The collection consists of 19 series. The first fifteen series of the collection are composed mostly of photocopied federal records. These records were reproduced at the National Archives and Records Administration by commission members for their research. The records relate to Holocaust assets created between the mid 1930’s and early 1950’s by a variety of U. S. Government agencies and foreign sources.</p>
<p>Subseries:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+">Art and Cultural Property</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+">Gold</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+Team+Review+Form+Binders+">Gold Team Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+and+%E2%80%9COthers%E2%80%9D+Review+Form+Binders">Art and Cultural Property and “Others” Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=History+Associates+Binder+">History Associates Binder</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders+%282%29">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders (2)</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+84%2C+Foreign+Service+Posts+of+the+State+Department%E2%80%94Turkey">RG 84, Foreign Service Posts of the State Department—Turkey</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%5BJewish+Restitution+Successor+Organization+%28JRSO%29%2C+Oral+Histories%5D&range=&collection=20&type=&user=&tags=&public=&featured=&exhibit=&submit_search=Search+for+items">[Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), Oral Histories]</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=PCHA+Secondary+Sources">PCHA Secondary Sources</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Researcher+Notes">Researcher Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Unnumbered+Documents+from+Archives+II+and+Various+Notes">Unnumbered Documents from Archives II and Various Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+260%2C+Finance+Inventory+Forms">RG 260, Finance Inventory Forms</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Reparations">Reparations</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Chase+National+Bank">Chase National Bank</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Administrative+Files">Administrative Files</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+%26+Cultural+Property+Theft">Art & Cultural Property Theft</a></p>
<p>Topics covered by these records include the recovery of confiscated art and cultural property; the reparation of gold and other financial assets; and the investigation of events surrounding capture of the Hungarian Gold Train at the close of World War II. These files contain memoranda, correspondence, inventories, reports, and secondary source material related to the final disposition of art and cultural property, gold, and other financial assets confiscated during the Holocaust.</p>
<p>For more information concerning this collection consult the<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992"> finding aid</a>.</p>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1040718" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
2954 folders
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[Email Correspondence of Commission Researchers] [6]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States
Art & Cultural Property Theft
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 217
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Holocaust-Assets.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/6997222" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/24/2013
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
6997222-email-correspondence-of-commission-researchers-6
6997222