Delegation

Statements

AMERICAN JEWISH

COMMITTEE

Statement by

David A. Harris

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

To the Delegates to the Washington Conference on HolocaustEra Assets:

As one of the non-governmental organizations privileged to be

accredited to the Conference, we join in expressing our hope that this

historic gathering will fulfill the ambitious and worthy goals set for it.

The effort to identify the compelling and complex issues of

looted assets from the Second World War, and to consult on the most

appropriate and expeditious means of addressing and resolving these

issues, offers a beacon of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel

for Holocaust survivors, for the descendants of those who perished in the

flames, for the vibrant Jewish communities which were destroyed, and

for all who fell victim to the savagery and rapacity of those horrific

times.

We are pleased as well that, in addition to discussion of these

enormously important topics, the Conference will also take up the matter

of Holocaust education, for, in the end, this can be our permanent legacy

to future generations.

We hope that the Conference will reach a consensus on the need

for enhanced international consultation, with the aim of encouraging

more widespread teaching of the Holocaust in national school systems.

Moreover, we commend those nations that have already taken impressive

steps in this regard.

Not only can teaching of the Holocaust provide young people

with a better insight into the darkest chapter in this century's history, but,

ultimately, it can serve to strengthen their commitment to fundamental

principles of human decency, mutual understanding and tolerance – all of
146 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

which are so necessary if we are to have any chance of creating a

brighter future.

When we speak of education, we must recognize that it cannot

be limited to the classroom or the textbook, necessary though both are.

One element regarding both historical memory and education

that deserves, in our view, greater attention from the international

community is the identification, preservation and protection of sites of

destruction and extermination connected to the Holocaust. Experience

has taught us that visits to sites have a profound impact, not least on

young people.

In some countries, considerable attention has been devoted to

this matter; in others, regrettably, this has not been the case.

In some countries, great care has been taken to designate such

sites, provide demarcation, ensure adequate security, and introduce

pedagogical elements; in other countries, sites go unmarked, threatened

by commercial or other development, and therefore destined for

disappearance.

In some countries, comprehensive national legislation exists; in

others, either there is no relevant legislation or responsibility lies with

local rather than national governments, leading, sad to say, to an

inconsistent and unreliable approach.

In some countries, ample funds have been earmarked to maintain

the sites; in others, few, if any, resources have been committed.

In addition to our concern for strengthening Holocaust

education, we raise this issue because it also serves other vital goals –

seeking to preserve memory by reminding us all of what once was and

what has been lost, and paying our respects to those who perished in the

Final Solution, and to the vibrant civilization that was destroyed.

Many questions can surely be raised about specific aspects of our

proposal – for example, issues of definition and jurisdiction. Our aim is

precisely to raise these questions, leading, we would earnestly hope, to

greater international consultation and coordination on guidelines and

approaches among the distinguished nations and non-governmental

organizations represented at this Conference.

Kindly be assured that the American Jewish Committee stands

ready to assist in this effort in the months and years ahead.

We extend our best wishes and the expression of our highest

esteem to all the delegates attending the Conference.

Respectfully submitted,

David A. Harris, Executive Director
ARGENTINA

Delegation Joint Statement

Argentina and its Commission of Enquiry into the Activities of

Nazism (CEANA) wish to thank Under Secretary of State Stuart

Eizenstat for his indefatigable efforts to organize this important

conference on Holocaust-era assets. Our thanks are also extended to

Ambassador Eizenstat's kind and often repeated expressions of support

for CEANA's work, as most recently highlighted by the decision to

postpone his departure from Buenos Aires in order to participate –

together with Foreign Minister Guido Di Tella and Swedish Trade

Minister Leif Pagrotsky – in the opening session of CEANA's plenary

session in November 1998.

This conference's significance for Argentina not only stems from

the need to take a joint approach to the wide gamut of issues that, sad to

say, still await clarification more than half a century after the demise of

the Third Reich, but also to do justice to its Jewish and other victims, as

well as their descendants. Argentina's solidarity with the latter has led it

to join the growing number of countries taking part in Ambassador

Eizenstat’s proposed relief fund, as was announced at the London

conference an Nazi gold. Argentina's recent history suggests that this

healing process is also a valuable way to consolidate our democracy, as

well as to prevent the recurrence of the terrible episodes that the country

witnessed during past decades.

The meeting is also important for CEANA's work. Created in

1997 and supported by the Argentine government as a sign of its

commitment to try to eradicate the scourge of Nazism in the country and

elsewhere, CEANA, nonetheless, is a non-governmental commission; its

findings require certification by an array of Argentine and foreign

personalities of different political and other affiliations. Owing to

Argentina's recent past, CEANA's research agenda is somewhat broader

then that of peer commissions, covering not only the subject of

expoliated assets but also the issues of war criminals who found an

Argentine refuge and the influence of Nazism in the country. Such a

research agenda led CEANA’s International Panel and Advisory
148 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Committee to approve in November an extension of the Commission's

life for another year, as well as to endorse the notion that the lessons

arising from this self -introspective exercise should be made available to

Argentine's student population, and to other sections of Argentine society

as soon as possible.

Against this background, Argentina is keen to see that the

recently established Task Force does not exclude Latin America in

general and Argentina in particular, Clearly, permanent changes in public

perceptions of Nazi era and other genocides can only be achieved

through educational programs. Education also means familiarizing the

public and honoring Argentines and others who took risks in order to

save numbers of those whose lives were threatened by Nazism. Not

surprisingly, therefore, CEANA's plenary coincided with the unveiling of

a Buenos Aires monument of Raoul Wallenberg and issuing of a

commemorative stamp (initiatives jointly sponsored by a CEANA

international panelist, Sir Sigmund Sternberg; Argentina's Foreign

Ministry; and the city of Buenos Aires autonomous government). Not

well known in Argentina and elsewhere, Wallenberg's exertions to rescue

countless Jews were partly assisted by a former employee of the

Argentine consulate in Budapest inasmuch as Sweden represented

Argentine interests in several European capitals after the country's

belated severance of diplomatic relations with the Axis in January 1944.

Discussed at greater length in CEANA academic coordinator

Ignacio Klich's presentation at the relevant panel, Commission work has

fueled the opening of a number of Argentine archival repositories. Yet it

is clear that all interested parties stand to benefit from the exchange of

information afforded by this meeting. To this extent, CEANA reiterates

its offer to share with others the fruits of its research at Argentine and

other repositories, as well as acknowledges the important benefits

derived from the seminar held here in June 1998 and from this

conference, in particular by its research unit an art.

Such a unit has sought to confirm information arising from

non-Argentine sources about the arrival of looted works of art, as well as

the possible use of the country as a transit point for this trade. This has

prompted the painstaking scouring of catalogues of Buenos Aires-based

art galleries and analyzing the history of acquisitions by museums, as

well as to recording individual art work losses in Europe by victims of

Nazism who settled in Argentina and relaying such information to a U.S.

database.

As previously mentioned, education is the way to avoid a sorry

repetition of Nazi and other more recent genocides. While Argentina is
ARGENTINA 149

only at the beginning of this road, before long its students will be

exposed to such subjects as the implications of Hitler's rise to power and

Argentina's performance during the Nazi era. Likewise, a Buenos

Aires-based Holocaust museum, an initiative supported by the

government’s grant of the building to house such a museum and of

monies to set it up, will be inaugurated in the near future. Not too far

away is the day when Argentina will also join the nations that year in,

year out commemorate the Nazi extermination of Jews.

All this is part of Argentina's wish to build a democratic and

pluralist society, an indispensable ingredient to achieve this being

learning from history. From this angle, the opening of archival sources,

like the creation of CEANA, are only part of the tools that are meant to

facilitate such learning. In the future, it is to be hoped that international

events, like the London and Washington conferences, will contribute to

further this process wherever necessary.

AUSTRIA

Delegation Statement

Executive Summary

Austria welcomes the holding of the Conference on HolocaustEra Assets in Washington as an important step to complete knowledge of

historical facts related to assets looted by the Nazis including art,

insurance and other assets. We share the objectives of the conference, to

strengthen the international commitment to open relevant national

archives and other records for research on Nazi-looted assets and to

examine steps taken to return looted assets as well as promoting broad

consensus for further action. We are ready to assume our part in

investigating those facts as far as they relate to our own country and to

make every effort to shed complete light on all unresolved questions.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Of the approximately 210,000 Jews who lived in Austria before

World War II, approximately 110,000 were forced to emigrate. Some

65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

"ARYANIZATION" (THE TAKEOVER OF JEWISH PROPERTY BY

NON-JEWS)

In preparation for the return of properties taken from the rightful

owners by the Nazis, a law regarding the submission of claims was

passed as early as 1945. The holders of Aryanized properties were

requested under threat of penalty to register those assets and to refrain

from any legal transactions regarding the property in question, except

"regular administrative measures". Between 1946 and 1949 seven

restitution laws were passed by the Austrian Parliament which provided

for restitution in several phases. The immediate victims as well as direct
152 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

descendants and siblings were eligible for restitution. In addition, four

laws dealt with claims for restitution of property, for example to

democratic institutions, including Jewish and non-Jewish religious

institutions.

Not all aryanized and registered property was actually claimed

and therefore could not be restored. A law on the collection of those

assets was passed in 1957 and the „Collection Points A and B“ created.

Collection Point A received all unclaimed property of persons who in

1937 had belonged to the Jewish community, Collection Point B

received other claims. After the disbursement of the proceeds to victims

of persecution, the collection points were liquidated in 1972.

While the legal framework for the resolution of restitution cases

(with the exception of leases which were not included) was generally

accepted by the Allies and victims' organizations, questions concerning

the practical implementation of the laws remain. There is no systematic

overview of the files or any historical analysis on that subject. Of the

42,096 claims submitted, approximately one-fifth was granted, one-third

was settled by agreement, one-third was rejected or the claim withdrawn.

There exist no reliable data about the monetary value of restored

property.

In order to gain comprehensive knowledge of historical facts

related to assets looted by the Nazis and of restitution of property after

the war, the Austrian Government recently established an independent

Commission of Historians with international participation to study all

aspects of Aryanization and the country's restitution efforts to victims of

the Nazi era after the war. The mandate of the Commission ranges from

"dispossession of property on the territory of the Republic" to

"restoration and compensation" as well as economic and social efforts by

Austria after 1945. The Commission had its inaugural session on 26

November 1998. It is required to submit an outline of its future work to

the Federal Government within three months.

WORKS OF ART

By January 1949 over 13,000 art objects had been returned to

their rightful owners or their legitimate heirs of the over 18,500 items

which had been seized during the Nazi era or which had been voluntarily

given up to air-raid shelters. Restitution of the remaining objects was

spread out over the subsequent years. For this purpose, two specific laws
AUSTRIA 153

pertaining to the settlement of claims regarding art and cultural heritage

were passed in 1969 and 1986. The latter law was amended 1995 to

allow for the so-called "Mauerbach Sale": in 1996 an auction of Naziconfiscated works of art which could not be restituted to the former

owners or their heirs was held to benefit Holocaust victims.

In 1998 Federal Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs,

Elisabeth Gehrer, established a "Commission for Provenance Research"

which was mandated to study available historical material relating to

looted art in the Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Authority for the

Preservation of Monuments) and in the various federal museums and

collections. The goal of this very extensive historic survey was to shed

light on the looting by the Nazis during the period from 1938 to 1945 and

to establish which questionable acquisitions may have been made by

public collections during that time. Furthermore, the restitution

procedures of the immediate post-war period were to be examined.

The findings of the Commission which has up to now completed

a substantial part of its work, served as basis for a “Federal Law on the

Restitution of Works of Art from Federal Museums and Collections“

adopted by Parliament on 5/19 November 1998 and which is expected to

enter into force shortly. The law provides the legal basis for restituting

those works of art that fall under one of the categories mentioned in the

Federal Law to the former owners or their legal heirs. An advisory board

which will hold its inaugural session on 9 December 1998 will assist the

Minister. National and international experts may be asked to participate

in the Board’s deliberations. In the course of the debate in Parliament,

Minister Gehrer has promised to urge also non-federal museums and

collections to follow suit and take similar action. A number of

communities and municipalities had, however, already established

similar commissions.

MONETARY GOLD

Austria is among those countries whose claims for restitution of

official gold reserves looted by the Nazis were recognized by the

Tripartite Gold Commission (TGC). The gold reserves of the Austrian

Central Bank, amounting to 78,267 metric tons as of 17 March 1938, had

to be transferred to the German Reichsbank immediately after the

Anschluss in 1938. The TGC recognized the greater part of the Austrian

claim after the war and 50,183 tons were returned in several installments.

The remaining claim to the gold still held by the TGC amounted to some
154 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

27,000 troy ounces which have in the meantime been transferred to the

account of the Austrian National Bank.

Austria was among the first countries to publicly express support

for the proposal to put a substantial portion of its claim to the remainder

of the Nazi gold into an international fund for the benefit of survivors of

the Holocaust. To implement this political decision of principle, once the

Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund had been set up, a Federal Law was passed

by Parliament on 5/19 November 1998 which authorizes the National

Bank to transfer the total Austrian share in the remaining gold (valued at

AS 102 million, which is app. 8.5 million US Dollars) to the Nazi

Persecutee Relief Fund. The law provides that the money should go

mainly to those needy victims who up to now had received no or no

adequate compensation. In addition, it will be possible to support

projects designed to fight against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and

intolerance. The law furthermore stipulates that the distribution of the

money must be made through the "National Fund of the Republic of

Austria for the Victims of National Socialism", established in 1995 to

make contributions to Austrian Holocaust victims from funds provided

by the national budget of Austria. The National Fund is one of the

eligible NGOs mentioned in the Annex to the Fund Agreement through

which national contributions to the International Relief Fund can be

disbursed to individuals and projects

INSURANCE CLAIMS

In addition to the general restitution laws introduced in Austria

immediately after the Second World War, a settlement of insurance

claims could also be obtained on the basis of the Insurance

Compensation Act of 1958. It referred to those cases in which insurance

companies had already paid the benefits from the insurance contract in

full but the benefits were confiscated according to applicable German

laws. By the end of the fifties, such compensation payments, arising from

insurance contracts that were part of the domestic portfolio of insurance

companies registered in Austria, were made to the claimants.

The Austrian insurance companies have offered and still offer

good-will payments to Holocaust victims or their heirs without any legal

obligation in those individual cases where no payments had been up to

now and the claims would fall under the statute of limitation.

The legal situation in Austria prevents the Insurance Supervisory

Authority to oblige insurance companies to make payments on the basis
AUSTRIA 155

of insurance contracts falling under the statute of limitation. However,

the Insurance Supervisory Authority could already help in a number of

individual cases to identify legal successors to the Austrian insurance

companies and portfolio transfers, provided that such contracts were part

of the domestic (i.e. Austrian) portfolios.

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE

INSURANCE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY

The Legal Situation in Regard to

"Holocaust and Insurances" in Austria

1. The forfeiture of insurances to the Third Reich

2. Reestablishment of the Austrian insurance industry

3. Payments rendered by the Republic of Austria

a) Historical review of the former restitution laws

b) Insurance Compensation Act, Federal Law Gazette

No. 130/1958 (Versicherungsentschädigungsgesetz): Federal

law of 26 June 1958 concerning the regulations on life

insurance claims contracts sequestrated by the

German Reich

4. Functions and limits of Austrian insurance supervision

within the Federal Ministry of Finance

1. THE FORFEITURE OF INSURANCES TO THE THIRD REICH

The "forfeiture" of insurance contracts to the Third Reich results

from the 11th Ordinance concerning the Law on Reich Citizens (1935) of

25 November 1941 in conjunction with a circular of the Reich

Supervisory Office (Reichsaufsichtsamt), reference no. R. 53/42.

Section 1, sentence 1 of the 11th Ordinance concerning the Law

on Reich Citizens adopted in 1935 provides that "a Jew who has his

ordinary residence abroad cannot be a German citizen". Section 3 of the

Ordinance prescribes that "the loss of citizenship also entails the

forfeiture of property to the Reich and that the forfeited property is to

serve the aim of promoting all objectives relating to the solution of the

question of the Jews".

Under Section 7 para. 1 of the above Ordinance, all persons -

including insurance companies - had to report "objects belonging to

forfeited property" in their possession to the Senior Finance President in

Berlin within a period of six months from the day of forfeiture. Failure to
158 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

comply with this reporting requirement was punishable by imprisonment

or payment of a fine.

[At that time, the (Austrian) insurance supervisory authority was

merely a "branch office" of the Reich Supervisory Office in Berlin.

Except for information of a general nature such as laws, official

publications and insurance reference books (so-called

"Assekuranzkompaesse"), the insurance supervisory authority has no

further records in this respect. The Austrian State Archives have hardly

any files from that time in their possession.]

On the basis of this 11th Ordinance, a circular issued by the

Reich Supervisory Office for Private Insurance in Berlin in 1942,

reference no. 53/42, to the supervised insurance companies, provided,

inter alia, for the following:

Endowment insurances of any kind with regular premium

payments forfeited to the Reich in accordance with the Ordinance were

regarded as being canceled as of 31 December 1941. The Reich was

entitled to the surrender value (minus outstanding contributions)

calculated for that date in accordance with the general operational plan.

For the period from 1 January 1942 to the date of notification (cf.

reporting requirement under Section 7 of the 11th Ordinance), the

insurance companies had to pay the Reich interest payable on arrears.

In the case of annuity insurances of any kind where the General

Standard Terms and Conditions made provision for surrender, the

insurance companies also had to pay the Reich the surrender value

calculated for 31 December 1941 in accordance with the general

operational plan. As regards all sorts of annuity insurances where the

General Standard Terms and Conditions provided no option for

surrender, the Reich retained 75% of the premium reserve calculated for

31 December 1941 on the basis of the general operational plan plus the

annuities due but still unpaid.

Property insurance contracts concerning the assets of "Jews"

which had been forfeited to the Reich after the adoption of the 11th

Ordinance still remained in force until the Reich decided to either

transfer the insured object into its ownership or else to sell it. Any

liability or accident insurance contracts of "Jews" who had lost their

German citizenship under the terms of the 11th Ordinance, however,

expired.
AUSTRIA 159

2. THE REESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUSTRIAN INSURANCE

INDUSTRY

The development of the Austrian insurance industry has always

been closely related to the economic situation. After years of inflation,

monetary reform and international financial crises, there was a short

period of economic recovery, followed by what became known as the

Phoenix crash (Phönix-Krach). Repair measures ordered by the

legislators in 1936, such as the creation of a fund designed to cover

domestic Phoenix life insurance contracts, obliged the life insurance

companies to render substantial benefits.

The explanatory remarks to the government’s draft of the

Insurance Re-establishment Act of 1955, Federal Law Gazette No.

185/1955 (Versicherungswiederaufbaugesetz) describe and summarize

the postwar situation of the Austrian insurance industry as follows:

At the end of the war, insurance companies suffered losses

because most of their covering funds consisted in securities which had to

be bought in the era of the German Reich and became entirely worthless

after it collapsed. Likewise, the value of houses and mortgages was

severely affected. As a result of the currency reform, insurance

companies lost around 60 percent of their deposits with banking

institutions. Of all branches of the insurance industry, life insurance

business was hardest hit by the losses occurring during and after the war.

In order to be able to meet their hitherto limited liabilities, the insurance

companies had to rely on public assistance.

3. PAYMENTS RENDERED BY THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA

Article 26 para. 1 of the State Treaty of 15 May 1955 (Federal

Law Gazette No. 152/1955) on the restoration of an independent and

democratic Austria provides for Austria’s obligation to restitute property

confiscated by the German Reich and, where this is no longer possible, to

grant compensation.

To implement the above provision, the "Auffangorganisationsgesetz" 1957, Federal Law Gazette No. 73/1957, (Absorption Organization

Act) was adopted with five amendments (Federal Law Gazette Nos.

285/1958, 62 and 306/1959, 287/1960 and 1949/1966), under which

collecting agencies (Sammelstellen) "A" and "B" were established

through which heirless and unclaimed property that was liable to

restitution was registered for use for the benefit of persecuted persons.
160 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Collecting agency "A" was assigned all claims arising out of

estates, legal titles and interests within the meaning of Art. 26 para. 2 of

the Austrian State Treaty which were due to persons belonging the

Israelite religious community on 31 December 1937. After the complete

distribution of funds, both collecting agencies were dissolved.

Under the Ordinance of 26 April 1938, Reichs Gazette I Sec.

414, Jews (within the meaning of the Nuremberg Laws) had to report

property held until 7 April 1938 no later than 30 June 1938. In this

report, all assets exceeding 5,000 Reichsmark had to be reported. These

property records also included numerous life insurance contracts. These

were registered in the same manner as life insurance contracts resulting

from the files of the Senior Finance President. Overall, there were 20,815

life insurance contracts in force in 1938.

a) Historical review of the former restitution laws

As from 1946, laws were passed in Austria the object of which

was the restitution of confiscated and ownerless or heirless assets.

Immediately after the war, the prewar legal situation was reestablished

by the so-called restitution or repayment laws in order to remedy

previous acts of injustice suffered with regard to property rights. Within

the context of specific restitution or repayment laws, it was also possible

to restore - along with other assets - insurance policies to the

beneficiaries or their legal successors.

The following property categories were restored under the First

and Second Restitution Acts: real estate, buildings, real estate earnings,

insurance policies, securities, cash accounts, mortgage claims, business

shares and undertakings as well as other movable assets (e.g., artworks,

carpets, means of production).

First Restitution Act

Special mention must be made of the First Restitution Act,

Federal Law Gazette No. 156/1946 on the basis of which property assets

that were administrated by the Federation or by the Länder (regional

governments) when the law entered into force in 1946 were given back

to their owners.

Included in the scope of this law were mainly those emigrated or

deported persons of Jewish denomination or descent whose property
AUSTRIA 161

assets were confiscated by the Gestapo for being hostile to the people or

the state and whose property assets had been declared forfeited for the

benefit of the German Reich under the 11th Ordinance to the Reich

Citizens Act of 25 November 1941, with the administration of these

property assets being assigned to the Senior Finance Presidents.

Second Restitution Act

Similarly, the 2nd Restitution Act, Federal Law Gazette No.

53/1947, concerned confiscated property assets that were in the

possession of the Republic of Austria as a result of forfeiture and that

had to be restored to the original owners or their legal successors.

This law dealt with the restitution of assets which had been taken

away from the lawful owners and subsequently gone into the possession

of a natural or legal person which was distributed or dissolved after the

liberation of Austria under the Nazi Prohibition Act and War Criminal

Act and whose property was therefore forfeited for the benefit of the

Republic of Austria.

Third Restitution Act

The 3rd Restitution Act, Federal Law Gazette No. 54/1947,

regulates the restoration of assets which, during the German occupation

of Austria, were taken away from their owners or legitimate holders in

connection with the seizure of power by the Nazis either high-handedly

or under some law or other regulation. It is currently unclear whether it

was possible, in view of specific constellations of facts, for insurance

policies to fall within the scope of this Act.

b) Insurance Compensation Act, Federal Law Gazette No. 130/1958

(Versicherungsentschädigungsgesetz): Federal law of 26 June 1958

concerning the regulations on life insurance claims contracts

sequestrated by the German Reich

The Republic of Austria has under certain circumstances made

payments in the private insurance sector in those cases where life

insurance contracts were "sequestrated" by the German Reich before

1945.
162 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Section 1 of the Insurance Compensation Act of 1958, Federal

Law Gazette No. 130/1958, focuses on "sequestrated" or "forfeited" life

insurance contracts that were part of the domestic portfolio of insurance

companies registered in Austria and were fulfilled by payment to the

Third Reich on the basis of Reich regulations rescinded in Austria (or

administrative regulations based thereupon). - The question whether an

insurance contract was part of the domestic portfolio of an insurance

company had to be determined according to Articles I and II of the

Insurance Reestablishment Act (Federal Law Gazette No. 185/1955).

Beneficiaries under the Insurance Compensation Act of 1958 had

to raise their claims with the insurance company concerned in writing

and within a year, viz. until June 30, 1959, in order to prevent their rights

from lapsing ("preclusion").

The amount of compensation was subject to the determination of

benefits as defined in the Insurance Reestablishment Act 1955, which

provided that under explicit legal provisions it was admissible in many

cases only to render 40% of contractual payments. The amounts thus

disbursed were rather small, not least because of missing premiums or,

occasionally, due to policy loans that had previously been paid out. Other

reasons for poor benefits are related to the monetary reform of 1946 and

to the amounts insured, which were rather low by present-day standards.

4. Functions and limits of Austrian insurance supervision within the

Federal Ministry of Finance

In Article 18 para. 1 of the Federal Constitution Act, the

principle of legality is laid down as a pillar of the Austrian Federal

Constitution which provides that public administration must only be

executed on the basis of the law. The Insurance Supervisory Authority is

thus strictly obliged to observe legal limits in the discharge of its

supervisory duties with regard to insurance companies.

Apart from the system of substantive executive supervision, the

state also has to protect the interests of insured parties directly vis-à-vis

the insurance company, and indirectly by preserving the different

insurance enterprises and the insurance sector in its economic integrity.

The Insurance Supervisory Authority also deals with complaints

and inquiries about insurance contracts submitted to it by insured

persons. It is obliged to ensure that the insurers observe the applicable

rules regulating the operation of insurance contracts and the generally

accepted principles of proper business operation.
AUSTRIA 163

Even though it is considered desirable for insurers to offer

adequate goodwill payments in connection with Holocaust policies, the

Insurance Supervisory Authority has no legal means of coercing the

insurance industry to make payments on accommodating terms arising

from barred claims.

The Insurance Supervisory Authority may assist claimants in

identifying Austrian legal successors of Austrian insurers in connection

with "old policies" (e.g. in the case of name changes or asset transfers

within Austria). -Immediately after having been informed about the New

York class action in March/April 1998, the Insurance Supervisory

Authority also examined the fate of "old" life insurance policies

(assessment of the legal situation roughly starting in the 1930s, during

the Nazi period and the cancellation of forfeitures/confiscations of

insurance policies after the war in 1945; investigations in the State

Archives and in the insurance industry, more specifically with the

Association of Insurers as the interest group of the Austrian insurance

industry, as well as among insurance companies known to be affected).

Austrian Restitution of Works of Art

Background Information

Within the limits of the restitution laws adopted after the end of

WWII, the Republic of Austria returned, among other things, works of

art which were unjustly seized to their rightful owners or their legitimate

heirs. In certain unambiguous cases a formal restitution procedure was

deemed unnecessary. With the two art and culture restitution laws of

1969 and 1986, as well as the amendment of 1995 (which established a

legal foundation for the transfer of those works of art which could neither

be returned to their rightful owners nor to their legitimate heirs to the

Federation of Jewish Communities in Austria) the restitution legislation

found its conclusion.

Due to the results of a review of archival materials concerning

art restitution as well as concrete cases, which was begun in the 90's, it

was ordered in January 1998 that the archives of the federal museums

and collections as well as the Bundesdenkmalamt archives undergo a

systematic review in order to gain insight into the occurrences of the

period between 1938 and 1945, as well as into the restitution results after

the end of WWII. Independently, surveys were also carried out in the

collections of the „Bundesimmobilienverwaltung“. Within the Federal

Ministry for Education and Cultural Affairs, a "Commission for

Provenance Research" was appointed which was entrusted with the

assignment of systematically categorizing all of the acquired art objects

during the time in question, in order to clear up all questions about their

ownership during the National Socialist Rule and the immediate PostWar period.

The first results of the work of this Commission are now

available. The following categories of art objects have been identified:

1) Art and cultural objects which were retained under the law

prohibiting exportation of works of art and entered into the property of

Austrian museums and collections labeled as "Gifts" or "Dedications".

All works or art in this category have already been subject to restitution

and were thus returned to their rightful owners. These cases are

therefore thoroughly documented. In return for the granting of an export
166 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

allowance under the law prohibiting the exportation of art, it was agreed

upon with the owners who sought exportation that some of these pieces

should go to Austrian museums. From today's standpoint and based on

the fact that both the art and cultural restitution laws were explicitly

exempt from the application of the regulations of the statute prohibiting

exportation, the course of action chosen at that time is unjustifiable.

2) Art and cultural objects which legally became property of the

Federal Government, but were previously subject to a legal transaction

which has been declared void under the regulations of the so-called

"Nullity law" (Nichtigkeitsgesetz). After the war, several museum

directors purchased art works in good faith from authorized dealers,

whereas doubts to the origin of these works only emerged at a later time.

Several such cases have been discovered in the course of the Provenance

study.

3) Art and cultural objects which, despite restitution attempts,

were unable to be returned to their rightful owner or legitimate heirs and

thus became property of the Federal Government as ownerless goods.

With the present draft law, the legal foundation shall be laid in

order to return these art objects to their original owners or legitimate

heirs.

The law provides for an advisory board, which is assembled as

follows:

A Representative of the Federal Ministry for Education

A Representative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs

A Representative of the Federal Ministry for Justice

A Representative of the Federal Ministry for Defense

A Representative of the Finanzprokuratur (branch of the Ministry

for Finance)

A historian and art historian nominated by the Conference of

University Deans

It is the duty of the advisory board to give advice regarding the

determination of all persons to whom works of art shall be restituted. The

advisory board can invite additional experts to its meetings.

The statute prohibiting exportation does not apply to the law.

For this law the regulations of grants are freed from all taxes and duties.

The law applies to a period of 25 years.
AUSTRIA 167

Federal Minister Elisabeth Gehrer has stated during the

parliamentary debate of the new law that she will contact the nine federal

states, the various communities as well as other museums in Austria to

put a comparable initiative in place.

A progress report will be given before the end of the regular

session of parliament. Further reports will be given on a yearly basis.

3) Arguments and Facts:

a) Status of the review and order of magnitude of the objects in

question:

Category 1 para. 1, subpara. 1: Due to archival information

available to the Bundesdenkmalamt the dimension of this category can

be determined quite precisely. The review of the various museum’s

archives is, at this point, almost complete. This category encompasses

stock from 13 former collections, amounting altogether to approximately

405 catalog entries and approximately 500-600 object pieces (among

them coins and dishes). Well known names of these collections are,

among others; Rothschild, Lederer, Bloch-Bauer and Lanckoronski.

Category 2 para. 1, subpara. 2: This category deals with

purchases of the federal museums during WWII and their acquisitions

after the war. So far the provenance research brought to light a number

of cases, which total under 20. The study under this category is the least

advanced because research proves to be most difficult in these cases.

Category 3 para. 1, subpara. 3: Due to the recent and systematic

archival review, additional art works and objects have been discovered,

which belong under the category "Naziraubkunst" (artwork stolen by the

Nazis). At this moment, this category contains up to 200 objects. None

of them are „major pieces“ of art but rather furnishings (decorations)

and installation objects.

b) The law provides that ownerless goods or goods where no

heirs can be found shall be transferred to the National Fund for the

Victims of National Socialism. Concurrently with the adoption of the art

restitution law, the law governing the National Fund has also been

amended. Thereby the National Fund was authorized to transfer the

proceeds from the sale of these art works to victims of National

Socialism.
168 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

4) Additional questions:

Bloch-Bauer: There are claims from the family, which - given

today's level of information - fall under category 1 of the law and are

therefore governed by the new law. Further claims by the family must,

however, be looked into by the advisory board to determine whether or

not they fall under the restitution law.

Claims by the Mahler family: For these claims too, the advisory

board must examine archival materials in order to determine whether the

claims are legitimate according to the law.

Such cases which do not fall under any of the three categories of

the law and therefore cannot be restituted, should be looked into by the

Commission of Historians.

Leopold Museum (Leopold-Privatstiftung): Concerning the two

Schiele paintings in New York, the Leopold Foundation has been

advised (upon the initiative of Minister Gehrer) to propose to the New

York District Attorney that - after the return of the paintings to Vienna -

the Leopold Foundation will issue a legally binding waiver of its right to

a plea concerning the statute of limitations in these cases.

The actual return of property under the law can begin as soon as

the law enters into force (expected by the beginning of December 1998):

Federal Minister Gehrer has already written to the above mentioned

institutions and requested their nominations to the advisory board. The

nine federal states and communities were likewise contacted by the

Minister with the request to follow suit and take similar action. The

inauguration of this advisory board will take place in a first meeting on 9

December.
Austrian Historical Commission

Handout for the Washington Conference

The Historical Commission was established jointly by the

Austrian Federal Chancellor (i.e. Prime Minister), the Vice-Chancellor,

the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Speaker of the Federal

Council (i.e. the second chamber of the Austrian Parliament). The

Commission will be their agent.

The Commission's mandate is to investigate and report on the

whole complex of expropriations in Austria during the Nazi era and on

restitution and/or compensation (including other financial or social

benefits) after 1945 by the Republic of Austria (cf. the decision of the

Austrian Cabinet of 1 October 1998).

MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION

Prof. Clemens Jabloner, President of the Austrian Administrative

Court, Chairman,

Dr. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda,

Dr. Avraham Barkai,

Prof. Lorenz Mikoletzky, Director-General of the Austrian State

Archives,

Dr. Bertrand Perz,

Prof. Roman Sandgruber.

HOW THE MEMBERS WERE CHOSEN

One reputed foreign expert. The "Yad Vashem" Institute,

Jerusalem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC, and Mr.

Simon Wiesenthal, Vienna, were invited to draw up short list of three.

One Austrian economic and social historian. The heads of the

Departments of Economic and Social History of the Universities of
170 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Vienna, Linz, Innsbruck and Graz and of the Vienna University of

Economics were invited to draw up a short list of two.

Two Austrian experts on contemporary history. The heads of the

Departments of Contemporary History of the Universities of Vienna,

Graz, Linz and Innsbruck, the head of the History Department of

Salzburg University, the head of the Contemporary History Section of

the History Department of the University of Klagenfurt and the head of

the Boltzmann Institute for Research into the Consequences of the War,

who also heads the Documentation Archive of Austrian (Anti-Nazi)

Resistance, were invited to draw up a short list of four.

From the nominations submitted by these organizations, the

Austrian Federal Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, the Speaker of the

National Assembly and the Speaker of the Federal Council selected the

members of the Commission. The Commission's Secretariat is at the

Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, 1030 Wien,

Nottendorfer Gasse 2, phone +43 1 79540/180 or 181, fax +43 1

79540/186, e-mail hiskom@oesta.gv.at).

The constituent session of the Commission will take place on 26

November 1998. The agenda will include the following items: rules of

procedure; should the Commission's sessions be public or private;

outlines of the Commission's work program; suggestions on methods to

be used; organizational requirements; time schedule; budget. As required

by its mandate, the Commission will announce its general work program

within 3 months of its constituent session.

The Commission's budget is part of the Austrian Parliament's

Budget. The Commission will probably submit intermediate "Progress

Reports" from time to time. In addition to the work of its members, the

Commission will subcontract some research work to outside historians in

order to speed up its work and make it more efficient.

As the Federal Chancellor said in the Cabinet on proposing the

Commission, the object of the exercise is to make "another significant

step towards an objective, transparent, independent and comprehensive

coming to terms with one of the most painful chapters" of the history of

the Republic of Austria.
AUSTRIA 171

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION

1. Clemens Jabloner

Born 28 November 1948, Vienna.

Studied law at Vienna University

June 1972 Graduated as Doctor of Law

1975 Assistant in public law, Vienna Economic

University

1 January 1976 Assistant, Institute for Public and Administrative

Law, Vienna University

1 March 1978 Seconded to Federal Chancellery, Department of

Legal Advisers

1982 Appointed head of media subdivision of that

Department

December 1989 Appointed head of the Civil Service Department,

Federal Chancellery

1988 Habilitation as lecturer (Dozent) in constitutional

law, Vienna University (under Prof. Walter)

1993 Chosen to be Second Executive Secretary of the

Hans Kelsen Institute; received title of

"Associate Professor" from Federal President

1 December 1991 Appointed Vice-President of the Administrative

Court

1 April 1993 Appointed President of the Administrative Court

1 October 1998 Appointed Chairman of the Historical

Commission

Dr. Jabloner continues to lecture at the university and to publish

on law and legal philosophy.
172 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Selected publications

* With R. Walter, Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) - Leben-Werk-Wirkung

[on the life, work and echo of Hans Kelsen], in: Luther, Stiefel and

Hoeflich (ed.), Der Einfluß deutscher Emigranten auf die

Rechtsentwicklung in den USA und in Deutschland [The Influence of

German Emigrés on Legal Developments in the USA and Germany]

(1993), p. 521 (part IV);

* "Kelsen" in: Schlink and Jacobson (ed.), Weimar: A Jurisprudence of

Crisis (in preparation);

* "Menschenbild und Friedenssicherung" [The Concept of Man and

Action to Secure Peace], in: Walter and Jabloner (ed.), Hans Kelsens

Wege sozialphilosophischer Forschung [on Kelsen's approach to

social philosophy ](1997), 57;

* "Der Bundesstaat und die Gerichtbarkeit des öffentlichen Rechts"

[The Federal System of Government and Public Law Courts], in:

Schambeck (ed.), Bundesstaat und Bundesrat in Österreich [on the

federal system and the second chamber of parliament in Austria]

(1997), 135;

* "Legal Techniques and Theory of Civilization - Remarks on Hans

Kelsen and Carl Schmitt", in: Dinerand Stolleis, Hans Kelsen and

Carl Schmitt. A Conference in Legal History (1998) (in preparation).

2. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda

Born 1952, Vienna

Studied social science, economics and history at Vienna

University (Master of Social and Economic Science, Dr. phil.)

Since 1979 Staff member of Documentation Archive of

Austrian Resistance

Since 1993-94 Instructor, Institute of Political Science, Vienna

University
AUSTRIA 173

Dr. Bailer-Galanda has researched and published on the Nazi era

in Austria, particularly on the resistance movement and Nazi persecution,

and on racism and rightist extremism after 1945 with special emphasis

on Nazi apologists and Holocaust deniers as well as the problems of

compensation for Nazi victims and the Austrian response to the country's

Nazi past in general.

Selected publications

Own publications or co-editor:

Wiedergutmachung - kein Thema. Österreich und die Opfer des

Nationalsozialismus [Compensation - Not a Suitable Subject: Austria and

the Victims of Nazism], Vienna 1993;

With Wolfgang Neugebauer, "... ihrer Überzeugung treu

geblieben". Rechtsextremisten, "Revisionisten" und Antisemiten in

Österreich [on the extreme right, revisionism and anti-Semitism in

Austria], Stiftung Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen

Widerstandes [Foundation for the Documentation Archive of Austrian

Resistance] (ed.), Vienna 1996;

Co-editor and contributor with Wolfgang Benz and Wolfgang

Neugebauer, Wahrheit und "Auschwitzlüge". Zur Bekämpfung

"revisionistischer" Propaganda [Truth and "Auschwitz Lie". How to

counter revisionist propaganda], Vienna 1995, expanded edition under

licence in Germany;

Die Auschwitzleugner. "Revisionistische" Geschichtslüge und

historische Wahrheit [Those Who Deny Auschwitz: "Revisionist"

Historical Lies and Historical Truth], Berlin 1996 (co-editor and

contributor).

Contributor:

* Erzählte Geschichte. Berichte von Widerstandkämpfern und

Verfolgern und Verfolgten, Vol. 1: Arbeiterbewegung [Vol. 1 -

dealing with the workers' movement - of an oral history collection

featuring resistance fighters, persecutors and persecuted people], ed.
174 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Stiftung Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes,

Vienna 1985 (contributor and project director);

* Jüdische Schicksale, Berichte von Verfolgten [Jewish Stories:

Reports by Persecuted Persons], ed. Stiftung Dokumentationsarchiv

des österreichischen Widerstandes, Vienna 1992 (vol. 3 of Erzählte

Geschichte [Oral History]), (contributor and project director);

* "Verfolgt und vergessen. Die Diskriminierung einzelner

Opfergruppen durch die Opferfürsorgegesetzgebung" [on

discrimination against certain categories of victims in Austrian

legislation], in: Yearbook 1992, Dokumentationsarchiv des

österreichischen Widerstandes, pp. 13-25, Vienna 1992;

* "'Ohne den Staat weiter damit zu belasten ...' Bemerkungen zur

österreichischen Rückstellungsgesetzgebung" ["Without Creating

Additional Burdens for the State": Notes on Austrian Restitution

Legislation] in: Zeitgeschichte 11/12 (1993), pp. 367-381;

* "Gleiches Recht für alle? Die Behandlung von Opfern und Tätern

des Nationalsozialismus durch die Republik Österreich" [Equal

Rights for All? The Treatment of Nazi Victims and Nazi Perpetrators

by the Republic of Austria], in: Der Umgang mit dem Holocaust.

Europa-USA-Israel [Coming to Terms with the Holocaust: EuropeUSA-Israel], ed. Rolf Steininger, pp. 183-197 Vienna, Cologne and

Weimar 1994 (Publications of the Contemporary History Department

of Innsbruck University and the Jewish Museum of Hohenems, Vol.

1);

* "Anschreiben gegen die Leugner, Neue Literatur zum Thema

"Revisionismus'" [Writing against the Deniers: New Literature on

the Subject of "Revisionism"], in: Jahrbuch für

Antisemitismusforschung [Yearbook for Research on AntiSemitism], ed. Wolfgang Benz for the Centre for Research on AntiSemitism of the Berlin Technical University, pp. 287-300, Frankfurt

and New York 1995;

* "Das Konzentrationslager Mauthausen" (Mauthausen Concentration

Camp) in: Simon Wiesenthal, Denn sie wußten, was sie tun.

Zeichnungen und Aufzeichnungen aus dem KZ Mauthausen [For
AUSTRIA 175

They Knew What They Were Doing: Drawings and Notes from

Mauthausen Concentration Camp], pp. 11-13, Vienna 1995;

* "'Alle haben gleich gelitten?' Antisemitismus in der

Auseinandersetzung um die sogenannte 'Wiedergutmachung'" [All

Suffered to the Same Extent? Anti-Semitism in the Debate about SoCalled 'Reparation'], in: Die Macht der Bilder. Antisemitische

Vorurteile und Mythen [The Power of Images: Anti-Semitic

Prejudices and Myths], ed. Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien

[Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna], pp. 333-345, Vienna 1995;

* "Die sogenannte 'Auschwitz-Lüge' - neue Ausdruckform für

althergebrachten Antisemitismus" [The So-Called 'Auschwitz Lie' - a

New Expression of Traditional Anti-Semitism], in: Die Macht der

Bilder. Antisemitische Vorurteile und Mythen, ed. Jüdisches Museum

der Stadt Wien, pp. 360-365, Vienna 1995;

* "Alle waren Opfer. Der selektive Umgang mit den Folgen des

Nationalsozialismus" [They Were All Victims: The Selective

Treatment of the Consequences of Nazism], in: Wolfgang Kos and

Georg Rigele (ed.) Inventur 45/55. Österreich im ersten Jahrzehnt

der Zweiten Republik [Stocktaking 45-55: Austria in the First Decade

of the Second Republic], pp. 181-200, Vienna 1996.

In English:

* "They Were All Victims: The Selective Treatment of the

Consequences of National Socialism", in: Günter Bischof and Anton

Pelinka (ed.), Austrian Historical Memory and National Identity,

New Brunswick Austrian Contemporary Studies, Vol. 5), London

1996;

* "'Revisionism" in Germany and Austria: The Evolution of a

Doctrine", in: Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia in Germany after

Unification, ed. Hermann Kurthen, Rainer Erb and Werner

Bergmann, New York and Oxford 1997.
176 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

3. Avraham Barkai

Born 1921, Berlin.

1938-1940 Emigrated to Palestine, student of agriculture at

Mikveh, Israel

since 1941 Member of Kibbutz Lehaveth Habashan

1977 Ph.D., Tel Aviv University in History of

Economics, since 1986 part-time assistantprofessor at the Tel-Hai-College, Israel.

Visiting professor at Israeli and foreign universities

Member of the historical commission investigating the history of

Deutsche Bank under the Nazis (report has been submitted)

Member of the Board of Directors(1994-1997 chairman), Leo

Baeck Institute, Jerusalem

Currently Research Fellow at Yad Vashem's International Center

for Holocaust Studies where he is researching the history of

"Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens", 1893-1938,

the largest and most representative German-Jewish organization.

Selected publications

* Vom Boykott zur Entjudung. Der wirtschaftliche Existenzkampf der

Juden im Dritten Reich 1933-1943, 1988 [about the economic

struggle for survival of Jews in Nazi Germany] ; Engl. ed. From

Boycott to Annihilation, Hanover: Brandeis UP 1989;

* Das Wirtschaftssystem des Nationalsozialismus (1st ed. 1977, 2nd

enlarged ed. 1989, Engl. ed. Nazi Economics. Ideology, Theory,

Policy, New Haven: Yale UP and Oxford, UK: Berg 1990);

* Jüdische Minderheit und Industrialisierung in Westdeutschland

1850-1914 [The Jewish Minority and Industrialization in West

Germany, 1850-1914] (1988);
AUSTRIA 177

* With Paul Mendes Flohr, Deutsch-Jüdische Geschichte in der

Neuzeit [German-Jewish History in the Modern Age, Vol. IV, 1918-

1945] (1997), Engl. edition New York: Columbia UP 1998;

* Many essays and conference papers on German Jewish history, the

ideology, economics and politics of Nazis, the Holocaust etc.

4. Lorenz Mikoletzky

Born 12 May 1945, Vienna.

1964-1969 Studied history and classical archaeology at

Vienna University

1969 Graduated as Dr. phil., joined Austrian State

Archives

1 February 1991 Appointed head of General Administrative

Archive

1 July 1991 Promoted to Hofrat (Chief Archivist)

1 July 1994 Appointed Director-General of Austrian State

Archives and Chairman of Central Archives

Office

13 January 1993 Appointed Honorary Professor of Modern

Austrian History, Faculty of Letters and

Humanities, Vienna University

International Activities (inter alia):

Member, Executive Committee of the International Council on Archives,

for Europe and North America

Austrian representative in CIBAL (Comité et Centre International d'

information sur les sources de l'histoire balkanique et

méditerranéenne).
178 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Work in academic commissions and organizations:

Honorary member of the Historical Commission of the Grand Duchy of

Luxembourg

Honorary member of the Association of Romanian Archivists

Executive Vice-President of the Union of Austrian Historians and

Historical Associations

Member of the Board of the Commission for Austrian Modern History

Member of the Board of Curators of the Documentation Archive of

Austrian Resistance

Member of the Board of the Austro-Polish Society

Member of the Letters and Humanities Committee of the Austrian

Commission for UNESCO

Selected publications

* "The Independence of Economics and Politics. An Example from the

Austro-Russian Alliance during the Napeolonic Wars", in: The

Journal of European History, 2/2, 1973, pp. 355-362;

* "Le recensement des archives des firmes et des entreprises en

Autriche: état actuel" [The Present State of the Inventorization of

Business Archives in Austria], in: Bulletin du Comité des Archives

d'Entreprises 3/1980, pp. 21-26;

* "Josef Bürckels Dienststelle und die Steiermark 1938/39.

Ausgewählte Materialien aus dem Amt des Reichskommissars für

die Wiedervereinigung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich" [Josef

Bürckel's Office and Styria, 1938-39. Selected Materials from the

Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria

with the German Reich] in: Siedlung, Macht und Wirtschaft

[Settlement, Power and the Economy], 1981, pp. 281-291;

* "Bibliographie zum 12. Februar 1934. Eine Auswahl" [Selected

Bibliography on 12 February 1934] in: Erwachsenenbildung in

Österreich [Adult Education in Austria] 4B/1983, pp. 11-13;

* "Überblick über das österreichische Archivwesen seit dem Zweiten

Weltkrieg" [Survey of Austrian Archival Work since World War II],

in: Archives et Bibliothèques de Belgique, LV/1-4/1984, pp. 73-83;
AUSTRIA 179

* "Österreichische Parlaments- und Parteiarchive" [Austrian

Parliamentary and Party Archives], in: Archives et Bibliothèques de

Belgique, LX/3-4/1989, pp. 77-81;

* "Das Österreichische Staatsarchiv und das Problem der

Massenaktenbewältigung" [The Austrian State Archives and the

Problem of Handling Large Quantities of Files], in: Scrinium 44/45,

1991, pp. 206-210;

* "Austrian Archival Work - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", in:

Bulgarische Archivzeitschrift 1-2/1995, pp. 77-87 (in Bulgarian);

* "Die österreichischen Archive und Europa - Das Österreichische

Staatsarchiv" [Austria's Archives and Europe - The Austrian State

Archives] in: Scrinium 49/1995, pp. 451-455;

* Archives of the Holocaust. An International Collection of Selected

Documents, Vol. 21: Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv, Archiv der

Republik [General Administrative Archive and Archive of the

Republic], Vienna, New York and London 1995.

5. Bertrand Perz

Born 9 February 1958, Linz.

Studied history and for some semesters geology, philosophy and

art history at Vienna University. In lieu of military service, served at the

Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance. Doctoral dissertation

supervised by Karl Stuhlpfarrer (with Erika Weinzierl as second

examiner) at Department of Contemporary History, Vienna University,

subject: "Melk Concentration Camp: Expansion of the Armament

Industry and Forced Labour by Concentration Camp Prisoners at the

Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG Company". Graduated as Dr. phil., 1990.

Since 1981 Contributed to numerous research projects at the

Contemporary History Department, University

of Vienna, on subjects such as Nazi

concentration camps and ghettos, forced labour,

the Holocaust, the culture of remembrance and

commemorative shrines at concentration camps
180 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

1982-1987 Member of the Commission for Research into

Resistance and Persecution in Lower Austria in

preparation of the publication of the same name

1991-1992 Expert for the Duisburg Regional Court

(Germany) in the criminal trial of former

member SS guards of Wiener Neudorf

concentration camp

since the academic

year 1991-92 Instructor, Contemporary History Department,

Vienna University, conducting classes inter alia

on Nazism and its impact on cultural history and

the history of technology

1992 With Gottfried Fliedl planned and did the

historical work for the permanent exhibit on the

history of Melk concentration camp opened in

Melk on 8 May 1992

1993-1995 Member and coordinator of the international

commission of experts appointed by the Federal

Minister of Education and Art for the

Mauthausen commemorative shrine

1995-1996 Instructor, Contemporary History Department,

Innsbruck University

since 1997 Staff member of the Independent Commission of

Experts on Switzerland in World War II (Bergier

Commission)

Secretary of Forschungsgemeinschaft zur

Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus

(organization of researchers working on the

history of Nazism)

since 1 July 1998 Holder of a fellowship from the Hamburg

Foundation for the Encouragement of Science

and Culture to enable him to work on his
AUSTRIA 181

habilitation thesis the subject of which will be

the department run by Odilo Globocnik as SS

and police chief in Lublin (organization and

personnel).

Selected publications

Self-contained

* With Florian Freund, Das KZ in der Serbenhalle. Zur

Kriegsindustrie in Wiener Neustadt [on a concentration camp

connected with war industries in the town of Wiener Neustadt],

Vienna 1988;

* Projekt Quarz. Steyr-Daimler-Puch und das Konzentrationslager

Melk [The Quartz Project: Steyr-Daimler-Puch and Melk

Concentration Camp], Vienna 1991;

* Konzentrationslager Melk. Begleitbroschüre zur ständigen

Ausstellung in der Gedenkstätte des ehemaligen

Konzentrationslagers Melk [Visitor's handbook for the

commemorative shrine in Melk] (with a contribution by Gottfried

Fliedl), Vienna 1992;

* Il campo di concentramento di Melk. "Commando" di Mauthausen -

Impianto sotteraneo "Quarz", Burolo (TO) 1993 (enlarged Italian

version of the Melk brochure).

Essays

* With Hans Safrian, "Wege und Irrwege der Faschismusforschung"

[Routes and Wrong Turnings of Research on Fascism], in:

Zeitgeschichte, 11/12 (1980), pp. 437 ff;

* Joint editor with Hans Safrian and Karl Stuhlpfarrer of Faschismus

in Österreich und International [Austrian and International Fascism].

Yearbook 1980-81 of the Austrian Society for Contemporary

History, Vienna 1982;
182 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

* With Werner Eichbauer and Florian Freund, Die Außenlager des KZ

Mauthausen in Niederösterreich [The Sub-camps of the Mauthausen

Concentration Camp in Lower Austria] in: Widerstand und

Verfolgung in Niederösterreich [Resistance and Persecution in

Lower Austria], Vol. 3, pp. 602-631, Vienna 1987;

* With Florian Freund, "Industrialisierung durch Zwangsarbeit"

[Industrialization through Forced Labour] in: Emmerich Talos, Ernst

Hanisch and Wolfgang Neugebauer (ed.), NS-Herrschaft in

Österreich 1938-1945 [Nazi Rule in Austria 1938-1945], pp. 95-114,

Vienna 1988;

* "Die Errichtung eines Konzentrationslagers in Wiener Neudorf. Zum

Zusammenhang von Rüstungsexpansion und Zwangsarbeit von KZHäftlingen" [The establishment of a Concentration Camp in Wiener

Neudorf: the Connection between Armament Expansion and Forced

Labour by Concentration Camp Prisoners], in:

Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes (ed.),

Jahrbuch 1988 [Yearbook], pp. 88-116, Vienna 1988;

* "Der Todesmarsch von Wiener Neudorf nach Mauthausen. Eine

Dokumentation" [The Death March from Wiener Neudorf to

Mauthausen: Documents], in: Dokumentationsarchiv des

Österreichischen Widerstandes (ed.), Jahrbuch 1988 [Yearbook], pp.

117-137, Vienna 1988;

* "Steyr-Münichholz, ein Konzentrationslager der Steyr-Daimler-Puch

AG, Zur Genese der Zwangsarbeit in der Rüstungsindustrie" [SteyrMünichholz, a Concentration Camp of Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG:

Notes on the Genesis of Forced Labour in the Armament Industry],

in: Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes (ed.),

Jahrbuch 1989, pp. 57-61, Vienna 1989;

* With Florian Freund and Karl Stuhlpfarrer, "Das Getto in

Litzmannstadt (Lodz)" [The Ghetto in Litzmannstadt, i.e. Lodz] in:

"Unser einziger Weg ist Arbeit." Das Getto in Lodz 1940-1944 ["Our

Only Way Is Work. The Lodz Ghetto, 1940-1944], ed. Jewish

Museum, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 17-31, Vienna 1990;

* With Florian Freund and Karl Stuhlpfarrer, "Bildergeschichten -

Geschichtsbilder" [Pictorial Histories, Historical Pictures], in:
AUSTRIA 183

"Unser einziger Weg ist Arbeit". Das Getto in Lodz 1940-1944, ed.

Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 50-59, Vienna 1990;

* With Florian Freund and Karl Stuhlpfarrer, selection of colour slides

from the archives of the German ghetto administration in Lodz

(including quotes), in: "Unser einziger Weg ist Arbeit". Das Getto in

Lodz 1940-1944, ed. Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 50-59,

Vienna 1990;

* With Florian Freund, "Fremdarbeiter und KZ-Häftlinge in der

'Ostmark'" (Foreign Workers and Concentration Camp Prisoners in

Nazi-Occupied Austria), in: Ulrich Herbert (ed.), Europa und der

"Reichseinsatz". Ausländische Zivilarbeiter, Kriegsgefangene und

KZ-Häftlinge in Deutschland 1938-1945 [Europe and "Assignment

for the Reich": Foreign Civilian Workers, Prisoners of War and

Concentration Camp Prisoners in Germany, 1938-1945], pp. 317-

350, Essen 1991;

* With Florian Freund and Karl Stuhlpfarrer, "Farbdias aus dem

Ghetto Lodz" [Colour Slides from Lodz Ghetto], in: Zeitgeschichte

18 (1990/91) No. 9/10, pp. 271-303;

* With Gottfried Fliedl, Florian Freund and Eduard Fuchs, "Den Toten

zur Ehr - den Lebenden zur Lehr?" [To Honour the Dead and to

Teach the Living a Lesson?] in: Österreichische Zeitschrift für

Geschichtswissenschaften 2 (1991), No. 4;

* With Florian Freund and Karl Stuhlpfarrer, "Der Bau des

Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz-Birkenau. Die Aktenmappe der

Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz 'Vorhaben Kriegsgefangenenlager

Auschwitz (Durchführung der Sonderbehandlung)' im

Militärhistorischen Archiv Prag" [The Construction of AuschwitzBirkenau Annihilation Camp: The Files of the Auschwitz Central

Construction Management on "Project POW: Camp Auschwitz

(Application of Special Treatment)"], in: Zeitgeschichte 20 (1993),

No. 5/6, pp. 187-214);

* "Rüstungsindustrie in Wiener Neustadt 1938-1945" [Armament

Industries in Wiener Neustadt, 1938-1945], in: Sylvia Hahn and Karl

Flanner (ed.), "Die Wienerische Neustadt", Handwerk, Handel und
184 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Militär in der Steinfeldstadt [Crafts, Trade and the Military in

Wiener Neustadt], pp. 47-90, Wien, Cologne and Weimar 1994;

* "Perspektiven der österreichischen Forschung zu Zwangsarbeit und

Arbeitsmigration im Nationalsozialismus" [Perspectives of Austrian

Research on Forced Labour and Worker Migration under Nazism],

in: Österreichischer Zeitgeschichtetag Innsbruck 1993 [Proceedings

of the 1993 Congress of Austrian Contemporary Historians], ed.

Ingrid Böhler and Rolf Steininger, p. 209-215, Innsbruck and Vienna

1995;

* "Das Konzentrationslager Mauthausen in der historischen

Forschung" [Mauthausen Concentration Camp as Reflected in

Historical Research], in: Nouvelles recherches sur l'univers

concentrationnaire et d'extermination nazi. Revue d'Allemagne et des

pays de langue allemande, vol. 27, No. 2 - April/June 1995, pp. 265-

274;

* "'Auf Wunsch des Führers ...'. Der Bau von Luftschutzstollen in Linz

durch Häftlinge des Konzentrationslagers Linz II" ["It is the Führer's

Wish" The Building of Air-Raid Dugouts by Prisoners rom

Concentration Camp Linz II], in: Zeitgeschichte, 22nd Year,

September/October 1995, No. 9/10, pp. 342-346;

* "Politisches Management im Wirtschaftskonzern. Georg Meindl und

die Rolle des Staatskonzerns Steyr-Daimler-Puch bei der

Verwirklichung der NS-Wirtschaftsziele in Österreich" [Political

Management in a Business Concern: Georg Meindl and the Role of

the State-Owned Steyr-Daimler-Puch Company in the

Implementation of Nazi Economic Objectives in Austria], in:

Hermann Kaienburg (ed.), Konzentrationslager und deutsche

Wirtschaft 1939-1945 [Concentration Camps and the German

Economy, 1939-1945], pp. 95-112, Opladen 1996;

* "Das Ghetto in Lodz und die Errichtung des Vernichtungslagers

Chelmno-Kulmhof" [The Ghetto in Lodz and the Construction of

Chelmno-Kulmhof Annihilation Camp], in: Österreichischer

Zeitgeschichtetag Linz 1995, Österreich - 50 Jahre Zweite Republik

[Proceedings of the 1995 Congress of Austrian Contemporary

Historians in Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Second
AUSTRIA 185

Republic], Rudolf G. Ardelt und Christian Gerbel (ed.), pp. 220-224,

Innsbruck 1996;

* As member of the historical staff, co-authored the report of the Swiss

Commission on gold transactions in World War II (Bericht der

Unabhängigen Expertenkommission: Schweiz - Zweiter Weltkrieg:

Goldtransaktionen im Zweiten Weltkrieg: Kommentierte statistische

Übersicht. Ein Beitrag zur Goldkonferenz in London, 2.-4. Dezember

1997), Berne 1997;

* "Der Arbeitseinsatz im KZ Mauthausen" [Work Assignments in

Mauthausen Concentration Camp], in: Die nationalsozialistischen

Konzentrationslager - Entwicklung und Struktur [The Nazi

Concentration Camps - Development and Structure], Ulrich Herbert,

Karin Orth and Christoph Dieckmann (ed.), pp. 533-557, Göttingen

1998;

* (In the press): "'Selbst die Sonne schien damals ganz anders ...'. Die

Entstehung der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen 1945-1970" ["Even the

Sun Shone Quite Differently Then..." The Genesis of the Camp

Shrine in Mauthausen], in: Steinernes Bewußtsein. Die öffentliche

Repräsentation staatlicher und nationaler Identität Österreichs in

seinen Denkmälern [Remembrance in Stone: The Public

Representation of Austria's Statehood and National Identity in Her

Monuments], Vol. 2, Heidemarie Uhl (ed.), Vienna, Cologne and

Weimar (to be published spring 1999).

6. Roman Sandgruber

Born 20 February 1947, Rohrbach, Upper Austria

1965-1971 Studied history, German literature and

economics at Vienna University

1972-1988 Assistant, Department for Social and Economic

History, University of Vienna (under Professors

Alfred Hoffmann and Michael Mitterauer)

1982 Habilitation as lecturer (Dozent) in Economic

and Social History, Vienna University
186 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

since 1982 Full Professor and Head of the Department of

Economic and Social History, Linz University

since 1995 Corresponding Member of the Austrian

Academy of Science

since 1996 Chairman of the Senate of Linz University

1998 Academic Director of the Upper Austrian

Regional Exhibition 1998, "Land of Hammers -

Iron Ore Land" and Chairman of the Academic

Advisory Committee of the "Iron Road" regional

association in Upper Austria

Chairman, Economic History Section, Union of

Austrian Historians and Historical Associations

Prof. Sandgruber has published a comprehensive account of the

economic history of Austria from the Middle Ages to the present

(Ökonomie und Politik. Wirtschaftsgeschichte Österreichs vom

Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Vienna 1995) in the ten-volume series

Österreichische Geschichte. In this book, he deals inter alia with the

question of confiscations of property, forced labour, restitution and

various forms of compensation. He has also done research on the history

of Austrian farming, the iron industry in the Alps, historical statistics,

demand patterns in the age of industrialization, the history of everyday

life, the changing environment and general Austrian economic and social

history in the 20th century. He has published seven monographs and

about 150 articles in academic journals and collections of essays (see

below). He is a regular contributor to a number of daily papers and

magazines.

In addition to numerous smaller awards, he has been honoured

with the Sandoz Prize for distinguished research achievements (1987),

the Karl von Vogelsang Prize from the Austrian government (1988) and

the Economic Research Award of the state government of Upper Austria

(1990).
AUSTRIA 187

Selected publications

Self-contained

* Ökonomie und Politik, Österreichische Wirtschaftsgeschichte vom

Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (Vol, 10 of Österreichische

Geschichte, a series of publications on Austrian history ed. by

Herwig Wolfram), Vienna 1995 (see above);

Essays

* "Rollenverständnis in Bauern-, Heimarbeiter- und

Industriearbeiterfamilien Österreichs im 18., 19. und 20.

Jahrhundert" [Role Perception in Peasant, Homeworker and

Industrial Worker Families in Austria in the 18th, 19th and 20th

Centuries] in: Peter Borscheid and Hans J. Treuteberg (ed.), Ehe,

Liebe, Tod [Marriage, Love and Death], pp. 135-149, Munich 1983;

* "Die Postsparkassensparer. Sozialstruktur und Alltagsleben im

Lichte von Bankkunden" [The Postal Savings Bank Savers: Social

Structure and Everyday Life in the Light of Bank Customers], in:

Roland Löffler and Michael Wagner (ed.), Stillstand ist Rückschritt.

Der erste Postsparkassen-Gouverneur 1910 [Standstill Means

Retrogression: The First Governor of the Postal Savings Bank,

1910], pp. 43-67, Vienna 1986;

* "Von der Ersten zur Dritten Republik. Stationen eines erstaunlichen

Weges durch das 20. Jahrhundert" [From the First to the Third

Republic: Stages of an Amazing Progress through the 20th Century],

in: Standort Österreich. Über Kultur, Wirtschaft und Politik im

Wandel [Location Austria: Culture, Economy and Politics in a Period

of Change], ed. Gerd Bacher, Karl Schwarzenberg and Josef Taus,

pp. 287-316, Graz 1990;

* "The Industrial Tradition in Lower Austria", in: John Komlos (ed.)

Economic Development in the Habsburg Monarchy and in the

Successor States, pp. 303-316, New York 1990;

* "Le cooperative in Austria: sviluppo storico e struttura attuale"

[Cooperatives in Austria: History and Present Structure], in:

Cooperazione di credito. Rivista trimestale di cultura cooperativa
188 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

[Italian journal of the Cooperative Movement], No. 126, 41st Year,

pp. 413-422, 1989;

* "Österreich 1650-1850" [Austria 1650-1850], in: Handbuch der

europäischen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte [Handbook of

European Economic and Social History], Vol. 4, ed. by Ilja Mieck,

pp. 619-687, Stuttgart 1993;

* With Vera Mühlpeck and Hannelore Woitek, "The Consumer Price

Index from 1800 to 1914. A Calculation in Retrospective for Vienna

and the Contemporary Territory of Austria", reprinted in: Herbert

Matis (ed.), The Economic Development of Austria since 1870, pp.

199-229, Cambridge 1994;

* "Der 'lange Schatten' der österreichischen Wirtschaftspolitik" [The

"Long Shadow" of Austrian Economic Policy], in: Information zur

politischen Bildung [Political Education Information Sheet] 1996,

No. 11, pp. 43-56.

* "Spiegel von Wirtschaftsrechnungen und Lebenserinnerungen"

[Reflecting Mirror: Economic Accounts and Biographical

Reminiscences], in: Wiener Wege der Sozialgeschichte. Themen -

Perspektiven - Vermittlungen. Michael Mitterauer zum 60.

Geburtstag [Festschrift to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prof,

Michael Mitterauer], pp. 299-334, Vienna 1997.
Gold Transactions Carried out by the

Oesterreichische Nationalbank during

Austria's Occupation (1938-1945), and the

History of the so-called Salzburg Gold

Summary of the preliminary report of Fritz Weber

(English translation of the German original)

On Austria's Anschluss to Nazi Germany, the Oesterreichische

Nationalbank (OeNB) de facto lost its independence immediately; de

iure its independence was taken away a few days later on March 17,

1938, through a decree which stipulated that the OeNB was to be

liquidated and put under the Reichsbank's control. Another decree, dated

April 23, 1938, declared the OeNB's right to issue banknotes null and

void. All the OeNB's gold and foreign currency holdings – which at the

time of the Anschluss exceeded the Reichsbank's holdings – became

Reichsbank property. Moreover, the German Foreign Exchange Act,

which as of March 23, 1938, superseded the Austrian regulations hitherto

applicable, made it compulsory for all private holdings of gold bars to be

registered with the Reichsbank. This obligation was subsequently

extended to include gold coins through a decree dated July 16, 1938.

The body which purchased the gold assets delivered to the OeNB

between March 17 and April 25, 1938, was technically still the OeNB

under liquidation; as is evident from the OeNB's records, these assets

were at a later stage credited to the OeNB's liquidation account by the

Reichsbank. The assets in question had not been sold under duress; much

rather it was the premium on the German gold price that was offered in

Vienna which had spurred those deals (which also explains why there

were gold coins among the assets bought).

Beyond those gold purchases, there is no evidence in the OeNB's

archives of any other transactions with gold during the period 1938 to

1945 (with the sole exception of the Reichsbank's gold transports to the

Balkans via Vienna − for this mission, gold shipped by train from Berlin

was temporarily stored at the Reichsbankhauptstelle, or Vienna branch of

the Reichsbank, before being transported onward by plane).
190 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

This evidence shows that the OeNB did not profit from the gold

transactions carried out under the Nazi regime. Likewise the OeNB did

not benefit illegally from the so-called Salzburg gold that was detected

on Austrian territory in May and June 1945 and subsequently transferred

to the OeNB by the U.S. occupation forces in 1947, because these gold

assets were entered in the books as a down-payment for amounts that

would in any case have been restituted to Austria by the Tripartite

Commission.
BELARUS

Delegation Statement

The problems viewed at the conference are of great importance

for the mankind. The cooperation and mutual understanding of nations

depend greatly on how fairly these problems are going to be resolved.

Immediately after the London Conference Belarus came back to

the problem of Nazi gold: documents in national archives, as well as in

those of Germany and Russia were thoroughly studied.

This research resulted in the collection of documents "Nazi Gold

from Belarus" published in September, 1998, which had included 46

documents containing data on gold, silver and other jewelry confiscated

by the Nazis from the population of Belarus and sent to the Reich.

Out of the book's 410 pages, 185 pages are devoted to the

documented lists of persons whose jewelry had been confiscated by the

Nazis. They are Belarusians and Jews, Russians and Poles, Ukrainians

and Tartars, and people of other nationalities. It's worth noting that the

research included documents and materials dealing mainly with the

central part of Belarus (during the Nazi occupation it formed the General

Region of Byelorussia incorporated into the Ostland Reichkommissariat)

which accounts for a quarter of today's territory of the country. The

remaining part of the Belarusian territory was under the authority of the

military occupation administration of the Center Army Group Rear and

the General Regions of Bialostok and Lithuania. Therefore, the real

number of citizens whose jewelry was confiscated by the Nazis is much

larger.

Work on this collection of documents leads to the conclusion

that citizens of Belarus have their full right to demand that their country

be included into the group of states which will be compensated for the

assets confiscated from them. We do hope that our research will be

taken into account when deciding finally the fate of Nazi gold.

The second very important question viewed at this conference

deals with the Nazi-confiscated works of art, property and documents of

national archives and museums. This problem is very acute for Belarus,

too, because it was among the most Nazi-stricken countries in Europe.
192 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

During the W.W.II a great number of the works of art, property of

national museums, documents and publications of national archives and

libraries were taken away from the country, the rest was completely or

partially destroyed. Similar to Germany of the 30s where the Nazis

burned books of Goethe, Schiller, Heine, they destroyed national

masterpieces in Belarus of the 40s. Who and how will compensate these

irretrievable losses?

The damage (far from being complete) inflicted only by the

taking away to Germany of more than 11 thousand museum exhibits

amounted to 163 mln. pre-war roubles or nearly the same value in US

dollars. Only a part of them were returned back to Belarus.

There are documents on that score from German, Russian and

Belarusian archives.

In 1997, Belarus hosted the UNESCO-sponsored Conference on

the Restitution of Cultural Values which considered the legal, scientific

and moral aspects of this problem. What is the Belarusian vision of its

solution? We believe that the cultural values, in case of their

misappropriation during or after the W.W.II, must be returned to their

countries of origin or their private owners.

Further, we consider it necessary:

• to carry out the systematization of international legal acts on

restitution and returning of cultural values to the countries of

their origin and set up common international standards;

• to bring national legislations in conformity with international

standards;

• to continue work on creating national databases of lost cultural

values. With that end in view it is necessary in all countries to

create favorable conditions for the experts to study migration of

cultural values;

• to organize the exchange of information on this problem, through

the Internet included.

When studying and solving this problem another question arises

– what is to be done with the cultural values of arguable origin. In our

opinion, such works of art, archive funds, book collections can and must

be commonly researched, published, exhibited or deposited. Their

description, publication, displaying are to some extent their return to

their native land.

We believe in the future of inter-governmental and inter-regional

projects aimed at returning the cultural values.
BELARUS 193

And one more: whatever good recommendations we may accept

the above problems will not be resolved without a free access to the

archive information. Belarus has made a certain step in this direction. In

accordance with national legislation, the wartime documents kept in state

archives are now accessible to all researchers except those dealing with

personal privacy. On the eve of the Washington Conference the

annotated reference book "The Documents on the History of the Great

Patriotic War in the State Archives of the Republic of Belarus" was out

of print. All the documents of that period have been declassified and

opened to public.

How Much Did 800,000 Murdered

Belarusian Jews Cost?

By

Leonid Levin

PRESIDENT, BELARUSIAN ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS

AND COMMUNITIES

A STATEMENT REGARDING THE BOOK, “NAZI GOLD FROM

First of all, I don’t separate the tragedy of Belarusian Jews

during the wartime from the tragedy of all Belarusian people.

Let me stop on the Jewish issue.

Taking into account the available documents.

Victims.

Politics.

Documents.

The Nazi goal was to capture the “living space” through human

death.

Jews, Gypsies, Slavs were in first lines.

Annihilation of Jews took place immediately after the capture of

a town or village. It’s easier to kill all together.

For this matter - ghetto.

Thus,

There were more than 200 ghettos on the territory of Belarus.

Nearly 800,000 Jews were murdered.

The year 1946.

The Conference on Nazi gold fate.

The international conference. 42 countries participating. 11

international organizations.

The issue is Nazi gold.

The list of 15 European countries which could claim to get Nazi

gold was made.

Today.
196 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

All those who are entitled to solve this problem represent a new

civilized world.

From today’s viewpoint.

The fact that Belarus, Ukraine and Russia have not been

included into the List looks like a mockery.

There is a formal reason:

Stalin refused from Nazi gold.

All that is in the past.

Europe became Europe.

The Soviet Union exists no more.

There is no Stalin.

An amazing book has been published in Belarus.

“Nazi Gold from Belarus.”

The book is based on documents.

46 official Nazi orders, instructions, protocols of interrogations.

The second part of the book.

Lists of those whose jewels were confiscated.

But there are no Jews in the List.

They couldn’t be there.

The Jews were annihilated all together.

All at once.

Their documents were taken away.

Their jewels, personal belongings, gold, silver, crockery, their

lives were seized.

This “contribution” was packed in casks, boxes.

Out of 46 documents published in the book only a few do not

deal with the Jewish issue.

All other documents:

• to put Jews into ghettos,

• to seize gold,

• to seize jewels,

• to seize clothes,

• to seize even metal beds,

• execution, execution, execution,

• evidences.

Official data:

January, 1947. The Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic’s

Memorandum on the Peace Treaty with Germany.
BELARUS 197

Direct damage for the Republic - $ 15 bln.

Personal damage for citizens - $ 4,720 mln.

For the Jews this “damage” was their death 1/3 of the sum

mentioned above.

Special Account No 34 in the Minsk German Credit Bank for

money of the Jews and for their death.

The center of all looted - Riga.

The final destination point - Berlin.

1942. From: Glubokoye, Gebitskommissar Peterson.

To: Riga, Ostland Reichskommiissar Lose:

- valuables seized from Jews: 3,610 gold Rubles and 3,069 kg of

gold, 20 gold Czar Rubles - 0.026 kg, 210 gold Dollars - 0,351 kg and a

box of 4,267 gold items of various kinds. the box is marked “Fish”.

1941. Borisov.

Burgmeister Stankevich’s report. List of items seized from Jews

and handed by Vasilyev and Meleshkevich.

1942. In the village of Glubokoye seized from Jews for Account

No 34:

June 4, 1942 - DM 169,909.77.

July 6, 1942 - DM 115,247.11.

December, 1942. Grodno.

“I turn in gold, valuables, money, discovered in the ghetto. The

February, 1943. Grodno.

“The list is enclosed - total DM 7,717.65.”

Report of the Chief of the Gendarmery Office.

April, 1943. Grodno.

After the execution, DM 4,874.12 were turned in from six

gendarmery posts and DM 7,424.58 more in April.

thousands of victims changed into Deutsche marks.

May, 1943. Vertilishki.

The last Jews were annihilated.

Total DM 808,32 received.
198 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

January, 1946. A trial in Minsk.

Defendant Skakun: “I counted 2,000 gold and silver items.”

Witness Yanshtob: On July 12, 1941, the German occupation authorities

informed us that all Jewish citizens aged 15 to 60 are to gather in the

synagogue. There all their documents were taken away and they were

ordered to come here in the afternoon and bring various valuables, such

as gold, silver, foreign currency. When everybody came the Nazis lead

them out across the River Viliya and shot them dead by 7-8 p.m.

Facts, only facts.

There are plenty of them.

And what was going on in the biggest ghetto on the territory of

Belarus - the Minsk Ghetto.

May, 1943. Minsk. The chief of the city prison reports to the

General Kommissar of Belarus.

“In April, 1943, former German dentist Ernest Tischauer and his

wife Elsa Tischauer testified that all German and Russian Jews had

undergone an operation of pulling or breaking out their gold teeth and

crowns. It took place 1-2 hours before the appropriate actions.” Since

April 13, 1943, 516 German and Russian Jews were killed with

Hauptscharfurher Ruber in attendance who took the gold. It was

determined that 50 percent of the Jews had gold teeth, bridges or fillings.

Here are only a few examples.

And how many of them in all ghettos, in entire Belarus.

An approximate calculation shows that the Jews of Belarus alone

were robbed of several hundred kilograms of gold, hundreds of

kilograms of silver, jewels of various kinds.

I am not mentioning the losses of the entire peaceful population

of Belarus.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The time has come.

The world has changed.

Each was held responsible for the crimes he had committed.

The history puts everything in its place.

Today the Belarusian Jewish community amounts to nearly 100

thousand people.

Today more than 10 million people live in Belarus.

All of us hope for a fair solution of this problem.
BELARUS 199

It is not Stalin’s signature at the Potsdam Conference that is

before us.

It is the world that changed.

It is thousands of graves of those killed.

It is your high and just solution.

Letter to the Conference Chairman

HE Judge Abner J. Mikva, Chairman

Washington Conference

on Holocaust-Era Assets

December 1, 1998

Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir,

The delegation of the Republic of Belarus would like to reiterate

its appeal to include our country into the list of claimant states, rightfully

seeking positive solution of their claims for Holocaust-Era Assets.

The looted Nazi gold should return to its rightful owners, people

of Belarus, which suffered through all the tragedy of Holocaust, among

them.

Numerous archival records are available now to support these

claims.

Vladimir Adamushko

Head of the Delegation,

Deputy Chairman, Belarus State Committee on Archives

Valyantsin Gerasimau

Chairman, Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation Fund

Leonid Levin

President, Belarusian Association of Jewish Organizations

and Communities

Olga Nekhai

President, Belarusian Association of Former Nazi Prisoners

BELGIUM

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

The Spoliation of Cultural Goods in Belgium

during the Second World War

THE GERMAN ORGANIZATION

On May the 10th 1940, like its neighbors Netherlands,

Luxembourg and France, Belgium was invaded and occupied by the

German army. The first spoliations took place during the military

conquest of Belgium, but were mostly of private nature.

In June 1940, a German Military Occupation Government

(Militärverwaltung) was installed in Brussels with General A. von

Falkenhausen at its head. Regarding cultural matters, this military

government relied on the specialists of the Kunst, Archiv and

Bibiliothekschutz.

Many German services took part to the plundering of Belgium,

but the two most important for cultural matters were certainly the group

of Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst (SIPO-SD), which was in charge

of collecting the political archives and documentation of the enemies of

national-socialism (mainly Jews, freemasons and socialists) and the

Einzatstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) which received the order to

« savekeep » the cultural goods of these enemies of the Third Reich.

The organized looting began in the summer of 1940 with the

plundering of the freemasons lodges, the Jewish organizations, the

socialist organizations and of the artworks, archives and libraries of the

persons who had fled Belgium before May 1940. Meanwhile, the

Archivschutz was active in looking through the Belgian ministerial

archives, with special interest for the archives of the Ministries of

National Defense, Colonies, Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs. The

ERR reported that the first 340 crates were collected and partly sent to

Berlin in November 1940.
204 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The German services also focused on cultural goods they

regarded as German considering that Belgium had received them after

the first World War in compensation for the destructions (mainly the

archives of Eupen-Malmédy, The Mystic Lamb of the Van Eyck brothers

and The Last Supper of D. Bouts).

THE SPOLIATION OF THE BELGIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY

The persecutions against the Jewish community of Belgium

(which counted about 65.000 people, of whom less than one tenth had

the Belgian nationality. The rest was made up of immigrants from

Germany and Central and Eastern Europe) started as soon as October

1940 with different nazi decrees aiming the complete isolation of the

Jews in the Belgian society. In order to organize the economical

spoliation of the Jewish community, the Militärverwaltung set up in

Brussels, the Brüsseler Treuhandgesellschaft, to control and to liquidate

« enemy property ». In June 1942, started the first razzia’s in Brussels

and Antwerp and the first convoy left from the Caserne Dossin in

Malines to Auschwitz on the 4th of August 1942. Between August 1942

and July 1944, 25.257 Jews were deported from Belgium, of whom only

1.207 survived.

Meanwhile had started the Möbelaktion, the purpose of this

operation was to liquidate the households of the houses where Jews

lived. The buildings were sealed, transport firms brought the contents

over to centralized depots where the selection was made: all interesting

cultural objects were given to the ERR and sent to Germany or Paris and

the normal furniture were sent to Germany for the victims of the allied

bombings. In less than two years, more than 4.500 houses were emptied

in Belgium alone.

THE ART MARKET

Aside these plunderings, some Belgian collectors and art-dealers

seized the opportunity to sell their collections under or without any

pressure. Large sums were paid by agents working, for example, for the

Hitler’s Linz Museum project, for H. Goering’s collection or others. The

most famous collection that has been sold is the Renders collection of

twenty Flemish primitive paintings. From these twenty paintings, ten

were recuperated after the war and the ten others are still missing.
BELGIUM 205

BELGIAN RECUPERATION EFFORTS

Right after the end of the war started the first step of the Belgian

recuperation with the especially created Office de Récupération

Economique (ORE) which main task was the recuperation of economic

goods such as trains, ships, coal, steel... Within the ORE, a small unit

was formed to search the spoiled cultural goods in Germany and Austria.

This essential step went on until 1952 and allowed Belgium to find back

492 artworks and 2.749 books; among them were masterpieces such as

The Mystic Lamb of the Van Eyck brothers or the Michelangelo’s

Madonna from the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. Meanwhile, hundreds

of goods found in Belgium were returned to their owners.

A second step started in 1950 in close contact with the WestGerman authorities and lasted until 1964 without any concrete result and

in 1967 the ORE was dismantled and unfortunately its archives were not

properly kept.

Besides the recuperated artworks, still 3.273 documented

paintings, drawings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture... remain lost. One

should be careful with these figures for several reasons: the looting is

only partly documented, many figures come from German sources or

from claims introduced after the war (who did not make a claim is not

taken in account) and the ORE selected only identifiable artworks in its

claims.

The recuperation effort started again in 1993 within the Ministry

of Economic Affairs because of the opening of Eastern Europe and the

conviction that only a part of the cultural goods were returned to their

rightful owners. The major problem faced at that time was the lack of

documentation, both the losses and the efforts for recuperation made

after the war are poorly documented and the first task has been and is

still the search for archives in order to make restitution possible.

Today, this effort continues on two levels. First, within the

Ministry of Economic Affairs with the Mission Restitution Spoiled

Goods which edited two catalogs documenting the losses of artworks

belonging to the Belgian State and prepares three others catalogs that

will document the private losses but also the spoiled libraries and

archives.

Secondly, in July 1997, the Belgian government decided to

establish a commission that is now investigating what has happened to

the goods belonging to members of the Jewish community of Belgium

during the German occupation. The commission which is part of the

Prime Minister’s services, is presided by Lucien Buysse, and the
206 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

members of the commission are representatives of the different

Ministries involved (namely Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Justice

and Public Health), historians and representatives of Jewish

organizations. The first intermediary report was submitted to the

government in July 1998. The commission is presently investigating

various fields, including the bank sector, the insurance, the real estate

and cultural goods.

Person to contact on this subject

Nicolas Vanhove (with the help of Jacques Lust’s works)

Mission Restitution Spoiled goods

Ministry of Economic Affairs of Belgium

Tel +32 2 206 58 62

Fax +32 2 514 03 89
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Antwerp Diamond Sector during the

Second World War

Although the Belgian commission studying the fate of

the Jewish assets during WWII has still to conclude its

findings concerning the diamond sector, the following

note gives some first indications of how the Antwerp

diamond sector survived World War II.

Diamonds are, as gold, luxury goods but where appreciated

during the last war also for their industrial (the hardest ore known by that

time) and the monetary (“valeur refuge”) value and were therefore

considered rightfully as strategic goods. During these years Belgium put

the diamond as well as the uranium ore extracted in its former colony

Congo at the disposal of the allied war effort.

Antwerp was for centuries an important diamond trading,

carving and policing center and remains so today. Its recent history can

be resumed as follows.

THE THIRTIES: THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

The slump of 1927 heralded the major economic crisis of 1929-

1930. The diamond world survived these difficult times virtually

unscathed, despite some heavy blows. Undeterred by these difficulties,

in 1928-1929, the sector made an 800 million BF profit and employed

25.000 people.

In 1929, “Antwerpsche Diamantkring” (the Antwerp Diamond

Circle) was founded, Antwerp’s fifth diamond bourse at the time. At that

time, several social improvements were introduced in the diamond trade,

which were later adopted by other branches of industry, and acquired

legal validity in Belgium.
208 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The crisis of 1930 was the inevitable result of the Wall Street

crash in November, which shook the economic foundations of the entire

world; for, suddenly, there was an enormous discrepancy between

consumption and production.

Its influence was felt after the 1930 world exhibition at which

the Antwerp diamond sector participated predominantly. Also the

“Forminière”, the company that exploited the diamond mines in

(Belgian) Congo had a remarkable stand there.

Soon afterwards however consumption in important outlets like

India, China, Egypt, Russia, Japan, Brazil and Argentina dropped

sharply.

The Antwerp and Amsterdam diamond exchange houses decided

therefore to limit production by 50 % during a limited period in order to

prevent further overproduction, and because of a faltering market due to

sundry financial crises elsewhere. As a result 25.000 people in Belgium,

including the Jewish traders were affected to some extent by decreased

working hours.

At the international level similar decision of the London

Syndicate to temporally limit the sights for the manufacturers was

respected by the entire sector, including the Kempen district.

This period of general economic regression contrasted sharply

with the revival of the German economy, including its diamond sector.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The Second World War drastically hit the diamond sector and all

people involved in it. The industry itself temporarily left the scene. Just

before the war, though, the market had again become active. A sense of

foreboding made people look for a safe investment in diamonds, because

of its high and stable value, and because it was easy to hide and

transport. With the outbreak of war, many took refuge in places where

the conqueror could not set foot, in particular, the Jewish families who

were well aware of the anti-Semitism of the German regime. Antwerp

diamantairs surfaced in the USA, Portugal, Cuba and the then Palestine.

Others took their stock across the Channel, to the United Kingdom, in the

hope of taking up their activity in the vicinity of the London Syndicate.

They got united into the “Refugees Branch”, with over five hundred

members, who managed to process a considerable amount of rough

stones. They had to contend with persistent attempts, to organize a

British diamond industry, in Brighton amongst other places, in place of
BELGIUM 209

the defunct industries of Antwerp and Amsterdam. In Antwerp, only

clandestine work was possible. The Antwerp Jews, of whom 80 % were

engaged in diamond activities in 1940, were robbed of their stocks

without recourse to justice. The dire fate of the Jews in the hands of the

Nazi’s is well known. Of the many Jewish prisoners and deportees, only

few returned.

In 1941, the German publications admitted that 90 % of the

diamonds that were available in Antwerp before the invasion had been

smuggled out of Belgium.

It was to the credit of the Antwerp mayor Camille Huysmans,

together with two prescient diamantairs, Messrs. Romi Goldmuntz and

Herman Schamisso, that they went to considerable pains to save as much

as possible of the goods of the Antwerp dealers. Wartime conditions

made this anything but easy. The British Navy, which closely policed

the seas, had been given authority by the Admiralty to stop all ships

anywhere and investigate their freight. Goods bound for hostile or

occupied territories could be confiscated in exchange for a receipt; the

owner could file a complaint with a special tribunal, which was assisted

by technical experts when passing judgement.

The gentlemen mentioned above established the

"Correspondence Office for Diamond Industry” (COFDI) to advise the

court in the event of diamond consignments and thus entire fortunes were

saved for the Antwerp diamond industry. Most of the goods were held

for safekeeping in London, which allowed for a speedy recovery of the

Antwerp diamond industry, even before the hostilities had completely

ended. As soon as one felt the end of the war was approaching, the

return to Belgium was prepared for, both materially and psychologically.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Belgian Jewish Museum of

Deportation and Resistance

The Museum of the Deportation and Resistance of Jews in

Belgium is housed in a wing of the former “Dossin de Saint Georges

Barracks” at Mechelen. This historic site is also a place of remembrance,

for it is here, halfway between Brussels and Antwerp, that the Nazis set

up the “SS-Sammellager Mecheln”, which served as the assembly point

for Jews about to be deported from Belgium.

“SS-Sammellager Mecheln” was the first step on a journey from

which only a handful returned. Between 1942 and 1944, 28 train

convoys carried 25,257 prisoners from Mechelen to Auschwitz in

Poland. Two-thirds of the deportees were gassed upon arrival. Only

1,207 were still alive when the camps were liberated. The Dossin

barracks were nothing less than the antechamber of death.

Visitors to the Museum of the Deportation and Resistance of the

Jews in Belgium can follow the history of the Endlösung or “Final

Solution” and how it affected Belgium and Europe. Numerous aspects of

the holocaust are considered in the Museum, including the help and

support given to the SS, although only a relative small group, by Belgian

institutions; the collaboration by ultra-right organizations; the

extermination of almost half of Belgium’s Jews; the resistance of those

Jews who managed to elude deportation and the efforts of a broad section

of Belgian society to foil the SS, which enabled numerous Jewish

children to survive the occupation.

SOME HISTORICAL FACTS:

The Jews of Belgium

In 1940, there were 56,000 Jews living in Belgium.
212 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Occupation

After the invasion of Belgium on March 10, 1940, the country

was occupied by the German army and the Nazis stayed in Belgium until

the complete liberation of the country in October 1944.

Persecution

April 14, 1941: the Antwerp pogrom.

May 27, 1941: an order is promulgated forcing Jews to wear a

yellow star. “The Jew is known, registered, branded, confined to his

home, ... ready for the “Final Solution”.

Deportation

August 4, 1942 - July 31, 1944: 25,257 prisoners were deported

from Mechelen to Auschwitz (Oswiecim).

Extermination

16,000 Jews deported from Mechelen were gassed on arrival in

Auschwitz (Oswiecim).

Only 1,207 of the deportees survived.

Resistance

The Resisters were Jewish or non-Jewish, armed or not, who

rose up against the Nazi torment and made some heroic actions, such as

the famous “Attack of the 20th Convoy” who gave the opportunity to

more than 230 Jews to escape.

The Righteous among the Nations

Despite the Nazi atrocities, there were many Belgians who risked

their lives and those of their families to save their Jewish neighbors.

After the war, they were recognized by the Yad Vashem and called the

“Righteous among the Nations”.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Belgium and the Relief Fund for

Victims of Nazi Persecution

• Belgium recently adhered to the Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund.

• Belgium will contribute to the Fund for an amount of 1 million USD.

• The Belgian government will soon take a decision on the selection of

NGOs and the projects’ beneficiaries of this sum of 1 million USD.

CANADA

Statement on Insurance

SUMMARY

Our investigations indicate that no Canadian life insurance

companies operated in continental Europe during the years from 1930 to

1945. This search did indicate that several Canadian life insurance

companies operated in the United Kingdom during that period. These

foreign operations of Canadian life insurance companies, as well as their

Canadian operations, may have sold policies insuring persons who

subsequently became victims of the Holocaust. We do not know, at this

time, the extent to which such policies may have been sold; however,

based on our preliminary investigations, the numbers are likely to be

very small. In addition, there is no indication of life insurance policies

relating to the events of this period that may not have been properly paid.

INTRODUCTION

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions

(OSFI), a branch of the government of Canada, is responsible for the

prudential regulation of Canadian banks, and federally chartered

insurance and trust companies. OSFI has coordinated a preliminary

investigation pertaining to Holocaust-Era insurance claims.

The Canadian financial institution regulatory system, like that in

some countries, is a shared responsibility between two levels of

government. Insurance companies may be incorporated at either the

federal or provincial levels; however, market conduct matters (e.g., the

registration of insurance sellers, and laws pertaining to disclosure and

contracts) are solely a provincial responsibility. The implication of this

shared responsibility is that investigating life insurance policies relating

to the Holocaust requires coordination with Canadian provincial

regulators, in addition to coordination with the industry.
216 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

INVESTIGATIONS

The former Department of Insurance, a predecessor organization

to OSFI, was required to file an annual report to the Minister of Finance,

outlining the progress of business and the condition of federal life

insurance companies. Based on a review of these reports for each year

from 1930 to 1945, and other inquiries, we have been able to conclude

that no Canadian life insurance company operated in continental Europe

during this period. These reports did indicate that several Canadian life

insurance companies operated in the United Kingdom during this period,

and it is conceivable that these companies, because of their close

proximity to continental Europe, sold some policies to persons who

subsequently became victims of the Holocaust. It is also conceivable,

although less likely, that Canadian life insurance companies sold polices

from their Canadian operations to persons who subsequently became

victims of the Holocaust.

We do not know, at this time, the extent to which Canadian

insurance companies might have sold polices to persons who

subsequently became victims of the Holocaust. More work will be

required to determine the extent of the issue. However, based on the

finding that no Canadian life insurance company operated in continental

Europe during this period, and other investigations we have made, it

appears unlikely that anything more than a very small number of polices

were sold to persons who became victims of the Holocaust.

Our investigations have also included OSFI's public affairs

group, which is responsible for dealing with public inquires, contacting

the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), which is

the industry association for life insurance companies, contacting certain

life insurance companies and contacting major provincial insurance

regulators.

The purpose of these investigations was to determine if any of

these organizations have any knowledge of, or have had any information

brought to their attention, indicating that Canadian life insurance

companies may have sold polices to persons who became victims of the

Holocaust, and for which monies relating to these policies may not have

been properly paid. Based on these preliminary investigations, there is no

indication of this, although work will continue by the CLHIA and

individual companies to determine if additional relevant information may

be available.
CANADA 217

OTHER ARRANGEMENTS

The CLHIA has established a toll free number, and provided

training for its call center staff, to assist persons with any inquiries they

may have about Canadian or non-Canadian life insurance companies in

relation to Holocaust-Era insurance assets. This service will be well

publicized within the Canadian Jewish community.

FURTHER INQUIRIES

Anyone with concerns regarding possible unclaimed proceeds of

insurance policies purchased from Canadian and other life insurance

companies before and during the Second World War, may contact the

life and health insurance industry's Consumers Assistance Center either

by telephone or by writing:

Inquiries in English:

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.

1 Queen Street East

Toronto, Ontario

Canada

M5C 2X9

1-800-860-3413

Inquiries in French:

Association canadienne des compagnies d'assurances de personnes inc.

1001, boul. de Maisonneuve Ouest

Bureau 630

Montréal (Québec)

H3A 3C8

1-888-361-8070

Statement on Other Assets

SUMMARY

Canada used legislative devices to deny to the Axis powers any

economic resources in which Canadian interests were involved. These

controls were aimed at jurisdictions under the control of the enemy and

did not differentiate between the enemy and those residing in enemy

occupied territory or those resisting the enemy. At the end of the war the

Custodian of Enemy Property was controlling bank deposits, securities,

commercial equity, real properties, mortgages, pension funds, patents

and copyrights and other assets which eventually totaled $1 billion

Canadian. The disposal of these assets took place under the conditions

set down in international negotiations. The records of all assets affected

by the Government have been preserved at the National Archives of

Canada.

HISTORICAL AND LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND

On 2 September 1939 Canada enacted Regulations Respecting

Trading with the Enemy (RRTWE), one of its principal legislative

weapons for conducting economic warfare against the German Reich.

These all-encompassing regulations were aimed at depriving the enemy

of any financial assistance that could be controlled by the Canadian

Government and, then, mobilizing these enemy external assets to support

the Allied war effort. Responsibility for these regulations and the control

of all enemy property was in the hands of the Custodian of Enemy

Property, whose legal powers surpassed other Allied Custodians by

virtue of the fact that he was a member of the Cabinet War Committee,

being ex officio the Secretary of State. As a result, he could operate

without recourse to courts or other bodies of government in seizing or

vesting enemy property in his name and acted earlier than his

counterparts in declaring countries overrun by the Axis powers as enemy

territory.

The objective of thwarting Germany from exploiting the

economic resources of those nations in her path was paramount and
220 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

necessitated a policy whereby all bank deposits, securities, real

properties, patents and copyrights were brought under the control of the

Custodian. Consequently, the RRTWE provided the Canadian Custodian

with a blunt instrument which did not allow for distinguishing between

victims of Nazi persecution and genuine enemies. Relief agencies

communicated to the Canadian Government that these actions were often

hampering efforts of genuine refugees to flee, and prior to the US entry

into the war, efforts were made to use neutral consular services to

determine the status of those seeking relief from the RRTWE. By 1942,

Axis control over Eastern Europe prevented even these attempts to assist.

Of the assets under the control of the Custodian, securities and

other forms of commercial equity posed a particular problem. Securities

were generally sold through brokerage houses in Europe and were in the

form of bearer bonds and certificates; the actual bearer was often not

known to the Custodian. The solution adopted was to block the

securities at source; thus prohibiting liquidations or payment of interest

or dividends to enemy and enemy occupied territory. This power was

also used to block accounts in neutral countries where the status of the

beneficial owner of the account was unknown.

At its peak the Custodian was controlling a billion Canadian

dollars in assets. These assets were ultimately disposed of in one of three

ways. Enemy external assets were disposed of according to the

accounting principles set down by the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency,

allowing for the restitution of property to the victims of persecution. The

Custodian returned property belonging to nationals of former enemy

occupied territory when the former owners or their heirs presented

themselves. The remaining property was transferred to the Canadian

War Claim Fund.

FURTHER RESEARCH

The records of the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property

have been transferred to the National Archives in Ottawa. The records

consist of subject files, case files and ledgers and card indexes, allowing

for a researcher to follow the handling of every individual account. Case

files for all individuals and firms who were affected by the actions of the

Custodian and RRTWE have been listed and will be available on line in

the near future. These records are now available for research subject to

the provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts. Parties
CANADA 221

interested in individual accounts or further study in Canada’s handling of

Holocaust era assets should contact the following address:

Researcher Services Division

National Archives of Canada

395 Wellington

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0N3

613 -992 -3884

www.archives.ca

Due Diligence:

A Report on the Bank of Canada's Handling of

Foreign Gold during World War II

By

Dr. Duncan McDowall

November, 1997

Complete report available on the Bank of Canada website

(http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/)

SUMMARY FINDINGS

During World War II, Canada played a major role in the

earmarking of foreign gold for safekeeping at the Bank of Canada.

Between the first rumblings of war in 1938 and peace in 1945, foreign

central banks deposited 2,586 tons of gold in Ottawa for safekeeping. For

many nations that had fallen under German occupation, this of safe gold

was the ultimate guarantee of national survival. In particular, the central

banks of Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Poland availed

themselves of this unique type of Canadian wartime hospitality. The

Bank of England was also a frequent earmarker of gold in Ottawa and in

the dark days of 1940 even made plans to create a "shadow" Bank of

England in Ottawa that could draw upon Britain's gold cache in Canada.

Such deposits involved no profit for Canada beyond small handling

charges.

The flow of earmarked gold to the Bank of Canada was almost

exclusively one-way. Large amounts of gold crossed the Atlantic in the

early war period, especially from the Bank of England and the Banque de

France. After 1941, virtually no more gold arrived from Europe, with the

exception of a shipment of 525 bars from the Bank Polski in London in

1944. During the course of the war, virtually none of the gold stored in

Ottawa was shipped back across the Atlantic, with the exception of two

small shipments of gold coin returned to England in 1942. All the

transactions in question in this report were paper transfers of gold

ownership between one central bank account at the Bank of Canada and

other central bank accounts. There is therefore no possibility that tainted
224 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

gold – gold looted by Germany – ever found its way into the Canadian

gold stream.

The 1942-43 transfer of Bank of England gold earmarked in

Ottawa to the Ottawa earmark account of the Banque Nationale Suisse

involved 56 tons of gold, a small fraction of the overall wartime deposit

of foreign gold in Ottawa. This gold was swapped for Swiss francs

delivered to the British in Switzerland. This swap was necessitated by

Britain's desperate need for Swiss francs to maintain its trade and

diplomatic relationship with Switzerland and was entered into reluctantly

by the Swiss. Switzerland already had large quantities of gold stockpiled

beyond its borders in London and New York, but this was blocked and of

no wartime use to Switzerland. The Swiss accepted the deal only as a pro

tem. measure in the hope of keeping stalled trade negotiations with the

British alive.

To safeguard the gold that had passed from Allied hands to

neutral hands under earmark in Ottawa, the Bank of Canada altered the

minimal prewar arrangements for foreign gold deposited in Canada to

reflect the exigencies of war. The primary concern was that the 56 tons

of gold held by Switzerland in Ottawa might find its way back to Europe

and ultimately be applied to the ends of the Axis. These conditions

stipulated that the gold received by the Banque Nationale Suisse from the

Bank of England might be physically exported only to other central

banks in the Western Hemisphere or transferred on paper to central

banks in the Western Hemisphere and to the central banks of European

neutral countries, namely Portugal, Sweden and Spain. These conditions

were to apply until the end of hostilities. The Swiss agreed to these

conditions.

The Bank of Canada's willingness to facilitate such swaps was

strongly conditioned by its relationship with the Bank of England.

Canada was one of the last Western powers to create a central bank and,

since its inauguration in 1935, the Bank of Canada had relied heavily on

the guidance of the Bank of England. This relationship was epitomized

by the close personal friendship of Bank of Canada Governor Graham

Towers and Bank of England Governor Montagu Norman. The Bank of

England was, for instance, the first foreign central bank to open — in

1936 — an earmarked gold account in Ottawa. Similarly, the Bank of

Canada's first deputy governor was seconded from the Bank of England

in 1935. While Towers was never oblivious to protecting Canada's

interests, there was an almost filial inclination to respond to England's

bidding. This would precondition the Bank of Canada's positive response
CANADA 225

to Britain's request to facilitate the gold-for-francs swap with Switzerland

and other European gold exchanges involving Canada.

The 1942 gold-for-francs swap had been preceded by another

request from the Bank of England in September 1940. Confronted with

an influx of small holdings of gold deposited in English commercial

banks by Europeans anxious for the safety of their wealth and

well-being, the British asked the Bank of Canada to earmark these

deposits of personal gold under the umbrella of its own Ottawa accounts.

This was a departure from usual earmark procedure in that it allowed

foreign individuals the prerogative of the security of an earmark account

well beyond the fray in Europe. Control of the deposits remained in the

hands of the Bank of England. A handling charge of 5% of each

individual's gold was imposed by the Bank of England and the depositor

had to sign an agreement acknowledging that the gold would not be

released until after the war, except in extraordinary circumstances

approved by the Bank of England. During the course of September 1940

to June 1941, 155 of these so-called "sundry persons" deposits of

personal gold at the Bank of England were included in shipments to the

Bank of Canada from London. The total deposit was the equivalent of

1,315 bars of gold. Many of the depositors appear — by name and

testimonial — to have been European Jewish refugees who had fled their

homelands in the early stages of the war. They were generally well-to-do

and had left their homelands early enough to avoid the Holocaust. Other

deposits appear to have been made by Swiss and other nationals. A small

number of the depositors — 34 sundry persons — were able to convince

the Bank of England to release their gold in Ottawa before the end of the

war. The remaining deposits were all closed after the war without

incident or complication. The last deposit was closed in 1955.

Almost as soon as the process of swapping English gold for

Swiss francs had begun in the spring of 1942, the Banque Nationale

Suisse [BNS] began seeking ways to apply the gold it was accumulating

in Ottawa to its domestic needs at home, principally the building up of

internal gold reserves as a check on Swiss inflation. This desire was

limited by the conditions set on the earmark account by the Bank of

Canada. An initial attempt to establish Swiss commercial bank accounts

in Ottawa and thereby open the way for transfers between off-shore

central bank and commercial bank accounts was blocked by vigilant

officials at the Bank of Canada. In the wake of this decision, Governor

Towers informed the general managers of Canada's chartered banks that

it was the government's wish that they stop opening new gold

safekeeping accounts for non-residents and to report any future requests
226 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

for such services to Ottawa. Rebuffed in this direction, the BNS began

negotiations with the Banco de Portugal, which had gold accounts with it

in Switzerland. In two equal transactions in April and May 1942, the

BNS subsequently traded four tons of its earmarked gold in Canada for a

similar amount of gold held by the Portuguese earmarked in its vault in

Switzerland. Thus, the Swiss succeeded in obtaining the free use of four

tons of gold in Switzerland in return for surrendering four tons of

assuredly clean gold in Canada. To achieve this swap, the BNS was

obliged to pay a steep commission to the Banco de Portugal of 1 1/2% on

the first swap and 2 1/2% on the second swap. These commissions

reflected the fact that the gold Portugal was obtaining in Ottawa was

blocked for the duration of the war. In the wake of these swaps, the BNS

board of directors decided to abandon the tactic of offering gold in

Ottawa for gold in Europe because the transaction costs were exorbitant.

The crucial question of whether the Portuguese gold released to the

Swiss was tainted gold of German origin is elucidated by reference to

classified British wartime documents drawn from British intercept of

cables between the Swiss and Portuguese central banks and from banking

records recently released by the Banco de Portugal. These reveal that,

while the Banco de Portugal did receive large amounts of Reichsbank

gold into its BNS accounts, the gold transferred to the Swiss in 1942 was

generally believed to be drawn from an account "thought to be without

German taint." There is no absolute assurance that this swapped gold was

beyond all possible taint, but this evidence and the complete absence of

any indication of concern on the part of Allied bankers involved in the

swap indicate that this was likely the case. Once again, national liquidity

needs, not schemes to launder dirty German gold, seemed to drive the

transaction.

In 1944, Portugal itself encountered liquidity problems in its

trade with Switzerland and Sweden. Increasingly unable to trade in gold

because of the tightening Allied injunctions on looted gold, Portugal was

driven to finance its trade with hard currencies like the Swiss franc and

the Swedish krona. By August, the value of the Portuguese escudo was

plummeting against the franc and the krona. Both the Swiss and Swedish

proved reluctant to accept Portuguese offers of gold-for-currency swaps.

In desperation, the Banco de Portugal therefore offered the Sveriges

Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, clean gold in Ottawa in exchange for

kronor. This offer of a ton and a half of gold in September and October

of 1944 was accepted by the Swedes on the condition that the Portuguese

applied the resultant kronor to the process of Swedish-Portuguese trade

alone. Subsequently, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Banco de Portugal
CANADA 227

agreed to ease Portugal's ongoing exchange needs by using the swapping

of gold earmarked in Ottawa back and forth to provide kronor for

Lisbon. By the end of this process in September 1945, the Sveriges

Riksbank had accumulated two and a half tons of gold previously owned

by the Banco de Portugal in Ottawa.

One last gold swap rounded out the Bank of Canada's role in

gold transfers between neutral European central banks. In the midst of its

swaps with the Sveriges Riksbank in September 1944, the Banco de

Portugal swapped another two tons of its gold in gold holdings in

Switzerland for Swiss gold held in Ottawa. As in 1942, the gold in

Switzerland was taken from Portugal's untainted account. This time,

Portugal received a smaller commission of only 3/8%, probably because

it saw the advantage of topping up its Ottawa reserve of gold at a time

when its newly made agreement with Sweden might have required more

gold if the escudo's exchange value had continued to deteriorate.

With the lifting of all conditions restraining foreign gold on

earmark in Ottawa after the war, there was no rush by neutral central

banks to clear out their accounts in Ottawa. In fact, all parties to the

wartime swaps maintained their Ottawa earmarks well into the peace,

often increasing their balances.

Throughout all these transactions, officials at the Bank of

Canada, usually in consultation with officials at the Department of

Finance and the Bank of England, exhibited due diligence in handling

these transfer requests from Europe. The context of the times must be

borne in mind. These transactions took place at the height of the war,

when the pressures of wartime decision-making bore heavily on Ottawa's

mandarins. These gold swaps between friendly and neutral central banks

constituted fleeting decisions in a myriad of wartime challenges and must

be seen in this light. By and large, the decisions taken around Canada's

custodianship of foreign gold earmarked in the Bank of Canada conform

to the stereotype of the cautious, deliberate and well-balanced demeanor

of the senior bureaucrats who have come to be known by history as the

"Ottawa men." They never possessed the absolute knowledge or the

power to eliminate any possibility that Ottawa might facilitate the

movement of looted gold, but their instincts led them to policies that

made that possibility remote. In this sense, Canadians can take justifiable

pride in the efficient manner in which the rather prosaic service of

earmarking of gold was turned to commendable Allied and, at times,

humanitarian ends during the war.

CONFERENCE ON JEWISH

MATERIAL CLAIMS AGAINST

GERMANY

Delegation Statement

We welcome the opportunity – following the historic

Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets – to present the

position of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany

(Claims Conference) on the major issues of concern to Holocaust

survivors and the world Jewish community.

The Claims Conference was established in 1951 by 23 major

Jewish national and international organizations to attain the following

objectives:

• to gain indemnification for injuries inflicted upon

individual victims of Nazi persecution;

• to secure restitution of assets confiscated by the Nazis;

• to obtain funds for the relief, rehabilitation and

resettlement of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution;

• to aid in rebuilding Jewish communities which Nazi

persecution had devastated;

• to foster commemoration, research, documentation and

education of the Holocaust.

For nearly 50 years the Claims Conference has and continues to

vigorously pursue these objectives, primarily in its negotiations with the

German and Austrian governments. It was instrumental in securing

major indemnification and restitution legislation. The Claims Conference

is also directly involved in the administration of limited individual

compensation programs, in the recovery of heirless and unclaimed

private and communal Jewish assets, in the allocation of funds for social

care of needy Holocaust survivors and for research, documentation and

education of the Shoah.
230 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The Claims Conference is painfully aware of the fact that the

destruction of Jewish life during the Holocaust cannot be made whole. It

is imperative, however, that:

• the survivors of the Holocaust who were not or are not

adequately compensated receive acceptable

indemnification for their injuries and losses;

• Jewish private and communal assets which have not as

yet been restituted should be restituted or compensated

for in lieu of restitution;

• needy aging survivors receive necessary individual and

institutional services;

• the lessons of the Holocaust be fully documented and

disseminated throughout the world.

These are the guiding principles which must be applied

in dealing with the unresolved indemnification and restitution issues.

The fact that 53 years after the liberation of the concentration camps,

many issues are still unresolved, and most survivors are of advanced age,

calls for very urgent action by all governments concerned.

The Washington Conference highlighted progress on

some issues but others have not as yet been considered in this unique

forum of governments and nongovernmental organizations.

In order to insure that the survivors receive long overdue

justice, it is essential to intensify the efforts to achieve the above

objectives. We suggest that:

(1) a follow-up conference be convened in 1999;

(2) the United States and the United Kingdom – as convenors of the

London and Washington conferences – establish a secretariat to:

(a) monitor the implementation of matters considered at the

London and Washington conferences, and,

(b) prepare the next conference.

Dr. Israel Miller, President

Saul Kagan Executive Vice President

Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice President-Designate
CROATIA

Delegation Statement

The Republic of Croatia welcomes the organization of the

Conference in Washington which, in the same way as the Conference on

Nazi Gold held last year in London (2-4 December 1997), aims to finally

determine the objective, historical truth about monetary gold and other

expropriated assets.

Whereas the emphasis of the Conference in London was placed

upon investigation of the destiny of monetary gold, the intention of the

participants of the upcoming Conference in Washington is to examine

ways and means of extending this issue to other expropriated property,

primarily expropriated works of art, archive materials, insurance policies,

the property of religious communities and others.

Now, at the end of the second millennium, it is indeed high time

that the historical truth about the Holocaust be determined, and to find

ways of indemnifying victims of the Holocaust.

This is the reason why, based on its decision taken on 13

November 1997, the Government of the Republic of Croatia established

a Commission to investigate the historical facts of the property of victims

of Nazism. This Commission includes representatives from the Ministry

of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, the

Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Croatia, the Institute for

Migrations and Nationalities, the Jewish Community of Zagreb, the

Croatian Institute for History, and Croatian National Archives.

The Commission has been tasked to gather and analyze all

available materials pertaining to the period of the Holocaust, and to

propose to the Government of the Republic of Croatia the positions it

should take and to reach appropriate decisions with regard to it.

Additionally, in November of 1997 the Government of the

Republic of Croatia reached a Decision to waive its part of the remaining

resources of the Tripartite Commission, which should belong to it on the

basis of the succession of successor States of the former Yugoslavia, in

favor of Jewish people and other victims of Nazi persecution. The

Republic of Croatia is, therefore, one of the first States to have supported
232 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

the establishment of the new Fund for the compensation of Holocaust

victims, undertaking to pay a certain financial amount into the Fund. The

sum that the Republic of Croatia has decided to pay into the Fund, taking

into consideration the criteria laid down by the International Monetary

Fund for the distribution of financial resources according to the

succession principle, amounts to US$ 118,000.

The Republic of Croatia considers that distribution of the

remaining part should not wait for a final solution to the succession

issue, but rather that the shares of individual successors may be

determined independently of the outcome of negotiations held to decide

other succession issues. Thus, Holocaust victims would receive their

funds earlier.

The World War II archive materials at the disposal of the

Republic of Croatia are open and are available to everyone for viewing.

Further, Croatian National Archives has signed an Agreement with the

Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, on the basis of which the

archive materials from these archives are microfilmed and sent to

Washington Holocaust Museum.

Regrettably, however, the Republic of Croatia is denied access to

the common archives of the former Yugoslavia, which are kept in

Belgrade. Therefore, not all materials relating to the Holocaust are

available to us.

The Government of the Republic of Croatia has passed an Act on

Compensation for Property Expropriated during the Yugoslav

Communist rule, which sets out the principles, conditions and procedure

for the return of expropriated property. This Act is also applicable to the

compensation of victims of property expropriation carried out during

World War II.

It is worth mentioning here that apart from overcoming the

consequences of, and eliminating the damage inflicted as a result of,

World War II, after gaining its independence the Republic of Croatia was

to face further consequences and damage resulting from more than 50

years of communist rule.

Hence, the issue of returning expropriated property was made

especially difficult and sensitive, since it was frequently necessary to

rectify twofold consequences – those of the Holocaust and those of

communism.
CROATIA 233

I. CULTURAL TREASURES

A significant status within property expropriated from victims of

the Holocaust in World War II is held by works of art, libraries and other

cultural and art treasures.

Expropriation of that form of valuable property was taking place

during, as well as immediately after, the war on the basis of a range of

regulations that were coercive in character, although it frequently

occurred without any legal basis whatsoever.

The legal bases and regulations applied in various procedures

concerning works of art on the territory of Croatia after World War II

were as follows:

The Decision made in 1944 by AVNOJ, which assumed

temporary control over abandoned property or of the property of owners

whose abode was known, and similar.

The Decision on the protection and preservation of cultural

monuments and antiquities (made by the National Committee of the

Liberation of Yugoslavia) on 20 February 1945. On the basis of that

Decision, the “Commission for the gathering and preservation of cultural

monuments and antiquities” was operational from 1945.

The Order issued to the Minister of Education dated 28 June

1945, on the “training and education of the Commission for the gathering

and preservation of cultural monuments”.

The Law on managing property which owners had to abandon

during the occupation, and property taken from them by the occupying

forces and their collaborators, dated 24 May 1945 and 2 August 1946,

which emphasizes that the said property should be returned to the

rightful owners, or to those who were using it, and that such property

must be managed as property in trust until the court rules that it shall be

returned.

The Law on transfer to state ownership of enemy property and

on sequestration of property of absent persons.

The Law on confiscation of property and the implementation of

confiscation.

The General Law on protection of cultural monuments and

natural rarities, dated 4 October 1946, which was also the basis for

placing under the protection of the State movable cultural heritage from

numerous collection centers of such items after World War II.

Stipulations of that law indicate that all the objects in such centers were

nationalized as monuments and had to be under the administrative
234 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

control of Institute for Conservation of the Federal Republic of Croatia,

Zagreb, or any institution to which the Institute transfers its right.

No specific data on the nationalization of confiscated works of

art is available. The existing documentation, the collection of Acts issued

by the “Commission for the gathering and protection of cultural

monuments and antiquities” (KOMZA) within the former Institute for

Conservation in Zagreb points to the conclusion that the confiscation of

property had to be followed by a decision for nationalization. Such

decisions were made by the City Committees of the People –

departments for public property.

The mentioned collection of KOMZA Acts, retained in the

archives of the Administration for the protection of cultural heritage at

the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, could prove to be the

main source of data on the question of confiscated items of cultural and

artistic value.

The Register of KOMZA minutes for the years 1945 and 1946 is

an available source of a wealth of information on this subject.

After World War II numerous commissions worked in the

Institute for Conservation in Zagreb. Their task was, among other things,

to maintain records on war damage inflicted on cultural monuments and

structures possessing monument properties; selection of items of artistic

value among the mass of confiscated goods held in collection centers;

selection of items of artistic value in deserted houses and flats; storage of

such objects in KOMZA premises or elsewhere; division of items

possessing monument properties (paintings, sculptures, furniture, objects

of artistic craft and similar, among new owners (or users), museums,

galleries, other institutions in the field of culture, administration and

others.

The post-war Commissions working within the Institute for

Conservation in Zagreb were:

“KOMRAT” – National Commission for establishing the extent

of war damage to cultural and historical objects on the territory

of Croatia – Zagreb (1945-1947)

“KOMZA” – Commission for the gathering and protection of

cultural monuments and antiquities – Zagreb (1945-1954)

Commission for the inspection of objects – Ministry of Science

and Culture of the government of FNR Yugoslavia – Zagreb
CROATIA 235

The above listed Commissions were engaged in the collection

and preservation of surviving cultural monuments, antiquities and

libraries following the period of the Holocaust.

“KOMRAT” was founded on the initiative of the Ministry of

Education of the People’s Republic of Croatia, its first session being held

on 7 June 1945. Its work was supported by documentation, as well as by

a register of inventories.

“KOMZA” was founded on 26 June 1945 on the orders of the

Minister of Education of Croatia and was based on the Decision dated 20

February 1945 on the protection and preservation of cultural monuments

and antiquities, adopted by the National Committee for the Liberation of

Yugoslavia. Its main task was to gather data on expropriated items

possessing monument properties.

Precise records were maintained, containing lists of objects of

artistic significance (records were linked to the name and family name of

the former owner and to a registration number, under which the total

volume of goods confiscated from the same owner was entered in an

individual regional collection center). The objects of artistic value, set

aside by the commission, were placed into the trust of KOMZA from

were they were distributed to various locations. Records were kept of

such distributions, with the origin of an object being denoted by the

registration number of the confiscated goods. It is impossible to trace a

certain number of items beyond that stage (there are, for instance,

remarks such as “Handed over at the request of the Federal Executive

Council”, and similar). The work of KOMZA is also supported by

documentation, i.e., a register of inventories.

In the period from the commencement of KOMZA’s work

(1945–1949) the Museum for Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, as well as other

museums and galleries, were receiving works of art from collection

centers into permanent ownership.

The path of each individual work of art can be traced from a

collection center in Zagreb to its location in a museum (provided that key

documents are not missing) on the basis of documents, but the

distribution of moveable works of art among private individuals was not

followed up by detailed records, that is to say, their path cannot always

be traced.

In certain areas KOMZA and KOMRAT complemented each

other; in other areas their activities overlapped, and the same can be said

for the Commission for Restitution (KOMREST). More information will

become available when the collection of documents is brought out of

storage.
236 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The selection of objects (movables) of cultural and artistic

significance was undertaken exclusively by the Commission for the

gathering and preservation of cultural monuments and antiquities, and its

associated, separate section, the Commission for Libraries. The return of

such moveable property to rightful owners was also defined, provided

that the owners registered the loss of said property.

Abandoned property of unknown owners was immediately

nationalized in 1945, and the implementation of confiscation procedure

was followed by a decision on the transfer of the same property into the

ownership of the State. Likewise, the property of absent persons was

sequestered and nationalized. On the basis of the then existing legal

framework it was possible to convey works of art into ownership only

after the finalization of court proceedings.

The Compensation Law (Official Gazette No.92/96) also regards

moveable heritage of works of art, including those from World War II, as

nationalized property, as stipulated in Articles 3. and 48. of the said law.

According to Article 48., only movables of cultural, artistic or

historical value are to be returned to their former owners. Such

movables, which are regarded as cultural heritage and are, in accordance

with the rules and regulations on the protection of cultural heritage, a

constituent part of Croatian galleries and museums, are to be returned to

the ownership of the former owner, although not into his possession.

Owners are entitled to a special type of compensation to be defined by a

separate decree issued by the government of the Republic of Croatia.

The fundamental standpoint of the Ministry of Culture of the

Republic of Croatia, based on professional and scientific arguments

presented by museum experts and relevant institutions, and one that has

been integrated into all the legislation on museum activity and the

preservation of museum material, is that museum collections, protected

and registered as moveable monuments of culture, are under the special

protection of the State, are indivisible, and as such are kept and displayed

in their entirety, regardless of who owns them, or their individual items.

All the items comprising a certain collection in a museum are

inventoried and entered into museum registers and other museum

documents, forming what is known as museological documentation. The

entire museological documentation of all the museums in the Republic of

Croatia constitutes national cultural heritage, a national fund of moveable

cultural goods. Any extraction of works of art which form an individual

museum collection is, in principle, prohibited and is subject to a special

procedure defined by the valid law (Law on museums, Official Gazette

No. 142, dated 28 October1998) and pertaining by-laws. This, however,
CROATIA 237

does not mean that certain exemptions, strictly professionally argued, are

not possible in individual and particularly justifiable cases.

The question of the possible loan, or of presenting for temporary

use, certain works of art which form a part of the holdings of Croatian

museums and galleries, shall be dealt with through a separate procedure

in which experts will play a decisive role, bearing in mind requests for

the restitution of works of art – now forming a part of the holdings of the

Museum of Slavonija-Osijek; the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb;

the Croatian Museum of History, Zagreb; the Archeological Museum,

Zagreb; the Gallery of Visual Arts, Osijek; Trako š_an Castle, and others

– already received from the former owners by the Ministry of Culture of

the Republic of Croatia.

In parallel with the Compensation Law, beginning from 1990

and particularly since the adoption of its Constitution, the Republic of

Croatia has, through the notification of succession, become party to

numerous international agreements and conventions, some of which are

related to the preservation of cultural and natural heritage. Since 1995,

representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia have

enjoyed observer-member status of the UNESCO inter-governmental

body charged with aiding the return of cultural treasures to their lands of

origin, or their restitution in the event of illegal acquisition, as well as

being members of the Committee for amendments and changes to the

UNESCO Hague Convention of the same year.

Additionally, Croatia, as one of the successor countries of the

former Yugoslavia, is demanding the restitution of material removed

from its territory in the period from 1918 to 1991 and which now

constitute joint cultural heritage involving museum and gallery holdings

from the territory of the former Yugoslavia. This action is being

conducted within the framework of the program of succession,

coordinated by the Office for the project of succession with the

government of the Republic of Croatia. To that end, necessary

documentary support has been prepared, based on a survey carried out

toward the end of 1992, to accompany claims made by museums and

galleries in the Republic of Croatia.

In the war waged against Croatia from 1991 to 1995 our cultural

heritage has suffered almost immeasurable losses through extensive

material damage, which was also inflicted on museums and galleries.

Based on an assessment of war damage to museums and galleries it has

been established that of 204 museums, galleries and museum collections,

66 museum buildings have either been damaged or destroyed; 45

museums and galleries have suffered damage to their holdings (6551
238 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

items of museum holdings are missing; 1430 items have been destroyed

and 728 damaged). Here it must be pointed out that at the time of writing

the assessment has not been finalized.

According to reports of foreign experts, in just the first seven

months of war in Croatia more cultural treasures were destroyed than

during the entire period of World War II throughout the whole of the

former Yugoslavia.

Negotiations on the return of stolen cultural heritage, scheduled

to take place between groups of experts from the Ministry of Culture of

the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Culture of SR Yugoslavia,

based on the existing assessment of war damage, numerous reports of

investigation missions of the Council of Europe, of ICOM, UNESCO

and others, covering the period between 1992 and 1996, have not yet

been realized despite the agreements reached at a meeting of foreign

ministers of the Republic of Croatia and SR Yugoslavia that took place

in Zagreb on 18 August 1998, and which was related to the

normalization of relations between the two countries.

Bearing all the above stated in mind, the holdings of Croatian

museums and galleries are therefore partially incomplete, which means

that the expert services of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of

Croatia are faced with the daunting task of realizing the project of

succession, as well as the return of expropriated property, establishing a

definitive picture of the holdings held by our own museums, and

reconstructing the ownership of the part of works of art collected during

and after the period of Holocaust.

The existence of documents, on the basis of which such

reconstruction can be at least partially made, will be of great assistance

to the creation of a more comprehensive picture of the fate of moveable

art heritage.

II. LIBRARIES

During the existence of the Independent State of Croatia, books

and libraries were confiscated from individual Jewish persons and

handed over to the National and University Library, but without any

listing. The same practice seems to have been adopted by the communist

authorities following World War II – private books and libraries were

confiscated and also handed over to the National and University Library.

In 1959 the library belonging to Dr. Lavoslav Šik was returned

to the Jewish Council in Zagreb, and in 1989 his private archives were
CROATIA 239

also returned. Also in 1989, 7,000 books were returned to the same

institution, accompanied by an agreement made between the Jewish

Council in Zagreb and the National and University Library, dated 4

October 1990.

III. ARCHIVE MATERIAL

Documentation about the Holocaust in Croatia can be divided

into several different groups.

The first and the most important group consists of official

documents laws, provisions and archives of the Ustasha administration of

the government of the Independent State of Croatia. They are stored for

the most part in the Croatian State Archive which is in charge of the

documents of the central government institutions, as well as in regional

archives. A part of these archives is also to be found outside Croatia - in

Belgrade. This group, which is the largest, contains lists of the Jews,

figures about camps and victims, treatment of the Jews in public life, lists

of Jewish properties and confiscation of these properties.

The second group consists of documents on the activities of the

Anti-Fascist Partisan Movement, especially the ZAVNOH Antifascist

Council for the Liberation of Croatia. They provide details about the

efforts of anti-Fascists in assisting the Jews.

The third group consists of documents which came out after

1944 as a result of the activities of the committees of the People’s

Republic of Croatia, whose task was to establish the facts about the

crimes committed by the occupying forces and their supporters. These

are stored in the State Committee File in the Croatian State Archive, as

well as in district, community and city files in regional archives. All

these contain detailed figures about victims and crimes committed in

camps and various sites in Croatia.

The fourth group consists of documents produced after 1945 as a

result of legal proceedings conducted by the State Security Office against

those accused of crimes committed in World War II. This documentation

which was received after 1990 by the Croatian State Archive, provides

an account of the atrocities against the Jews.

Finally, the fifth group consists of various press-clippings,

photos, memoirs, archives of the Jewish communities, and private

archives.

The most significant part of the archival material is stored in the

Croatian State Archive, and by its nature, summarizes the archival
240 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

materials of other lower bodies kept in regional archives. However, the

future research should go beyond what has already been done. The

research on the Holocaust in Croatia has not expanded further than

establishing the number of victims. In our opinion it is necessary to

analyze the historical context of the Holocaust in each country, using

source material, in order to get to the truth, to the “genesis of the crime”,

the crime itself and the consequences of the crime. Sources provide

brand possibilities researching the Holocaust in all its complexity, and

should be used more, in both analytical and synthetical research done by

the historians.

In this respect, we should also take into consideration the other

side of the coin when speaking of those horrible times. In addition to the

ideology of evil-Fascism and racism we must also mention the generosity

and courage of many individuals who risked their lives to help the Jews,

sometimes becoming victims themselves as a result.

Yad Vashem bestowed the honorary title of “righteous among

nations” to 60 Croats who risked their lives to help the Jews. After the

capitulation of Italy, Croatian partisans evacuated 3,500 Jews from the

island of Rab in the Adriatic to the free territory of ZAVNOH. Jewish

children together with Croatian women and children, were taken to the

refugees camp El-Shat in Egypt.

Finally, we would like to point out that it is necessary for every

nation to research the Holocaust in its own country. There should be no

attempts to justify the evil and crimes committed by one’s own nation by

accusing other nations of evil and crimes. An evil committed should be

condemned, but one must know to forgive and ask for forgiveness. To

place the blame on somebody else is to blame oneself.

This is one of the reasons why the HDA accepted an invitation

from the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington to sign an

Accord on May 22, 1995, on cooperation on Holocaust research in

Croatia. As a sign of good will, at the beginning of September 1995, we

gave to the ten rolls of microfilms to the Museum with data on the

mentioned 6,573 Jews executed or killed in World War II in Croatia.

The Croatian State Archive will continue to do its best to give

support to research aimed at uncovering the truth about the victims of

World War II.
EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS

AND

EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF

JEWISH COMMUNITIES

Joint Delegation Statement

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) and the European

Council of Jewish Communities (ECJC) were privileged to be invited

to attend the Washington Conference on Holocaust Era-Assets which

was an international landmark event in restoring dignity to a chapter of

the darkest history of mankind.

As the two European non-governmental organizations

representing an entire cross section of leading Jewish organizations,

including those dealing with the welfare needs of the elderly and in

particular of the needy Holocaust survivors, we wish to express our

thanks for the invitation to attend the Washington Conference and at the

same time to take advantage of the opportunity to present a unified

European Jewish position paper.

We are particularly keen to voice European Jewry’s concerns

and heightened sensibilities regarding the issues of restitution and

Holocaust education. As members of Jewish communities living today in

the very territory in which the Nazi regime perpetrated its unique

onslaught on the Jewish people and where Jewish life was almost extinct

by the end of World War II we have pledged all our energies to

contribute to the continuity of well functioning Jewish institutions and

services in Europe.

Nowhere more than Europe has the Shoah left its most

destructive and indelible traces. Nowhere more than Europe will

allocations from restitution funds be able to improve the personal well

being of needy Holocaust survivors and enhance the infra structure of

Jewish communal life.
242 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

It is from this particular European vantage point that we wish to

make a united submission from our two European Jewish umbrella

organizations.

I. HOLOCAUST EDUCATION:

We wish to emphasize our particular interest in the field of

education and promotion of a global curriculum in the teaching of the

Shoah. The European Jewish Congress is preparing for 1999 an updated

background document which will give a fair overview of all existing

actions in the field of formal and informal education, including textbooks

in European countries. This document will be our contribution to the

International Conference on Holocaust Education, which Sweden has

offered to hold in early 2000 and to which EJC/ECJC wish to be closely

associates.

II. ACCESSIBILITY TO ARCHIVES:

We concur with Secretary’s Eizenstat’s urgent call to all

governments and non-governmental organizations to open all public and

private archives pertaining to the Holocaust by the end of the year,

notably the Tripartite Gold Commission as well as all relevant archives

including German Nazi archives still in possession by some allied

countries.

In this respect we feel that the Vatican should reconsider its

resistance to such appeals for disclosure. What possible justification

could there be for the Vatican to remain the last bastion of secrecy with

regard to the Holocaust period? We have noted the statement by the

Holy See, referring to documents available to 1922, but reiterate the

absolute requirement to open archives so as to reach a just resolution to

outstanding matters in relation to the 1933 - 1945 era.

III. ALLOCATIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR

NEEDY VICTIMS OF NAZI PERSECUTION:

We take note that this fund now totals about USD 60 million and

we are grateful to all donor countries who have generously contributed to

this amount.
EJC AND ECJC 243

While we cannot underestimate the importance of direct

payments and services to individual needy victims of Nazi persecution,

we wish to emphasize the need for commensurate allocations for a

variety of networking programs geared to the improvement of delivering

Jewish communal services for small communities and communities in

Central and Eastern Europe. Both the EJC and ECJC have specialized

capabilities in providing training and support consultations in the area of

public policy and advocacy, Jewish informal and formal education, youth

work, social services provisions, cultural and Jewish Heritage activities

and leadership training to European Jewish communities. All these

programs are geared to consolidating Jewish life as a component of the

pluralistic democratic societies in which these communities exist.

We strongly recommend that the most serious consideration be

given to allocations to such programs as part and parcel of the

commitment to right the wrong of the past in a region which has suffered

doubly under oppression and neglect.

IV. INSURANCE CLAIMS:

We endorse the newly created International Commission on

Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims as the best mechanism for dealing with

unpaid life and property insurance dating back to the Holocaust era.

At the same time we express our wish that many more European

insurance companies join the Commission and demonstrate their good

will by pledging appropriate sums into an escrow fund from which future

claimants will be paid.

V. COMMUNAL PROPERTY:

We deplore the lack of consensus on how to expedite the process

of settling claims to religious and other communal properties (schools,

hospitals, community centers, welfare organizations, club houses etc.).

We are encouraged by the idea muted by the Polish delegation

that it would consider a conference on communal property and would

hope that this conference could address the situation in all former

communist countries. We are aware of the attempt by the region’s

democratic governments to take steps to rectify the injustices of the past.

However we must stress that the speedy return of such property or
244 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

appropriate compensation is absolutely essential to the re-emergence and

rebirth of Jewish communal life in Central and Eastern Europe.

We are mandated by our member organizations - the national

Jewish representative bodies - in this region to emphatically stress the

urgency of this endeavor. Most of these communities are impoverished

and in need of outside support if they are to survive and prosper into the

next millennium.

VI. LOOTED ART:

We applaud the trend demonstrated by various governments to

show a new willingness to locate missing artworks, publicize their

existence, determine their provenance and come to a just and speedy

resolution of ownership questions.

We support the introduction of the set of non-binding principles

intended as an operational framework for the resolution of the above

objectives.

We support the suggestion of a specific conference devoted to

the questions of looted art, to be held in Austria.

London / Paris 31 December 1998

Submitted jointly by

EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS

CONGRES JUIF EUROPEEN

President: Ignatz Bubis (Germany); Secretary General: Serge

Cwajgenbaum

78 avenue des Champs - Elysees - 75008 Paris

Tel. 01 43 59 94 63; Fax. 01 42 25 45 28; Email: jewcong@imaginet.fr

and

EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES

CONSEIL EUROPEEN DES COMMUNAUTES JUIVES

President: David L Lewis; Chairperson: Ruth Zilkha; Executive

Director: Michael May

74 Gloucester Place, London W1H 3HN, United Kingdom

Tel. 0171 224 3445; Fax. 0171 224 3446; Email: ecjc@ort.org
FINLAND

Statement by

Ambassador Esko Kiuru

MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Mr. Chairman,

First of all I would like to thank the Government of the United

States, as well the State Department for convening the Washington

Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets. The timeliness of the Conference is

a demonstration of the fact that the past cannot be escaped. Building the

future requires that the wrongdoings of the past must be corrected and

lessons must be learned.

The participation of so many countries and organizations in this

important Conference is a clear indication that Governments are

recognizing that the level of the moral of a state is increasingly

demonstrated by how they deal with and settle the events of their recent

history, including the restitution of wrong-doings. This conference deals

with the events of the Nazi era. Similar painful processes on the

settlement of the issues from the past lie ahead of individual countries

and international community as a consequence of the recent collapse of

the communist system in Eastern Europe. Restitution of stolen and

confiscated property to their legal owners is one of the tasks which has to

be accomplished in the former communist countries.

The participation of the Finnish Government in this Conference

is a strong demonstration of support to the international endeavors to

rectify the wrongdoings during the Nazi era towards the Jews and Jewish

communities. We find that the broadest possible international support is

required. This Conference also gives us an opportunity to clarify the

open and serious consideration given by the Finnish authorities to the

linked issues and events before, during and after the Second World War.

As most of you know, Finland was in a rather unique situation

during the Second World War. First the Soviet Union attacked our

country in 1939. After the Winter War a peace treaty was concluded in

the spring of 1940. From June 1941 Finland was again at war with the
246 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Soviet Union until September 1944. After the armistice, Finland waged

war against the Nazi-German troops remaining in Lapland.

The democratic structures of Finland were maintained during all

this time. In this connection it may be mentioned that free and fair

elections were held in Finland in the spring of 1945 after we had

managed to step out of the war but while the fighting still took place

elsewhere in Europe. Finland was also one of the few European countries

which were never occupied by foreign troops during or after the war.

Mr. Chairman,

The special situation and circumstances of Finland were

reflected in how the Jewish population of Finland participated in the war.

The Jewish minority is and has been an equal part of society, with the

same rights and obligations as other Finnish citizens. The Jewish

population in Finland has never been subjected to persecution. Nor has

their property been confiscated or taken in some other illegal way.

During the Second World War members of the Jewish

community in Finland participated in the Winter War and the

Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union in the same

way as other citizens. In that situation no difference was made between

different religions. Finland and the Finnish citizens fought for their

existence, irrespective of religion or cultural differences. The Winter

War did not create any ideological problems for the Finnish Jews. All the

Jewish conscripts, in total 260 persons, served in the army. Of these 200

served at the front. Fifteen Jews were killed in action, which was a

relatively significant loss for them. It has often been estimated that the

Winter War made the Jews feel that they really belonged to the Finnish

society.

During the Continuation War (1941-1944) the situation was

quite exceptional and interesting. Finland fought a war of its own against

the Soviet Union. There were German troops in the northern part of the

country and people were aware of the cruel policy of anti-Semitism

applied by the Nazis, although the extent of the atrocities was still not

known. Despite all this, the Finnish Jews served at the front, and in other

duties on equal standing with other citizens, even in the Continuation

War. The same applied to all national minorities. Several Jewish soldiers

were rewarded, they were promoted in a normal manner and they served

as commanders. This was probably a unique phenomenon.

It has often been asserted that the Nazis demanded the Finnish

Jews be surrendered. None, of course, were handed over. However, there

is no documentary evidence of this kind of demand. The Finnish Jews
FINLAND 247

were not saved because the Nazis forgot they existed. The fact that

Finnish Jews were Finns like other Finns was stated by the Prime

Minister of Finland to Germans (Heinrich Himmler) in the summer of

1942 in the mention that there is no Jewish problem in Finland. It was

also repeatedly announced that there is no cooperation with NaziGermans as regards the Finnish Jewish community.

However, during the war a sad episode took place as to some

Jewish refugees. Before the war, some 500 Jewish refugees came to

Finland from Central Europe. Of these refugees 350 moved on to other

countries and 150 remained in Finland. The State Police in Finland

extradited eight Jews, who were allegedly accused of criminal activity, to

the Gestapo. Only one of these Jews stayed alive. Intervention by the

President of the Republic, Mr. Ryti, Marshall Mannerheim and the

Government prevented the extradition of other refugees when it became

known that eight people had been handed over.

Mr. Chairman,

The question of Nazi-confiscated assets, appearing on the

conference agenda, has been investigated in Finland for quite a while

already. These investigations have proved the earlier information

according to which no property of the Jews was confiscated or taken in

some other illegal way during the holocaust era. This is due to the fact

that the Jewish community in Finland was in an equal position with other

members of society.

A few examples of the investigations carried out so far:

The Bank of Finland as the holder of the Finnish Governments

official reserve assets has carried out a study to ascertain whether the

Bank was in any way involved in gold confiscated from the Jews or in

other property seized from them in Europe during the Nazi regime. This

study was conducted on the Bank ́s gold transactions and holdings during

the years 1939-45. On the basis of extensive studies of the archives no

indication was established that the bank would have been involved in the

receipt of German-origin gold or confiscation or safekeeping of other

Jewish property.

As is well-known from a survey published in May 1997 by the

Bank for International Settlement (BIS) that Bank mediated gold as

payment for international bilateral postal payment transactions between

the central banks, including the Bank of Finland, and the Reichsbank on

behalf of national postal authorities. In terms of size, these BIS-accounts

were insignificant as an investment outlet for gold. No physical transfer

of gold was involved but the gold was used as an accounting unit. A
248 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

summary of the findings of the study has been handed over to the

organizers of this Conference.

In the spring of 1998 the Finnish banks launched an

investigation, with a view to finding out whether there were any unused

bank accounts, belonging to Jews in refuge. No such bank accounts were

found.

As regards insurance, in the light of current information, there

are no unclear insurance policies that would have belonged to Jews in

refuge in Finland. This is probably because Finland was so far away and

was not considered a safe country in the political situation of the 1930’s

and 1940’s. Thus it was not a good idea to take insurance policies or

deposit money in Finland. An investigation is being carried out in respect

of eventual assets of one refugee (one of the eight handed over to

Gestapo and who died in a concentration camp). This study has been

carried out in cooperation with the Jewish associations in Finland.

As regards art-objects, no immovable or movable property

belonging to individual Jews or Jewish communities have been

confiscated in Finland. However, two paintings have turned up in the

market, in respect of which the owners are being traced. The traces seem

to lead abroad, to Vienna and Berlin.

Education in the events of the holocaust era, as regards

comprehensive school, secondary education, universities and other

educational institutions, is given in connection with history courses. The

universities naturally have a research interest in the events of the

holocaust era. The subject is dealt with by several scientists and

publishers, which is demonstrated by the great number of studies, books,

publications, articles and TV programs concentrating on that era. We

hope that this conference provides inspiration even for a more systematic

study and education in the events of the holocaust era.

Mr. Chairman,

The uniqueness of the Finnish situation as well as, in particular,

of the situation of the Finnish Jewish population as described above,

should not be overemphasized, considering the seriousness of the issues

before this Conference affecting so many countries. What I try to explain

is that, in spite of the dark moments in the western history, there have

also been gleams of hope, although not very strong compared to what

happened to the Jews and to their property, on the whole.

The effects of the dark moments in the Western history also to

Finland, and the measures we have taken to overwhelm them, do not in

any way mean that the Finnish society would not have already gone
FINLAND 249

through the sometimes painful discussion about the events in the past.

This process will be continued although the number of cases is not too

extensive in my country. This Conference, its results and conclusions

can contribute to that on-going discussion.

The Jews of Finland and World War II

By

Tapani Harviainen

Professor of Semitic Languages

University of Helsinki

In several respects the history of the Jews in Finland has no

counterpart, either in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries or in Eastern

Europe. In order to be able to tell what happened during the Second

World War, I must explain how there came to be Jews in Finland in that

period. As a consequence, this presentation consists of two parts: first,

the rise of the Jewish community in Finland, and, second, the fate of the

Jews in Finland during the Second World War.

In theory, there was no place for Jews in Finland. From the

12th-13th century until 1809 Finland was a province of Sweden. When

Sweden was opened up to the Jews in 1782, residential rights were

restricted to three, later four, cities on the Swedish mainland (Stockholm,

Gothenburg, Norrköping; Karlskrona). Consequently, Jews were not

allowed to settle in Finland. Nevertheless, visits were allowed and thus

we know that the first Jews attested in Finland were the "Portuguese

singers" Josef Lazarus, Meijer Isaac and Pimo Zelig, who together with

the conjurer Michel Marcus were granted a license to present their skills

in Helsinki in 1782. 1

During the Swedish period some Jewish converts to Christianity

also settled in Finland. Isak Zebulon of Lübeck, who had by baptismal

received the name Christoffer, chose Oulu in Northern Finland as his

new hometown. The mother of Zacharias Topelius, the well-known

Finnish writer - who lived in the 19th century was descended from this

Oulu citizen of Jewish descent.2

 

1

 Jews expelled from Portugal in the 16th century settled in the Dutch cities and

in Hamburg. Their offspring and communities were for centuries called

Portuguese. The word is here used in this sense.

2

 Another famous convert was Meyer Levin, who in 1799 was admitted to the

Medical Faculty of the University of Turku. Later on, Levin worked at the
252 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Along with other Swedish laws, the 1782 regulations concerning

Jews remained in force, as Finland became a Grand Duchy within the

Russian Empire in 1809. Because of the high esteem enjoyed by the

traditional laws of Sweden, the Grand Duchy of Finland remained a

country out of bounds to Jews.

However, there is an exception which proves the rule. A part of

southeastern Finland, so-called Old Finland, was incorporated into

Russia as early as the middle of the 18th century, and Swedish laws did

not apply to that area until 1811. This made it possible for some Jewish

families to move from Russia proper to Old Finland at the end of the

1790s; several families (Jacobsson, Kaspi, Veikkanen etc.) in Finland are

descendents of these Jewish pioneers.

The Grand Duchy of Finland was a country out of bounds to

Jews. However, when the Jews were granted civil rights in the

independent Republic of Finland in 1918, 1,400 Jews were living in the

country. How do we explain this miracle?

The regulations prohibiting the entry of Jews into the Grand

Duchy of Finland did not prevent the Russian Army from entering the

country. Ever since 1827, the Jews of Russia were liable for military

service. With very few exceptions, Jews came to Finland as soldiers of

the Czarist army. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the duration

of military service could well be 25 years - and even later it was six

years. The conversion of non-Christian soldiers was one of the aims of

the prolonged period of service. As one can imagine, the Jews in Russia

did not consider the conscription to be a great honor, and thus the

majority of Jewish recruits were sons of the poorest families, orphans

and other of the underprivileged, many of them handed over to the army

by the notorious chapers, i.e. kidnappers. After the long years of service,

the soldiers, often having lost all contact with their birthplaces, were

inclined to stay where they were.

This type of settlement caused a problem for Finnish autonomy.

As a reaction, a Russian military ukase was issued in 1858 concerning

soldiers discharged from the Russian army. According to this decree, a

soldier in possession of a letter of retirement, a passport or a travel

document had the right to settle and support himself in Finland. The

same right applied to his family and children and also to his widow. As I

have mentioned before, the decree was a Russian ukase, not a regulation

promulgated by an initiative of the autonomous authorities in Finland.

 

University teaching German, and in 1815 he was given a permit to set up a

printing plant.
FINLAND 253

The ukase did not make any distinction between Christian and nonChristian soldiers, and the right of settlement of Jews was only implied

from the general wording dealing with all ex-soldiers. Similarly,

Moslems veterans were allowed to stay in Finland after that. Later, by a

Finnish decree of 1869 and a letter from the Finnish Senate in 1876, exsoldiers and their families were entitled to earn a living by selling homemade handicrafts, bread, berries, cigarettes, second-hand clothes and

other inexpensive textile products. This type of trading was in which the

Jewish narinkka markets in Helsinki began.3

At the beginning of the 1870s, organizational reforms in the

Russian army brought about a rapid increase in the number of Jews in

Finland to about five hundred - such a high figure!4 As a consequence, in

1872 a debate on their legal status was initiated in the Finnish Diet.

The four estates of the Diet, as well as the political parties of the

subsequent Parliament, Senate, were unable to provide a solution to the

problem. General conservatism, national protectionism and the fear of a

mass exodus of the Eastern European Jewish proletariat were the main

arguments of the opponents. The constitutional conflict between the

Finnish and Russian authorities which began in 1899 further complicated

the handling of the question.5

It was only in 1918, in connection with Finnish independence,

that full citizen's rights were granted to the Jews in Finland. In Europe,

only Rumania acted more slowly than Finland in giving civil rights to the

Jewish population. In Russia Jews were naturalized after the Revolution

 

3

 From Russian na rynke 'at the market-place'.

4

 In the earliest list of Jews in Helsinki of which I am aware, drawn up in 1868,

21 families with 83 family members were enumerated (National Archives, KKK

36/1686).

5

 In a letter of the Finnish Senate written in 1889, certain Jews whose names

were particularly mentioned, together with their families, were given the right to

remain in Finland until further notice, and to reside in localities assigned to

them. From these towns Jews were allowed to move only to Helsinki or Vyborg

within Finland. The residence permit applied to children only as long as they

lived with their parents. As soon as they married or entered military service,

they lost their residential right. New Jews were no longer admitted to Finland.

At first "residence tickets" were very strictly scrutinized, and because of the

problem of marriage, many Jews moved away from Finland and others were

expelled. In 1890, there were about one thousand Jews in Finland, but in five

years their number decreased by one quarter. At the turn of the century the

practice of examining and renewing residence permits was no longer observed,

but the regulation remained officially in force until 1918.
254 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

in 1917, and in Sweden this was achieved as early as 1870. - In this

context it is worth noting that the great majority of Jews living in

Sweden and other Scandinavian countries have a German background;

immigration from Poland has also taken place.

Because of the restrictions, extremely few Jews could move to

Finland on their own initiative. On the basis of the Finnish police

archives it is evident that, excluding the intelligentsia, which was very

small in number (a rabbi, a teacher and a circumciser), the background of

all Jews was in one way or another in the Russian Army. They had not

just come to Finland, it was the Army which had sent them – by chance –

to Finland and finally they had settled in the country. The decision was

not their own; it was a part of the inexplicable wisdom of the Army

which chose who would be Jews of Finland in the future. No parallel

case of this sort of genesis of a Jewish community is known to me.

The Russian Army thus sent Jews to Finland. However, a very

important exception from this rule must not be forgotten. While the

Army sent boys to Finland, it did not take care of providing wives for

them. Actually, we have no precise information as to the measures to

which the poor lonely soldiers resorted. Family legends tell of veterans

who established a joint 'isqa venture, i.e. they collected money and wrote

a letter to a rabbi in a shtetl in Lithuania asking him to dispatch so-and-so

many marriageable Jewish women to Helsinki. Since trains were few in

Russia, a consignment was transported by a cart. The ex-soldiers had

plenty of time to spend waiting in the market place in Helsinki, and when

the cart at last arrived, the strongest khaveyrim were ready to take the

most beautiful meydelakh down from the wagon; the slimmer lads had to

be happy with the rest. The story has given rise to a saying current

among Jewish ladies in Finland: "I have not been taken down from a

cart" - de-haynu: "I come from a better mishpokhe. "6

Be that as it may be, it is evident that other nationalities in

Russia were attracted to Finland by its reputation in Russia as a country

of order, a strong economy and greater intellectual freedom.7 Obviously

it was this reputation which assisted the Jewish soldiers in obtaining

wives from Russia with such success that in 1898 the majority of Jews

 

6 Helsingin Sanomat (A. Hurwitz), no. 316, 21.11.1929, s 4.

7

 This conclusion is confirmed by the article Eyn vokh in Finland by Shemarya

Gorelik, who participated in the 1906 Russian Zionist Congress in Helsinki. The

article was published in Dos yudishe folk in Vilna the same year, and it was

almost comic in its praise of the Finns and conditions in Finland.
FINLAND 255

living in Helsinki were born in Finland; this genesis was due to the great

number of children in their families.

From which parts of Russia were the Jewish soldiers sent to

Helsinki? The Helsinki police archives offer a clear answer to this

question. All Jews resident in Helsinki in 1898 had come from Russia

which at that time included the greater part of Poland.8 According to the

archives the most important "home towns" or the localities and districts

where the heads of the families had been registered before their arrival in

Finland, were (1) Schlüsselburg (now Petrokrepost) east of St.

Petersburg, above the River Neva, (2) the governments of Novgorod and

Tver, and (3) Lithuania and the north-eastern parts of Poland. A

surprising element in this information is that Schlüsselburg, Novgorod

and Tver were all outside the Pale of Settlement where Jews were

allowed to reside. Equally surprising is the almost total absence of

Estonia and Latvia in the domicile registers.9

During the first decades of independent Finland, in the 1920s

and 1930s, the Jewish population in Finland numbered nearly 2,000,

more than at any other time. At the outset, Jews spoke either Yiddish or

Russian. Linguistic assimilation led first in the direction of Swedish and

then also in the direction of Finnish. Yiddish was discarded surprisingly

quickly; a student of mine could find only three speakers of Yiddish for

tape-recording for his M.A. thesis in Helsinki in 1995. In giving up the

Jewish language, Yiddish, Finnish Jewry was left without a significant

uniting factor, a factor which, for example, the Finnish Tatars have

preserved.10 Religion and consciousness of being Jewish remained,

thereafter, the only uniting factors.

 

8

 Most of the soldiers had served in the regiments of the 23rd division then

stationed in Finland (the regiments of Dvinsk, Petshora, Onega and Belomorsk),

but quite a few also in different auxiliary units (military hospitals, local

detachments, feeding depots etc.) Among them were also many bandmasters,

members of military bands and drummers.

9

 In the 1880s and 1890s nearly all Helsinki Jews made their living by selling

new and second-hand clothes and fruit at the narinkka market: the name of Simo

(i.e. Simeon) Square still refers to the Jewish market. More than three-quarters

of the Jewish population lived in the same district of Kamppi, where both the

narinkka (from 1876) and later also the Synagogue (from 1906) were located.

As late as 1860s most Jews still lived in the districts of Siltasaari and

Kruununhaka, where the market was located at the time.

10 These Tatars also derive their origin from Russian, from the region on NizhniNovgorod, east of Moscow. Although Tatars also served in the Russian army in

Finland, they did not settle in the country as ex-soldiers; their forefathers came
256 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

In the 1920s and 1930s, genuine anti-Semitism also found

expression in Finland in certain ultra-right-wing circles, but it never

gained wider sympathies. The fact seems to remain that in the young

Republic all minorities suffered from prejudice and xenophobia to some

extent but evenly distributed. In this period, the Jews did, however, carry

one burden which may have made its position more difficult than that of

other minorities: a significant number of the Soviet leaders and wellknown Bolsheviks were Jews, and this fact easily led people to the

following conclusion: because he is a Jew he must be a Bolshevik, and as

such an enemy of Finland.

WORLD WAR II11

In the years 1939-1944 two different wars against the Soviet

Union were imposed upon Finland. During the Winter War of 1939-

1940 Germany remained strictly neutral on the basis of the MolotovRibbentrop Pact; Great Britain and France planned intervention in favor

of Finland.

When the second, so-called Continuation War broke out in the

summer of 1941, Finland was a co-belligerent of Germany, and Great

Britain declared war on Finland in December 1941. De jure, however,

Finland was never an ally of Germany, and at the end of the War, in the

winter 1944-45, the Finnish armed forces expelled the German troops

from Lapland, which was devastated by the Germans during their retreat

to Norway.

Military service was compulsory for each male citizen of

Finland. In 1939 the Jewish population of Finland numbered 1,700. Of

 

to Finland as peddlers of clothes and furs. In 1925 they established a Moslem

congregation in Helsinki. As in the case of the Jews, the members of the Tatar

community have been able to adapt themselves to Finnish society without

radical difficulties; both of these minorities are of the same size, viz. one

thousand persons. Besides being a religious congregation, the Tatar Moslem

community has stressed national aspects, retention of the Turkic Tatar language,

traditional habits and close family ties. In spite of competition in a number of

lines of business, relations between the Tatar and Jewish minorities have been

good; a sign of the rapport between them is a friendly football match arranged

by them each spring.

11 For details of the wartime history, see Hannu Rautkallio, Suomen juutalaisten

aseveljeys (The comradeship-in-arms of the Jews of Finland). Tammi, HelsinkiJyväskylä 1989. 250 p., ill., English summary.
FINLAND 257

these, 260 men were called up and approximately 200 were sent to serve

at the front during the Winter War. Fifteen men lost their lives. In

comparison with other communities in the country, the Jewish losses (8

%) were conspicuously heavy. However, it is obvious that the Winter

War did not involve ideological problems - neither for the Jews nor for

other citizens of Finland. In this respect a statement made by a Jewish

veteran seems to be characteristic: "The Winter War gave us a deeper

consciousness of being Finnish and of belonging to Finland more than

any earlier period in our history."

As I mentioned earlier, the Continuation War broke out in the

summer of 1941. Now Finland was a co-belligerent of Germany, and

there were Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS troops in the country. However,

no Einsatzgruppe was sent to Finland.

The comradeship-in-arms with Germany during the Continuation

War did not alter the status of Jews in Finland or in its army. Jewish

citizens served in the Finnish army, in women's voluntary defense

services and in other duties alongside other Finns. The same was true

with regard to all the ethnic minorities, Tatars, Russians, Gypsies, Lapps,

without differentiation.

In a quite unique photo, in a snowy forest there is a millboard

tent with an iron heating stove, the chimney on the left-hand side - and a

number of soldiers are posing outside the tent. The tent is a field

synagogue, "Scholka's shul", set up for the Jewish soldiers at the front

beside the River Svir in Eastern Karelia. A field synagogue with a Torah

Scroll was, no doubt, a very exceptional event in an Army fighting on the

German side during the War.

Several Jewish soldiers were cited for bravery in action; a

number of them served as company commanders and one as a captain

and battalion commander; Jewish army doctors were promoted to the

same officer ranks as their colleagues, inclusive of ranks of major.

During the two wars, 23 Finnish Jews were killed in action. As a

tribute to their memory, their names are published annually in the Jewish

Calendar of the Bicur Cholim Society in Helsinki.

It has been supposed that the Germans demanded the liquidation

of the Jewish communities in Finland too. However, there is no evidence

in favor of these claims. On the other hand, the small Jewish population

of Finland was not rescued because of a "lapse of memory" among the

Nazis as has sometimes been maintained. An evident confutation of this

hypothesis is the case of a handful of Jewish citizens from Finland who

were living in the German-occupied countries: their successful return to
258 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Finland resulted in intense diplomatic activity between Berlin and

Helsinki in the spring and summer of 1943.

It was the public conviction that "we have no Jewish Question",

and the Finnish Prime Minister J. W. Rangell expressed such an opinion

to Heinrich Himmler in July 1942. Consistent messages of this kind may

have warned the Germans not to endanger relations with their useful

brother-in-arms over an insignificant matter of little advantage to them -

after final victory there would be nowhere for the Jews to escape to.

The position of Finnish Jewish soldiers was very similar to the

political reality: none of the Jewish citizens of Finland refused to enter

military service on the grounds of pacifism or of being Jewish. On the

other hand, no instance is known of German soldiers refusing to cooperate with Finnish Jewish officers. As a rule, the attitude of Germans

to Jewish soldiers in the Finnish army has been described as an

"astonished" but "correct" one. The usual answer to incredulous

questions put by Germans was that "there is no difference between Jews

and other soldiers in the Finnish army." A number of Jewish officers

were awarded German Iron Crosses, but they refused them.

Jewish soldiers were not unaware of the general anti-Semitism of

Hitler's Germany, and reports of atrocities and mass murders circulated

among them and their families. However, the brutality of the Holocaust

did not become evident until the end of the Continuation War in the

autumn of 1944. The awareness of being Finnish soldiers gave the Jews

an assurance of safety even in the vicinity of German troops. At the

same time, quite a number of Jewish soldiers seem to have felt the need

to display that they were at least as brave soldiers as their comrades.

The complexity of comradeship with the Germans became a

serious problem only after the wars, when the extent of the Holocaust

was revealed. First of all, the Norwegian Jews who had suffered most

during the Nazi occupation questioned the policy of the Jews in Finland.

I consider that two reactions to these questions illustrate the views of the

Jews in Finland quite well. A former Jewish member of the women's

voluntary defense services (lotta) told me: "We were very surprised

because of these questions. We were proud that we were also accepted

to join the other Finns." Another reaction was: an association called the

Jewish War Veterans in Finland was founded in Helsinki in 1981 During

the first year of the association's activity, 84 members, more than 10 per

cent of the members present in the Community, joined the association. It

is self-evident that this is a most valid piece of evidence in favor of the

exceptional, independent nature of the war which Finland waged on the

side of Germany.
FINLAND 259

This is a short account of the Jewish citizens of Finland during

the War. Another story is that of the Jewish refugees.

The persecution of Jews, launched by the National Socialists in

Germany and in other countries under their influence, also brought

refugees to Finland, where, however, they were received in a rather

reluctant manner. In all, about 500 refugees arrived, and of these, 350

had by the summer of 1941 continued their journey to a third country,

mostly to Sweden or the United States.

In contrast to the Jewish citizens of Finland, the position of the

refugees turned out to be very difficult during the Continuation War.

Some of the refugees were German nationals, and others had escaped to

Finland from countries allied with or conquered by Germany. When the

Continuation War broke out in 1941 there were about 150 Jewish

refugees in Finland. They were taken to two villages in the countryside,

but 43 men were sent to work camps first in southern Lapland (Salla) and

then to the Isle of Suursaari (Gogland) in the Finnish Gulf.

In the autumn of 1942, Norwegian Jewry was annihilated; more

than half of them (altogether 757 people) lost their lives. Most of the

survivors were among those who succeeded in escaping to Sweden. As I

have mentioned before, it has been supposed that the Germans demanded

the liquidation of the Jewish communities in Finland. However, there is

no documentary evidence in favor of these claims, either concerning the

Jewish citizens or the refugees.12

Nevertheless, the State Police in Finland had agreed with the

leaders of the Gestapo that Finland was allowed to deport the undesirable

refugees to the areas occupied by the Germans. In October 1942 nine

Jewish men were sent by the Finnish State Police from the Suursaari

camp to Helsinki and ten Jews were arrested elsewhere in Finland.

However, one of the men escorted from the Suursaari camp succeeded in

sending a postcard to Mr. Abraham Stiller, a member of the Jewish

community and brother of the famous stage-manager Mauritz Stiller.

Stiller as well as his friends, both Jews and other Finns, made contact

with various governmental and administrative organs including President

 

12 The fate of the Jewish refugees in Finland has been the subject of lively

discussion, see Elina Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva S/S Hohenhörn ('Ship of Death

S/S Hohenhörn', Porvoo 1979); Taimi Torvinen, Pakolaiset Suomessa Hitlerin

valtakaudella ('Refugees in Finland during the rule of Hitler', Keuruu 1984);

Hannu Rautkallio, Finland and the Holocaust, the Rescue of Finland's Jews

(1987).
260 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Risto Ryti and Marshal of Finland Mannerheim. As a result the

governmental and public discussions the extradition was prevented.

However, on the 6th of October 1942, the State Police had

already had five Jewish men and three (or four?) members of their

families deported to the Gestapo in occupied Estonia. Officially, the

men were claimed to be guilty of espionage and other criminal activities;

four of them had minor offences in police records. Nineteen other

persons, most of them citizens of the Soviet Union, were deported on

board the same boat. The Gestapo transported the Jews to Birkenau

concentration camp. Only one of these people (Georg Kollman, a former

citizen of Austria) survived; after the war he immigrated to Israel.

There is no need to try and wash away the shame, but it should

also not be forgotten that in October 1942, Germany was at the height of

its power. After Stalingrad, it was considerably easier to say no. When

after the war the victor, the Soviet Union, issued the demand that the

Finnish Ingrians and other refugees be handed over to the Soviet Union,

it was influential enough to get what it wanted.

Of the other refugees, Finnish citizenship was granted to 110

persons in 1943-44; some of them left the country before that or later on.

On the Finnish Independence Day, the 6th of December, in 1944,

President Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland, visited the synagogue in

Helsinki where the memory of the Jewish soldiers killed in action was

honored. When Mannerheim died in 1951, the Jewish community raised

a large sum of money which was donated to the Mannerheim Fund of

Child Welfare as an expression of gratitude for the defense of the equal

rights of Jews in Finland.
FRANCE

Ambassador Louis Amigues

DIRECTOR, ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Statement translated from the original French by the

U.S. Department of State Office of Language Services, Translating Division

Intervention during the Plenary Session: Overview of NaziConfiscated Art Issues

Response to Speaker Ronald Lauder

The French delegation was surprised to hear one of the speakers

state that the French Government knew the identity of the owners of the

2,000 works of art deposited with the Museums of France at the end of

the restitution campaign that permitted the return of more than 45,000 of

the 61,000 works of art recovered in Germany.

I hasten to add that this statement is at odds with what we know.

We will discuss that tomorrow.

However, since we are here to exchange information, I would

like to ask the speaker on what information he bases his belief, and, if

possible, to provide us with that information. He may rest assured that

we will make the best use of it.

Press Conference by the Mattéoli Mission:

Prof. Adolphe Steg

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

FACT-FINDING MISSION ON THE LOOTING OF JEWISH ASSETS

(MATTÉOLI MISSION)

Opening Statement on Art Works

(Washington, December 2, 1998)

Concerning this last question, I would like to explain the

Mattéoli Mission’s approach to the MNR.

For several years the genealogy of these assets has been

scrupulously and deeply investigated, and the results of this study are

already available on the Internet.

But now the time has come within the next five months, when –

due to the mandate given to us by the Government – we shall have to

make proposals to the Prime Minister.

May I express some principles which guide us:

1) The MNR assets are not integrated in the national patrimony.

2) When seeking a solution (and for us a general rule in all

fields) we refer ourselves only to the interest of victims. Clearly we do

not protect any institution, or organization or corporation, but only the

victims.

3) Finally, our mission will now begin a reflection on the

definitive statute of the MNR and we will make proposals on the

destination of these works of art.

Let me be clear:

When an asset will not, incontestably, be proven as a non-spoiled

object, then [there] has to be a high probability of [it] being a spoliation.

GREECE

Delegation Statement

Greece became involved in the Second World War on October

28, 1940, when fascist Italy launched an unprovoked invasion from

Albania. The aggressors, however, were defeated by the Greek army and

thrown back into Albania. This first setback for the Axis made inevitable

the assault by Nazi Germany, who came to the rescue of its Italian ally in

order to safeguard its rear, pending its invasion of the Soviet Union. The

Wehrmacht invaded Greece through Bulgaria on April 6, 1941, and

crushed the resistance by the exhausted defenders as well as a British

(and Commonwealth) expeditionary Force. By the end of that month,

German troops had overrun the mainland and in May, conquered Crete

against fierce resistance offered by Commonwealth forces and the local

population. The tripartite (German – Italian – Bulgarian) enemy

occupation lasted for 3,1/2 years, during which the exploitation of the

population and the country’s resources as well as the suppression of

every freedom stimulated the development of a strong resistance

movement. In early November 1944, the Greek mainland was free again,

while several islands remained under German Occupation up to May

1945.

Greece, having actively participated in all Conferences on

Holocaust issues, demonstrates a particular and continuous concern

in this matter. Along with other countries, she has offered a part of

its gold share to the “International Fund for needy victims of Nazi

persecution”, hoping that this symbolic act will be appreciated by

the survivors of the Holocaust and the families of the persons who

lost their life.

In the Washington Conference on “Holocaust-Era Assets,”

Greece focused on the following particular issues:
266 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

• the forced loan exacted from Greece during the Occupation

period,

• art, archives and education issues,

• the claims presented by the Greek – Jewish Organizations.

FORCED LOAN

While in most occupied countries the annual cost of occupation

corresponded to their defense appropriations before the German

invasion, the size of Greece’s levy was extremely high and covered

requirements in excess of the direct occupation costs, even though

according to the Hague Convention, the contributions levied must be in

proportion to the country’s resources and occupation costs cannot be

charged in order to meet general war expenses or for the enrichment of

the occupier. In 1941/1942, the levy represented 113,7% of the country’s

national income.

In addition to direct monetary contributions, the Axis also

exacted large credits from the Bank of Greece for “all expenses of the

war waged within the occupied country or from this country”. This

included German operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa,

as well as the occupation of Southern Albania, which was subordinate to

the German high command in Greece. Of the costs within Greece, 50%

or more of the Greek payments were used for fortifications and similar

“construction projects”. In contrast to public German assertions that

these projects were mainly for the purpose of “Greek reconstruction”, the

final German report admitted that no more than 1.2% were “in common

German and Greek interest”. Even Hitler himself stressed the point that

out of the Greek payments only “the smallest part was used for the costs

of occupation” but the major part was used for construction projects

which were “of decisive importance for the African War”, i.e., in

particular for the reinforcements and supplies for the German “Africa –

The first “Forced loan” Protocol was signed in March 1942 and

was subsequently amended several times during the Occupation. It

stipulated that Greece was to make a monthly part – payment of 1.5

billion drachmas for both the Italian and German armies. The Bank of

Greece was also obliged to advance additional funds and to open an

interest – free loan account for each occupation Power for this purpose.
GREECE 267

In this Protocol, high-ranking officials of the German and Italian

Ministries of Foreign Affairs, undertook to pay back the loan to the

Greek government and began doing so in 1943, thus recognizing liability

to repay a debt. Thus, there is no doubt that, the loan in question was

different from normal occupation levies.

What is more, internal Germans communications constantly used

terms such as ‘credit’ and “Reichsverschuldung” (debt of the Reich). In

early April 1945, the economic experts of the Former German Embassy

in Athens submitted their voluminous Final report on “Economic

Administration in German-occupied Greece” to the Foreign Affairs

Ministry in Berlin with the explicit indication “for future use”. It this

report, they made serious efforts to calculate the German “debt” to

Greece which they estimated as equivalent to 476 million German marks.

Since then, Greek representatives have always stressed that the

forced loan extracted from Greece was not part of “regular” occupation

costs and that it had to be paid back. As a loan, it could not be part of war

reparations.

In the postwar years subsequent Greek governments have

defended the view that Axis commitment to pay back the remaining

amounts of the wartime credits was legally binding. To date, there has

been no change in this position. Foreign Affairs Minister Th. Pangalos

recently stated that the forced loan is a bilateral issue which remains

open and pending. The claim concerning the forced loan is not related

and should not be confused with the amounts which Germany has

provided to Greece either by contributing to the European Union projects

in Greece or within the framework of bilateral loan agreements.

With one exception, the Bonn government responded to all war

claims placed and substantiated by countries, after German unification.

These responses constituted either some kind of material compensation

or at least the beginning of negotiations on the claims.

The only exception is Greece.

ARCHIVES, ART, EDUCATION

The fundamental elements of a national heritage are preserved in

three significant aspects of culture: archives, art and education.

The preservation and accessibility to the public archives of a

state is a sign of respect to history. In recent years, tremendous efforts

have been made throughout Europe to improve the condition of state

depositories and equip the facilities with the proper tools. In a continuous
268 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

effort to accommodate historical research, the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs of Greece participates in numerous research and publication

efforts with other nations in Europe and also with educational institutions

both in Greece and abroad.

An agreement between the United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum in Washington DC, and the Service of the Historical Archives

of the Hellenic Ministry regarding the exchange of archival records is

currently being negotiated. This agreement, as well as the recent

publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Documents on the History

of the Greek Jews), indicates the perseverance of the Greek State to seek

historical truth.

In this context special attention should be paid to the continuing

efforts of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki seeking to repatriate the

archival collection of the community which was violently transported by

the Germans during the war, and found only recently in Russia. The

records depict the communal history of the Jews of Thessaloniki from

1870 until 1942. It is an important heirloom for one of the oldest Jewish

communities in Europe and should therefore be repatriated.

Art and architecture demonstrate the spirit and the philosophy of

a nation. Both are visual indicators of a time past, and the cultural

reminders of an “ethnos”. The artifacts looted or destroyed during the

Second World War by the occupying forces are too numerous to mention

here. The occupation forces vandalized classical and Byzantine

monuments, transporting parts or entire structures while looting icons,

library collections and heirlooms. The losses are staggering. 19 large

Byzantine churches, monasteries, museums and libraries were destroyed.

26 illegal archeological excavations were carried out by Italian and

German archeologists. Artifacts from 42 museums were looted and

transported abroad by the Germans, while their Italian counterparts

looted 33 museums and the Bulgarians 9. The damages were staggering,

while the scars of the destruction are still visible on the surviving

monuments of Classical and Byzantine Greece.

The most important element of cultural preservation is the

continuous effort to preserve history alive through education. Greece, the

cradle of civilization, a country which witnessed the birth of

contemporary sciences, supports today the advancement of research and

education. On a regular basis, Greece signs new agreements and renews

older protocols of bilateral educational programs with nations interested

in the exchange of cultural information. Most recently Greece signed

such an agreement with the State of Israel. This four-year program calls

for a collaborative effort in the educational, scientific and cultural fields.
GREECE 269

This initiative aims, among others, to disseminate knowledge and

information regarding unknown aspects of both the Jewish and Greek

history.

CLAIMS OF THE GREEK JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS

The Greek Jewish Organizations, through the Greek Ministry of

Foreign Affairs, presented at the Washington Conference memoranda

stating the losses caused to their property between 1941 and 1944 by the

German Occupation Authorities, their claims for restitution of property

found anywhere in the world and financial restitution for property that

cannot be found anymore.

1. The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki stated that the

German Occupation Authorities completely destroyed the Jewish

Cemetery of the city where graves were untouched since 1492,

constituting a treasure of historical and archeological information. Thus

the historical memory of generations of Jews, who lived and died in

Thessaloniki, was forever lost. The value of the building materials

(marble slabs, bricks etc.) contained in the cemetery was estimated at

that time to one hundred thousand (100,000) gold English sovereigns,

while the historical memory lost is beyond estimation.

2. The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki claimed that the

German Authorities, under the supervision of Dr. J. Pohl, Director of the

Jewish Department of the Library of Frankfurt plundered systematically

Communal libraries namely:

a. The Library of the Religious Tribunal (Beth-Din),

containing approximately 2,500 volumes of rare editions.

b. The Library of the Community Schools’ Teachers,

with about 600 volumes of reference books, etc.

c. The Library of the Monastirioton Synagogue, that

included exclusively books of religious and hieronomic interest.

d. The Library of the Religious Establishment

Haimoutcho Kovo located on 8, Menexe st. and of its annex on

74, Queen Olga Avenue, to which the personal libraries of its

founder, the Great Rabbi Haim Asher Kovo, and the precious

library of Chief Rabbi Asher Kovo had been added.
270 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

e. The 250 manuscripts of the Holy Jewish Law (Pentateuque)

treasured in the city’s Synagogue, many of which had been

brought from Spain in 1492.

3. The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki claimed that the

German Occupation Authorities had confiscated its archives and

transported them to Germany. These archives, considered lost for many

years, surfaced in Moscow three years ago. The Jewish Community of

Thessaloniki demands its archives back.

4. The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki finally claimed that it

was obliged to pay to the German Occupation Authorities the sum of

150,000 gold French Francs, in order to ensure to exception from

compulsory civilian work of 1,000 of its poorest members, who were not

able to meet this amount, and the sum of 1,900,000,000 Drachmas (DM

50,000,000) in order to liberate the rest of its members from compulsory

civilian work. The Jews excepted from compulsory civilian work were,

nevertheless, transported to the extermination camps in Poland and

Germany and were exterminated in gas chambers.

5. The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece claimed

that the sum of 1,700,000 gold English Sovereigns has been plundered

from Greek Jews and that this sum must be restituted to its legal owners

or their inheritors.
HUNGARY

Delegation Statement

I. HOLOCAUST-ERA ART ISSUES IN HUNGARY

Hungary took part in World War II as an ally of Germany. From

March 19, 1944, however, the country was occupied by the Nazis. In

October the Hungarian government attempted to achieve a cease-fire and

so withdraw from the war, but these efforts were hampered by a

pro-German fascist puppet government that came to power. Persecution

of Jews proliferated and the confiscation of Jewish property took place

only from March 1944 to April 1945. A Government Commission for the

Registration and Safeguarding of Art Works taken from Jews was rapidly

set up, whose activity was a cover-up for the sequestration of the art

treasures of Hungarian Jews. These treasures were then - with a few

exception - transported to Germany. There was a so-called Hungarian

gold train with two trucks at the end of World War II, full with gold,

jewelry, precious stones and a large amount of artifacts looted from

Jews, and which were never returned to Hungary. We do not know

anything about their fate.

It should be mentioned that after January 20, 1945 a Hungarian

democratic government was established and Hungarian armed forces,

allied with the Soviet troops, fought against the Nazis. After the war a

body of specialists was established called Ministerial Commission for

Art Works Taken from Private and Public Collections, which collected

data on art assets with the aim of their restitution. The control over the

country was later fully overtaken by communists with the support of the

Soviet Union. The communist dictatorship was broken for a very short

time by the 1956 revolution, a new democratic era started with the

system change of 1989. The free elections of a new government paved

the way to the genuine examination of World War II losses and

reparations together with compensations for communist era injustices.

A significant portion of all cultural property found was returned to

Holocaust survivors. However, a vast number of cultural assets are still

missing: pieces of the Hatvani Collection. An important fraction of the
272 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

looted objects – consisting of 152 works of art – have been identified in

Moscow, the Hungarian origin of which was also acknowledged by the

Russian authorities. Among them we can find invaluable paintings from

collections of Hungarian Holocaust victims. The return of these objects

is blocked by the Russian attitude of indifference towards international

norms on restitution and also by the uncertain situation of their

restitution law.

In the early 1990s the Hungarian government initiated a

scientific research program, which has already resulted in a database

containing over 60,000 items of art treasures lost during World War II

and in its immediate aftermath. A publication containing the data and – if

available – the picture of the 1000 most important pieces under the title:

Sacco di Budapest, 1938-1949 - Depredation of Hungary, 1938-1949 has

been put out recently.

The situation of how restitution was handled in Hungary under

the Communist Era and after the political change during the past 50 years

can be illustrated by the statements of two prominent U.S. personalities:

In 1996 at a hearing before the COMMISSION ON SECURITY

AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE the Honorable Christopher Smith,

presiding Chairman of the Commission characterized the approach of the

Communist Government as follows:

"In some places, such as Hungary, the

government was required by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty

to restitute Jewish property, but the Communists ignored

this obligation. Not only was justice denied for

Holocaust survivors, but Communist regimes perpetrated

their own brand of injustice and, in fact, were infamous

for their complete disregard for private property..."

Under Secretary of State, The Honorable STUART E.

EIZENSTAT, formulated at the same hearing as follows:

Hungary "is a good example of what a government can do when

it puts its mind to it. The Hungarian Government has been very

forward-thinking in its restitution program, and I have been impressed by

their determination to resolve both communal and private property

issues. It has accepted its obligations under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty,

and a 1993 Constitutional Court decision to provide fair compensation

for those who lost their property in the Holocaust and afterwards is being

honored."

And now, in the Sunday Times about restitution funds:
HUNGARY 273

"The model here is Hungary, it established a special foundation

with accountability and management" of the properties in question.

Still, certain criticism has been formulated by Hungarian and

foreign observers about the Hungarian museums' approach towards some

of their acquisitions during the early years of the Communist Era.

Museums keep works of art – among others former property of

Holocaust victims – the provenance of which is poorly documented.

Some of these cultural objects are registered as unclear deposits, some

others as part of the basic collection of the museum. In fact, it is one of

the museum's most important missions to safeguard its holdings from

being sold or alienated until unlawful ownership has not been proved

incontestably.

In order to clarify what happened with some obscure acquisitions in

Hungary, as a first step the Minister for Cultural Heritage has sent out a

letter to museums and their authorities, in which he instructs – or if not

entitled, he requests – museum directors to conduct a review of their

inventory books and list out ambiguous items. As a next step a research

team will examine the circumstances under which these cultural objects

were placed to the museum.

The Hungarian government is fully committed to the restitution or

compensation of Holocaust victims concerning cultural assets. For

managing this complex task - which includes scholarly research, political

decision making, bill drafting, and negotiations with representatives of

foreign states, contacts with Holocaust survivors, etc. – a state

commissioner will be designated.

II. EDUCATION

There is almost no family in Hungary which was not affected by

the Holocaust either as victim or as witness or helper. Everyone knows

what did what made Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews in

the most dangerous times. The Jewish Institution and documentation

centers have been working hard on revealing darkness about the horror

of the Holocaust.

After World War II, there were made some scientific researches

on Holocaust, but soon the Communists came to power, this scientific

researched banned by them. István Bibó must be mentioned, who

published several papers about the roots of the anti-Semitism and the

democratic movements in Hungary. As the revolutionary changes came

in 1989, serious historical research was started about the Holocaust. A
274 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

thorough investigation could be made in the archives. Now the

Hungarian archives are open to carry out such a research, and the

newly-signed agreement enables Israel to get admission into these

archives under organized circumstances. There is another successful

historical research in Hungary, which can be demonstrated by many new

volumes of selected documents and memoirs. More films were made in

the last few years, than had been made during the proceeding decades.

We should mention the document film, 'The Message of Elie Wiesel"

made in 1996, Hungary's participation at the Baltimore Jewish Film

Festival (“The Memoirs of a River”) or at the Washington Jewish Film

Festival, both held this year. The above-mentioned film of Judit Elek,

“The Memoirs of a River” demonstrates not only the ultimate victory of

Truth and Justice, but also the internal harmony and peaceful coexistence

of Jews and Christians in Hungary.

Hungary has surely much to do for the better knowledge of the

Holocaust Era in the field of education; Hungary is ready to do it. We

have to emphasize that the Holocaust was part of the basic knowledge of

the history taught in the Hungarian schools during the last 50 years, as it

is now. The National Curriculum mentions the Holocaust several times,

and it is implied in our schoolbooks. The high school history books

consistently deal with the subject of the Hungarian anti-Semitism,

including the special laws against Jews. There are several writers and

poets of Jewish origin who became victims of the Holocaust and now

their achievement is also part of the education. On the basis of an

agreement with the Yad Vashem Institute every year 30 teachers can take

part in a course in Jerusalem to study the best methods of Holocaust

education.

Definite steps are to be taken in the frame of human rights, at the

same time regarding the recent ethnical and historical challenges. The

Department of Judaism at the Budapest University and the Department of

Romology at the Pécs University are of great importance for both

research and education. The Hungarian exposition in Auschwitz will be

renewed in 1999.

To demonstrate its deep conviction regarding Holocaust

education and remembrance, the Hungarian Government has adopted a

resolution on establishing the Public Foundation of the Holocaust

Research and Documentation Center. This Foundation together with one

or more similar institutions will move to the oldest synagogue in

Budapest to achieve their purposes more effectively. The execution of

this and other resolution will testify the government's concern for

Holocaust victims.
ISRAEL

Delegation Statement

Following the defeat of the Nazis, a majority of Holocaust

survivors immigrated to Israel, where they and their families account for

one-sixth of the Jewish population. The State of Israel, the Jewish State,

sees itself as the central representative of the survivors and their

offspring and is dedicated to achieving justice on their behalf and to the

remembrance of the Holocaust.

Israel's delegation to this Conference welcomes efforts by other

governments to obtain such justice. In particular, we would like to

acknowledge the role of Great Britain and the United States, the initiators

and chairs of the London and Washington Conferences on Holocaust Era

Assets. The Government of Israel also wishes to express its appreciation

to the Swedish Government for initiating an international effort to

promote worldwide education about the Holocaust in cooperation with

the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Israel. We welcome

the agreements reached so far regarding the settlement of claims from the

Holocaust period, and we look forward to achieving similar agreements

with other parties.

The matter of Jewish assets is not merely a material issue; it is a

moral imperative. "Thou shalt not steal" appears in the same Decalogue

with the injunction against murder. There is no adequate compensation

for the loss of life, but justice must be sought for the Jewish communities

and individuals that were despoiled.

Compensation must also be sought for the men and women

turned into slave laborers, whose bodies were violated for profit. All

civilized nations outlaw slavery and whomever exploits slave labor must

provide reparations for this heinous crime.

People or institutions who knowingly acquired looted property

should pay restitution. We appeal to financial institutions such as banks

and insurance companies to accept responsibility for their Holocaust era

clients. This also applies to those who acquired art works and ritual

objects looted from homes and houses of worship. Though these items
276 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

may have passed through a number of hands, the original owners have an

indisputable claim to what is rightfully theirs.

We welcome the openness and the cooperation of the countries

researching the facts regarding property seized during the Holocaust. We

note with satisfaction that many countries have established commissions

to investigate their own past. We join the initiative to persuade all

countries, groups and individuals to allow immediate and unrestricted

access to all archival and state archive materials relevant to the period.

This applies especially to church records and archives of private

concerns, corporations and individuals, as well as documentation not

stored in archives. Any entity that withholds information from public

access compounds the indifference and crimes of the past.

We sincerely hope that the International Task Force on

Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance will succeed in

promoting worldwide awareness of the horrors of the Holocaust and help

combat racism, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and ethnic hatred.

Israel supports and recognizes the World Jewish Restitution

Organization (WJRO) as the umbrella organization which works in close

cooperation with the State of Israel, to represent the Jewish people in

matters of restitution.

The Israeli delegation wishes to express its support for the Roma

to receive material compensation for they, too, were victims of the hatred

and murder which occurred during the Holocaust.

The Israeli delegation commits itself to full cooperation with all

governments and non-governmental organization in an effort to uncover

the truth, promote humanitarian solidarity and accord justice to the

victims of the Holocaust and their heirs. Together with Yad Vashem, (the

central institution of Remembrance, Education, and Research on the

Holocaust) and with others, Israel will work to effect the widest

dissemination of knowledge about the Holocaust, its prelude, its

aftermath and its lessons for all humanity.
ITALY

Monetary Gold and Italian Participation in the

International Fund for Needy Victims of Nazi

Persecution

Statement by

Minister Franco Tempesta

HEAD OF DELEGATION

Following the conclusion of the Tripartite Committee’s work,

which enabled Italy to receive one last quota of monetary gold, the

Italian authorities began the procedures to participate in the Fund

established at the Federal Reserve Bank aimed at offering financial

support to needy victims of Nazi persecution.

The contribution made available by the Italian Government is a

value almost equivalent to the monetary gold withdrawn on the eve of

the conclusion of the Tripartite Committee’s mandate. The amount in

Italian Lire is 12 million (approximately 7.2 million dollars).

Another goal pursued by the Italian Government was to identify

a non-governmental organization able to distribute the sum according to

the rules contained in the founding statute of the Fund for needy victims

of Nazi persecution. The “Unione delle Comunita’ ebraiche italiane”

(Union of the Italian Jewish Community) was chosen because they

offered to carry out the task for those entitled to benefits.

In order to allocate said sum for the aforementioned Fund the

Italian Government approved an ad hoc Bill for the appropriation of the

indicated amount.

The proposed Bill is now being considered by Parliament where

no specific difficulties are expected for its passage.

In compliance with the rules of the Fund I would like to provide

the British Government and account holder the information pertaining to
278 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

the aforementioned NGO, in order to obtain its inclusion in the list of

Organizations:

Unione Comunita’ ebraiche italiane

Presidente Professor Amos Luzzatto

Lungotever Sanzio, 9 – 00153 ROMA

Telephone: ++39 06 5803667

++39 06 5803670

Telefax: ++39 06 589969
Research Issues

Statement by

Minister Franco Tempesta

HEAD OF DELEGATION

I understand there will not be time for discussion.

I would just like to inform that the Italian Prime Minister

yesterday officially formalized the creation of our national Commission

for research on the economic and financial aspects of racial persecutions.

In this Commission the following will be represented:

Office of the Prime Minister

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of the Interior, on which depends the

State Archives

Association of Italian Banks

The Union of Italian Jewish Communities

The Jewish Documentation Center

A number of historians

Other entities and/or NGO will bed invited, if

necessary

The Commission will work in close cooperation with similar

bodies from other countries.

Education

Statement by

Minister Franco Tempesta

HEAD OF DELEGATION

Break-out Session on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and

Research

Since 1996 the Italian Ministry for Education has started to

update the history teaching in High Schools in order to offer a deeper

knowledge of the historical period between the two World Wars and the

last fifty years.

In particular, teachers and students are now following together

an historical itinerary named “The XX Century: The Young Generations

and Memory” which includes works and research on racism,

persecutions, deportations, and fascist racial laws.

To financially support this program, the budget of the Ministry

of Education has been granted an amount of 3,5 billion liras

(approximately 2 million dollars) by the Government to train teachers,

and a further amount of 1 billion liras (approximately 600,000 dollars) to

finance partially or totally visits by high school students attending the

last year (generally young people 17 – 18 years of age) to the sites of the

Holocaust.

Within this program – thanks to State financing – 300 students

from various Rome High Schools traveled last October to Auschwitz,

accompanied by their history teachers and by survivors belonging to the

Italian Association of Deportees.

A number of similar trips are currently being organized. I

understand there will not be time for discussion.

LATVIA

Delegation Statement

Latvia positively evaluates the Conference on Nazi Gold that

took place in London in December 1997 and during which an

announcement was made on the establishment of a special compensation

fund for Holocaust survivors. To assist victims of Nazi persecution,

Latvia fully supports the establishment of this fund and has taken a

decision to contribute to the fund.

To promote awareness of the historic truth, in November of this

year a commission of historians was established in Latvia. The main goal

of the Commission is to carry out research in respect of the tragic events

in Latvian history from 1939 through 1991. The Commission will

encourage and promote research about deportations that were carried out

in Latvia during the Nazi and Soviet occupations. It will address and

highlight issues associated with the terrible legacy of the Holocaust in

Latvia and the fate of Latvian Jews in the wake of those tragic years.

Regarding the issue of restitution of Jewish property, Latvia is

convinced that return of property to its lawful owners is one of the most

important aspects of a democratic society. Latvia considers that the issue

of restitution of the Jewish property confiscated during World War 11 is

of particular importance. The laws adopted in Latvia that regulate the

process of property restitution are among the most liberal in the countries

of Central and Eastern Europe, and ensure the restitution of property to

lawful owners or their heirs regardless of their present place of residence

or citizenship.

Latvia consistently carries out return of the property confiscated

from Jews to its former owners and to date property rights on most

pieces of property have been restituted. Latvia is aware of the

unquestionable ties of Jewish organizations with religion and the Latvian

government will continue the process of property restitution in

accordance with the already existing state legislation. Presently

arrangements are being made to establish the Council on Jewish

Communities and Parishes of Latvia which could become the

coordinating institution in respect of Jewish property restitution. In an
284 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

effort to collect data on pieces of property that were confiscated from

Latvian Jews, the Latvian State History Archive has informed the

Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the archive has more than 3000

files related to the Holocaust and properties confiscated from Jews.

Latvia is aware of the need to give particular attention to

Holocaust education and the necessity of teaching about the Holocaust at

schools. To this end, the curricula that have been worked out in Latvia

contain the subject of the Holocaust and books and other schooling

materials about the Holocaust are being composed and published in

Latvia.

Latvia recognizes the importance of the issues discussed during

the 1997 London conference on Nazi Gold and during the preparatory

seminar that was held in June 1998 in Washington and is ready to take

active participation to address and solve issues related to contributions to

the Holocaust survivors' fund, property restitution, the work of the

historical commission, Holocaust education as well as lend assistance to

solve issues relating to art, insurance and other assets.

Maintaining good relations among the various ethnic minorities

in Latvia has always been of prime importance for Latvian government.

Ever since the restoration of Latvia's independence, the government of

Latvia has provided assistance to the Jewish community in Latvia to help

them solve issues related to the Holocaust legacy. By doing so the

Latvian government has committed itself to bolster the existing friendly

relations with the Latvian Jewry.
LUXEMBOURG

Delegation Statement

GERMAN MEASURES TAKEN AGAINST JEWS AND EMIGRANTS

When German troops invaded Luxembourg on the morning of

May 10th, 1940, some 3700 Jews are believed to have stayed in

Luxembourg. About 1000 of them were of Luxembourg nationality.

Some 2000 were refugees from Germany and other countries occupied

by Germany after 1937. Most of the 700 remaining Jews were

immigrants from Eastern Europe and stateless.

The night before the invasion a certain number of Jews had been

informed that the invasion was imminent and so they were able to leave

the country ahead of the German troops. 50000 Luxembourgers were

evacuated to the south of France as their towns and villages were situated

just in front of the Maginot-Line which the Germans prepared to attack.

Some 1500 Jews left Luxembourg with these evacuees. In the following

months under military administration some 600 Jews were able to

emigrate from Luxembourg. So some 1700 to 2000 Jews were still living

in Luxembourg when Gauleiter Gustav Simon was appointed Head of

civil administration (Chef der Zivilverwaltung, CdZ) and hand in hand

with the Gestapo started his anti-Semitic policy.

The German decrees taken against the Jews at the beginning of

September 19401 brought into force the « Nuremberg Laws » as well as

the discriminatory economic measures of 1938. The situation of the

Luxembourg Jews was then identical to that of Jews in Germany.

The decree dated September 5th, 19402 concerning Jewish

fortunes required every Jew living in Luxembourg to make a detailed

declaration of his fortune3. Jews of foreign nationality had to give

 

1 VOBl. 1940, Nr.2, pp.10-11: Verordnung über Maßnahmen auf dem Gebiet

des Judenrechts.

2 VOBl. 1940, Nr.2, pp.11-13: Verordnung über das jüdische Vermögen.

3

 Archives nationales, Luxembourg (ANLux): Consistoire israélite: Files 76-81:

Déclarations de fortune.
286 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

indications on their fortune situated in Luxembourg only. All shares,

coupons and bonds were to be deposited at a bank. All Jews had to

inform their banks of their « being Jewish ». The banks were to provide

lists of all Jewish accounts for the German administration. Nearly every

economic activity where a Jew was involved was liable to a special

authorization. Jews could be forced to sell their firms if the Germans

decided so. Paragraph 7 forbade Jews of Luxembourg or German

nationality to buy, to give as a security or to sell objects in gold, platinum

or silver, precious stones and pearls as well as any work of art worth

more than 1000 RM.

For the period pertaining from September 1940 to December

1940 the Germans in charge of recording and administrating Jewish

assets apparently showed incapable of avoiding corruption and looting

by Party members and other German officials active in Luxembourg. So

in order to have the organized robbing of Jewish assets being

implemented in an orderly way, Gauleiter Simon had to reorganize this

section of his administration in December 1940.

On December 12th, 1940 he announced the creation of a new

section in his administration (Abteilung IVa), « Verwaltung des jüdischen

und Emigranten- Vermögens » (administration of Jewish and emigrants’

fortune). A party member, Gauinspekteur Josef Ackermann, was put in

charge of this section4. The same day an announcement obliged

everyone in Luxembourg to inform section IVa of all acquisitions or

donations they had received from Jews since May 10th.

By his decree dated February 7th, 19415 the CdZ put under

German administration all the property of Jews and other emigrants from

the day of their (forced) emigration. Furthermore he reserved the right to

confiscate this property. The decree was applicable retroactively to May

10th, 1940. Thus, as soon as Jews left Luxembourg, taking with them an

allowed maximum of 50 kg of luggage, their property fell into the hands

of the Germans. Two months later the property of Jewish people still

living in Luxembourg was also confiscated by the CdZ6. Section Iva

 

4 Luxemburger Zeitung, 12/12/1940.

5 VOBl. 1941, Nr. 12, p.90: Verordnung über Maßnahmen betreffend das

Emigranten- und Judenvermögen.

6 VOBl. 1941, Nr.31, p.208: Durchführungsverordnung zur Verordnung über

Maßnahmen betreffend das Emigranten-und Judenvermögen vom 7.Februar

1941.
LUXEMBOURG 287

confiscated all Jewish property, but no report mentions expressly the

gold confiscated from the Jews7.

The property belonging to Jewish associations and communities

was confiscated and administered by the « Stillhaltekommissar », a party

authority. The synagogues in the cities of Luxembourg and Esch/Alzette

were demolished and the ground transferred to the municipalities.

On October 1st, 1940 all Jewish bank accounts were blocked and

the account holder was allowed to withdraw a maximum of 250 RM. per

month. As many Jews were no longer permitted to have a regular

income, they were forced to sell their furniture and other belongings in

order to prepare for emigration or to buy some food. This situation got

worse the longer the Jews stayed in Luxembourg under these

circumstances. Those who were deported in 1942 and 1943 were in fact

already robbed of all their belongings.

From October 15th, 1941, when the first train of deportation to

Lodz left Luxembourg, the Gestapo began to confiscate systematically

certain objects from the Jews: bicycles, cameras, films, magnifying

glasses, binoculars, typewriters, fur coats, skis and ski boots,

gramophones, electrical devices such as heating stoves, hotplates,

Hoovers, hairdryers, etc. Radios had been confiscated already in October

1940.

All these things were sold and the money transferred to the

German administration in Luxembourg.

The furniture was mainly sold to Germans who had it shipped to

Germany, very often giving false names on the sales contracts.

ARYANIZATION OF THE ECONOMY

The aryanization of the Luxembourg economy had come to an

end by 1943. At this time not only had all the Jews been deported, but

the proceedings to exclude Jewish influence from Luxembourg economy

had been concluded. 350 businesses engaged in industry, crafts or trade

had been traced in September 1940. 1380 houses and buildings as well as

150 ha of land had been registered as Jewish property.

In the summer of 1941 more than 75% of the businesses had

been or were on the point of being liquidated, i.e. wound up by a

 

7 ANLux: Consistoire israélite: Files 7, 11:Receipts for confiscated jewellery,

silver cutlery and savings bank-books.
288 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

provisional administrator, who had sold off assets, paid off liabilities and

had the company removed from the company register.

31 businesses had been aryanized and 52 were left under

provisional administration. The aryanization proved to be rather difficult

as Luxembourgers were not ready to buy Jewish property. Some who did

so, did it to preserve the best interest of the victims and returned the

business to its rightful owner after the war.

Finally the German administration got some 20 millions of RM

out of the liquidation and aryanization.

The same procedures were applied to Luxembourgers who were

considered as enemies of the Reich. From January 1944 to August 1944

for instance some 380 procedures of dispossession were brought to

conclusion.

INSURANCE COMPANIES

In the thirties some 34 insurance companies were active in

Luxembourg, mainly as subsidiaries of larger Western European

companies (French or Belgian, but also some Swiss and British). Their

policies were sold by Luxembourg insurance agents. Three of the

companies were local insurance companies, created after World War I.

(Le Foyer, La Luxembourgeoise, Terra). After W.W.I the German

economic influence in Luxembourg diminished and so there were nearly

no German insurance companies active in Luxembourg.

They covered all the risks usual at that time, mainly: life

insurance, fire insurance, insurance against theft, third party insurance,

comprehensive insurance, car insurance, etc.

After the occupation of Luxembourg the Germans tried to gain

control over the insurance business as well as other economic sectors. In

a first step the main goal was to eliminate all French, Belgian or British,

later also American, influence on Luxembourg economy. So when the

Germans decided to reorganize the insurance business, they first

decreed8, that all authorizations that had been granted the insurance

companies by the Luxembourg government were withdrawn

retroactively to May 10th, 1940. An exception was made for the three

local companies. Any new company wishing to write out insurance

policies in Luxembourg needed a special authorization by the Chef der

 

8 VOBl. 1941, p.197: Verordnung über die Regelung des

Individualversicherungswesens in Luxemburg vom 5.April 1941.
LUXEMBOURG 289

Zivilverwaltung. This did not put an end to any individual insurance

policy. The portfolios of those companies whose authorizations had

been withdrawn were managed by companies selected by the CdZ. In

fact this meant that German insurance companies managed the portfolios

of the French, Belgian and British companies. Two Swiss companies

Zürich and Basler were also authorized to manage policies from other

companies as well as to continue their own business.

By another decree dated November 8th, 19419, the CdZ created a

“Public Life insurance company” (

Lebensversicherungsanstalt) and a “Public insurance company”

(Öffentliche Sachversicherungsanstalt) that took over all the Belgian,

French and British insurance policies. From December 1st, 1941 the

three Luxembourg insurance companies lost their authorization and their

portfolios went over to the newly created Public insurance companies10.

Some 30 German companies and three Swiss companies (La Fédérale,

Zürich and Basler) were authorized to take up or continue their business

in Luxembourg.

In fact, except for the three Swiss companies, the whole

insurance business in Luxembourg was thus transferred into German

hands.

With regard to life insurance policies of Jewish citizens the

situation in Luxembourg was identical to the situation in Germany. The

policies were confiscated by the German authorities who got the money

out of them.

ART

When the German administration took over Jewish and emigrant

property they found a certain number of works of art they were interested

in. All these works of art had to be sent to the Aussenstelle des

Gaupropagandaamtes in Luxemburg which took care of these objects.

Unfortunately little is still known about these transactions and there are

no lists of works of art taken from private homes. Our information

 

9

 VOBL. 1941, p.471: Verordnung über die Errichtung einer Oeffentlichen

Lebensversicherungsanstalt in Luxemburg vom 8.November 1941. Verordnung

über die Errichtung einer Oeffentlichen Sachversicherungsanstalt in Luxemburg

vom 8.November 1941.

10 VOBl. 1941, p.475: 3. Verordnung über die Regelung des

Individualversicherungswesens in Luxemburg vom 8.November 1941.
290 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

indicates that art dealers in Luxembourg and in the Rhineland sold these

works of art, but we lack clear evidence.

As for public collections the situation is somewhat different.

First as Luxembourg was meant to become a part of Greater Germany

there was no need to loot art and take it to German museums. Second the

Luxembourg national Museum did not have in its collections works of

art of the class that could be of great interest to the Germans. There was

one notable exception, the « Reiffers collection » from which the

Germans « bought » some paintings for the Führer-collection in Linz.

The collections of the Grand Ducal Family were confiscated in

the same way and transferred to Germany. Joseph Bech, the Minister of

Foreign affairs, saw his paintings and a very important library disappear

somewhere in Germany.

A certain number of files were confiscated in the offices of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent to Berlin.

RESTITUTION AFTER THE WAR

When Luxembourg was liberated on September 10th, 1944, the

Government in exile had already had enough information on plundering

and looting and consequently they had taken measures to grant restitution

of plundered property to the rightful owners.

A decree of April 22, 194111 declared forced sales null and void.

Buyers should report their purchases. All confiscations were likewise

declared null and void.

After the Government returned to Luxembourg the Office des

Séquestres put under sequestration all the property owned by Germans

and Italians as well as that of collaborators. Together with the Office des

Dommages de guerre they were responsible for all restitution questions.

All claims were to be sent to these authorities.

In insurance business this meant that according to a decree of

September 1944 the Office des Séquestres returned the insurance

portfolios to the former owners, the Luxembourg and foreign (Belgian,

French and British) insurance companies. If any money was claimed by

insurance companies, the Office des Séquestres paid out the lost sums.

The German companies were liquidated by the same authority, and no

 

11 Mémorial, Journal officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Montréal), 1941,

N°2, p.5.
LUXEMBOURG 291

German company was given an authorization to resume its activity in

Luxembourg until 1959.

Bank accounts that had been confiscated were reconstituted at

the expense of the Office des Dommages de guerre if there was such a

claim.

The 1950 compensation law12 restricted any compensation to

Luxembourg nationals who had been victims of nazi persecution for

patriotic reasons. This excluded all those who had been victims of nazi

persecution for racial, religious or political reasons: Communists, Jews,

homosexuals, witnesses of Jehovah etc. When Germany paid some 12

million DM in 1959 to the Luxembourg Government to compensate nazi

victims, this money was used to compensate people that had been

excluded on the terms of the 1950 law.

Communal and private property that had been confiscated by

Germany was returned to their rightful owners. The synagogues in

Luxembourg-city and Esch/Alzette were rebuilt.

Luxembourg was not able to send specialists to Germany to

identify the works of art that had been taken from the country. So the

Belgian Mission de Récupération included the missing works of art in its

own lists and managed to bring back to Luxembourg some 50% of what

was missing. Neither private libraries, nor any archival material were

returned to Luxembourg at that time.

Luxembourg is ready to join the international efforts for truth

and justice.

Therefore we will work to open the archives in order to

document plunder and looting as well as restitution and compensation.

Luxembourg is aware of the need to pay particular attention to

Holocaust education.

Efforts should be made to teach about the Holocaust especially

young people, but also those immigrants from countries not involved in

World War II.

Luxembourg is committed to fighting anti-Semitism and racial

hatred, especially against the misuse of the Internet for these purposes.

 

12 Mémorial, Journal officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, 1950, p.509: Loi

concernant l’indemnisation des dommages de guerre.

MACEDONIA

The Last Jews of Macedonia:

Extermination and Pillage

By

Ivan Dejanov and Samuel Sadikario

MACEDONIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND ARTS

SKOPJE, REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

There are documents on the presence of Jews in Macedonia from

the 6th century, B.C. (Rosanes), who came here from Persia. Those

comprise the first Jewish settlements in Europe. The diaspora brought

masses of other Jews (during Alexander the Great, and the Roman

Empire), who are known as Romaniots, and many known families

remained in Macedonia until the Holocaust. The most numerous

population and the culture came from Spain and Portugal (1492 and 1498

respectively), bringing the highest level of civilization and culture in

these territories. We always stress the fact that in Macedonia and other

Slavophonic countries, the Jews brought with themselves the Bible,

Judaism, Christianity, the alphabet and part of the Jewish fate.

All of the Judaism in Macedonia has gone with the Holocaust.

The last 7,148 Macedonian Jews were arrested and gathered by the

Bulgarian Army on March 11, 1943, and transported to Treblinka, where

they were exterminated. This number comprises 98% of the Jewish

population at that time, which rate is incomparable with any other,

except maybe in Northern Greece and Trakia. Very few survivors have

joined the Resistance movement, but also many of them have lost their

lives in the battles. Documents about the history of the Macedonian

Holocaust are collected by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and

Arts and the Macedonian Archives. They are published by Zamila

Kolonomos and Vera Vangeli (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and

Arts, including a detailed list of those deported in Treblinka, performed

by the German administration), and some historical data are published by

Alexander Matkovski in Macedonia, some Jewish authors from Bulgaria
294 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

(Aaron Assa, Harry Nisimov) and former Yugoslavia (Zeni Lebl) in

Israel.

As the SS Nazi troops stormed through former Yugoslavia (April

6

th, 1941) to invade Greece, they delivered most of the Macedonian

territories to the Bulgarian occupation forces who remained in those

territories until the end of the World War II in 1945. A few months just

before the occupation, the Bulgarian government issued the "Law for

Protection of the Nation" signed by the King Boris III on January 21,

1941, and it was immediately operative in Macedonia. Escalation of the

restrictive measures and chauvinism was introduced through successive

series of additional restrictive laws. According to the claim of

Riebbentrop (Nazi-German minister of foreign affairs), King Boris III

approved initial deportation of 20,000 Jews to the Nazi concentration

camps, mainly persons from the occupied territories and communists or

socialists.

On March 11, 1943 all Jews from Macedonia were gathered on

the temporary concentration camp "Monopol" in Skopje. The conditions

of living were horrible, including minimal food and water, with no

bathroom and toilette, with no heating (the winter was exceptionally

severe that year). Towards the end of March and the beginning of April

1943, three convoys with Jews were sent to Treblinka. In each carriage

there were around 80 persons, in standing positions, some of them

without windows. Not a single person came back from Treblinka. In

Bulgaria, although many of the Jews were arrested (some 5,000 died

during that act, and in the labor camps), some were spared from

deportation and extermination, thanks mainly to the organized protests of

the Bulgarian people and ethnic Macedonians, the Orthodox Church and

some MP's. Many ethnic Macedonians took the first initiative and had

the crucial part in the organization and participation of the protests (as

stated by the Bulgarian writer Harry Nisimov and Aaron Assa):

"For hundreds of years the Macedonian and

Jewish peoples have lived together as brothers in

misfortunes, suffering and destiny. We have the same

enemies. Therefore our struggle against them should be

identical /The Macedonian Liberation Front, end of

1942/....There is indisputable evidence that several

prominent members of the Macedonian movement in

Bulgaria, in the town of Kjustendil to be precise, played

a decisive role in saving Bulgarian Jews from

extermination in Poland" (Aaron Assa).
MACEDONIA 295

Anti-Semitism and anti-Macedonism have been practiced in

certain countries for centuries. The very basic principles of moral and

social ecology are treated constantly, mainly in the same European

countries. We do believe in the hope of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (DHawaii), "The Chief Rabbi" in the U.S. Senate and Congress, that the

concentration camps and Holocaust will not happen again; to have this

security, "the vigilance is not enough, we need active participation" (U.S.

Sen. Daniel Inouye). (U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye was confined in a

concentration camp himself and was in the unit of the American Army

that first came in contact with a concentration camp and liberated it

/Dahau/).

For more than two and a half millennia, Jews and Macedonians

have lived a life of tolerance, peace, mutual help, friendship and

understanding. During many centuries both Jews and Macedonians were

under the vitriolic pressure of assimilation and prosecution:

Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Byzantinians and many rulers of

European empires were seeking to obliterate the Jewish and Macedonian

identity of the People and the Land (e.g., the name of the Jewish Land

was changed by Romans to Palestina, after the long-vanished Philistines,

an Aegean people, the name of Jerusalem was changed to Aelia

Capitolina). For some of our neighbors, the name and the identity of

Macedonians are questionable even now! The name of Macedonia was

changed several times in the last two and a half millennia. And in spite of

all possible forms of intolerance, hatred, prosecution, suppression and the

Holocaust, the moral and spiritual identity of Jewish and Macedonian

People survived the falls of many "eternal" empires!

The main goal was to annihilate the ethical and spiritual identity

of the Jewish and Macedonian People! The annihilators were ready to

assimilate these peoples, but not their ethical and spiritual nature. It was

not possible to kill the ideas of their ethics and spirit; and there was and

always will be an Israel and a Macedonia, a Jewish Spirit and a

Macedonian Spirit! A Spirit of Justice, Tolerance and Peace Promotion!

The Jews and Macedonians love all nations. They have never promoted

or conducted any ethnic cleansing. The existence of Jewish and

Macedonian people is a terrible but glorious history of death, sorrow,

remembrance and hope. A transcendental surmountableness of the

"European Justice" and "The borders of Auschwitz!” In the memory of

Macedonian Jews perished in the concentration camps, in Skopje, in

Macedonia, the President of the Republic of Macedonia Mr. Kiro

Gligorov, in 1996 laid the foundation stone of Macedonian Holocaust

Memorial Center. The center will be finished at the end of next year.
296 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The Jews in Macedonia identified themselves as Macedonian

Jews all over the Balkans, even after 1912, after the Balkan Wars, when

Macedonia was divided by her neighbors; in the Almanac of Macedonian

emigrants, published 1931 in Sophia, Bulgaria, it is written,

"Macedonian Jews were best friends of Macedonians in their struggle for

independence."

Today, a memorial forest is erected in Israel for praising the

Bulgarian people, and a monument for memorializing King Boris III is

being proclaimed. In the name of the few survivors of the Macedonian

Holocaust, and the dead in Treblinka, we praise what the Bulgarian

people have done, and we approve that appreciation. On the other hand,

glorification of King Boris III (who signed the Law for Protection of the

Nation, and gave approval for deportation of 20,000 Jews from

Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece) by Jews and others who

consider themselves as free men and women is considered as a disgrace

for all Jews.

Our article is divided in two parts:

1. The Nazi laws, with brief descriptions of the discriminative and

humiliating measures in order to demonstrate the mode of

violation of the human rights in occupied Macedonia, and

2. Documents on the confiscated properties. Nazi laws, after the

occupation, the Bulgarian Nazi Army imposed a series of

restrictive and discriminative laws and regulations, as listed on

table 1. We will stress only a few illustrative examples from

those laws and regulations.

LAWS

The "LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE NATION" was

issued on January 21, 1941, for whole Bulgaria and the occupied

territories. This law contained five parts: 1. On the origins; 2. General

restrictions; 3. Places of living restricted for Jews; 4. On the Jewish

properties; 6. On the professional and economical activities of the Jews.

1. Jews are those who have at least one parent Jew. Declaration

of Jewish origin at the communal authorities should be

performed within one month, otherwise the penalty is

imprisonment with fines up to 100,000 levs. Jews should not
MACEDONIA 297

change their names and surnames from the birth certificate,

and in case of mixed marriages (previous) and conversion to

Christianity. Jews are not allowed to have surnames with

endings of "ov", "ev", "ic" and similar (suggesting nonJewish origins). Adoption of Bulgarian children is not

allowed to Jews.

2. Persons of Jewish origins are forbidden the following:

• to take Bulgarian citizenship;

• to elect or to be elected in any institutions or non-Jewish

organizations;

• to participate in any political or state functions, or public

organizations;

• to work as commercial representatives, managers, or to

be representatives of any state, regional and autonomous

institutions; such functions should be abandoned within

one month;

• to participate in the army, except for special physical

works; those who are disabled should pay a special

military tax;

• to participate in any organizations sponsored by the

Ministry of War;

• to have marital or non-marital relationships with

Bulgarian citizens; mixed marriages, after issuing of this

law are outlawed;

• to have any kind of servants or related services from

persons of Bulgarian origin;

• to be inscribed in schools of non-Jewish origin, except if

permitted by the Minister of Popular Education with

special decree;

3. Jews are not allowed to change the place of living without

the permission of the Police Headquarters. The Ministerial

Council with the Ministry of Internal Affairs can decide the

places where Jews will be allowed to live.

4. Jews are not allowed ownership or management of

"uncovered" properties (land, forest etc), and also "covered"

properties (houses) in villages, except for their personal

living. They should offer for sale the "uncovered" properties
298 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

to the Ministry of Agriculture within 3 months. The

"covered" properties should be given out to Bulgarian

citizens or organizations. In the contrary, the properties will

be confiscated.

5. Further restrictions specified only for Jews include the

following:

• forbidden trade and work in industries (except the quota

which is specified by the Government);

• forbidden or restricted investment of Jewish capital to

Bulgarian industries, trade etc. (as specified by the

Ministry of Labor);

• the Jews are obliged to declare all properties (real estate

and personal properties) to the Popular Bank of

Bulgaria; those who leave the country should depose the

money from the sold property to the local bank; in the

opposite, the properties are confiscated;

• further, the Jews are forbidden: to owe stocks and bonds

on educational, informative or entertaining companies

(schools, journals, cinemas, theatres, gramophone-disk

distributors, hotels, publishers, etc.);

• to be managers of the same institutions; to be

expert-accountants; to trade with state properties or gold

and silver; to participate to any managerial council; to

owe pharmacies or any sanitary services; in mixed

capital companies, Jews should not surpass the capital

and the number of Bulgarians;

• transfer of Jewish capital to non-Jews; to owe

concessions on any public company or institution.

On February 17, 1941, additional regulative act entitled

"PRINCIPLES FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW FOR THE

PROTECTION OF THE NATION" was issued as integrative part of the

Law. Examples of restrictions upon Jews include:

• Jews are considered even those from christened parents if the

mother is non-Bulgarian; Christian religions are considered:

east-orthodox, roman-catholic, evangelicals (Lutherans,

Baptists, Methodists) and Armenian-Gregorians; if the

person has been converted after 1934, the Ministry of
MACEDONIA 299

Interior will review the case on separate session in the

presence of the priest and the godfather.

On July 13, 1941 the Ministry of Interior in Sofia issued "THE

LAW FOR THE SPECIAL SINGLE TAX PAYABLE ON ALL

JEWISH REAL AND PERSONAL ESTATE". Among else, the

regulations include:

• tax should be paid on any kind of property of Jews; the tax is

single and independent of other taxes, and should be paid to

the state treasury; Jews are defined by the Law for Protection

of the Nation, and both Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian citizens

are included;

• the tax is 20% of the total property, if it is bellow 3,000,000

levs, and 25% if it is over 3,000,000 levs;

• taxable real estate include: houses, flats, shops, buildings,

factories, houses for rest, land (any kind), forests, pastures,

vineyards, any kind of mines and mining stores;

• taxable personal properties include: money (cash, check,

golden liras) - Bulgarian or foreign, bank accounts

(Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian), gold in any form (money,

pieces, sticks, jewelry, statues, watches, forks and knives

etc); valuable stones (diamonds, rubies, pearls, etc); loans

(Bulgarian or foreign); stocks and bonds; furniture (chairs,

tables, bedroom furniture, kitchen, piano, radio-operator, bed

etc); fur and valuable tissues; rags (all kinds - Persian,

foreign etc); all vehicles (car, truck, bicycle, motorcycle,

horse-carriage, boats, canoes, trains etc); machines (in

factories, homes etc); all kind of goods (in factories,

magazines, stores etc); operators and installations;

non-anticipated (i.e. insurances, etc.);

• taxable inheritances: all properties, jewelry, stocks and

bonds;

• applications, obligations and demands: in Bulgaria (landings,

any property documents etc); in foreign countries; in other

companies (confidential accounts etc);

• insurances (of Jewish insurance Co), credit accounts are

declared; investments of Jews using non-Jewish capital

(transfer of mixed stocks and bonds by Jews is forbidden);

• all Jews are obliged to fill a the special tax form on the

period of one month, and issued to the National Bank;
300 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

non-declared properties up to the determined date are

confiscated; Jewish properties of mixed companies (with

Aryans) are also taxable;

• valorization of the properties is based on "market value" (not

the price of purchase, or sale) on Dec.31.1940;

• the penalty for undeclared properties is: confiscation of the

undeclared property, taxation of the other properties, up to 5

year jail and fine of 3,000,000 levs;

• since the lowest level of tax is 40,000 levs, the taxation is

conducted by official commission, and instead of Jewish

members, Aryans of orthodox confession should take their

place (in a control commission); in case of higher estimated

than declared taxes, 25% of the estimated difference

(property value) is paid separate from the 25% of the tax

itself-, half of the tax should be paid within one month, and

the rest within three months, and the Jews can not leave the

Kingdom of Bulgaria until the payment of the whole tax;

undeclared properties are confiscated and the unpaid tax is

tripled.

The Department of Jewish Affairs, at the Ministry of Internal

Affairs and Public Health, issued the "DECREE NO. 32" on December

29, 1942, with detailed instructions for wearing special badges, with

specifications: six pointed, bright yellow, on the left sleeve in all clothes,

for all Jews above 10 years of age. "DECREE NO. 5" of the Department

of Jewish Affairs (September 8, 1942) forbids all Jews to keep cash and

valuable items (gold, jewels, Chinese vases, silverware, archeological

items, historical items, paintings, collections, stamps, paintings etc), and

they should be deposited in the bank. "DECREE NO. 8" stated that

non-Jewish tenants should not pay rent to Jews. "ORDER OF THE

CABINET" (Oct. 17. 1942) stated that larger Jewish houses should be

occupied by several families, or abandoned by the Jews (all Jews in

Biota came to live in the left bank of river Dragger in a ghetto). All

businesses should be closed up to the date of February 23, 1943, and all

employees of Jewish origin should be dismissed. Confiscations of all

Jewish properties continued on the beginning of 1943, and continued

until the deportation and final solution on March 11, 1943 (AS KEP, box

9, arch. No. 7, March 1943, quoted from Kolonomos et al.).

Before deportation, the Jews were taken in labor groups

("trudovi druzini"), along with other minorities, distributed in labor

camps in Bulgaria (Naroden glas No. 6 1942).
MACEDONIA 301

During and after the deportation of the Jews in Treblinka,

massive requests for the left Jewish properties (houses, books, furniture)

were sent to the Department of Jewish Affairs, by individuals, libraries,

humanitarian organizations and officials, as evidenced by large corpus of

left documents.

DOCUMENTS ON THE CONFISCATED ASSETS

This article uses documents from the Archives in Macedonia

(Skopje, Bitola and Stip). Although abundant documentation is kept in

the Archives of Sofia, Belgrade and Salonika, we still do not have access

to those documents, except few which have been previously published

and kept by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the

Jewish Community in Skopje. The Archive in Skopje only has 1,001

archive units with 10,358 pages. All archived documents are copied and

sent to The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The values of

confiscated Jewish assets and the details from the laws and regulations

are given in separate listings.

The deportation of the Jews from Eastern Aegean Macedonia,

Western Trakia and Vardar Macedonia (Republic of Macedonia) was

ordered by a Decision of Bulgarian Council of Ministers on March 2,

1943 and an Agreement between Bulgarian and German officials based

on the ministerial decision from March 2, 1943.

The appropriation of Jewish assets (real and personal estate,

money, deposits, insurance, gold, and other valuable belongings) was

done by Bulgarian authorities. The experts of National Bank of Republic

of Macedonia estimate (only for Jews of Vardar Macedonia) on the basis

of available, but not complete, documents (some of them are in Archives

in Bulgaria, some in Republic of Yugoslavia) the total amount of Jewish

assets to be 16,498,383.95 USA dollars and 6,310909.43 USA dollars is

the value of the assets without the value of real estate.

TABLE 1: A list of restrictive and discriminative Nazi laws

issued by the Bulgarian government (1941-1943), as provided by the

Macedonian Archives and the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and

Arts (from Z. Kolonomos et al, and the Archives in Skopje).
302 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

DOCUMENT, ORIGINS PLACE/DATE OF ISSUING

1. Law for Protection of the Nation Sofia, Jan. 21, 1941

2. Principles for application of the Law for

protection of the Nation Sofia, Feb. 17, 1941

3. Decree with instructions for application

of the Law for Protection of the Nation Sofia, Jun. 21, 1941

4. The Law for the Special Single Tax on all

real and personal estate Sofia, Jul. 1941

5. Order issued by S. Simeonov (District

Chief of Police) - on labor groups Skopje, Aug. 7, 1941

6. Decree No.113 (Bulgarian Cabinet)

concerning services of the army of the Jews Sofia, Aug. 12, 1941

7. Directions for mortgages and applications

of the Law for the Special Single Tax Sofia, Aug. 15, 1941

8. Order of the War Minister of Bulgaria

(order in the prohibited zone) Sofia Mar. 17, 1942

9. Instructions for the Jewish Councils for

complete loyalty Sofia, Mar 17, 1942

10. Order, concerning the Law for Urgent

solution of Pressing Problems in the Newly

Liberated Territories (by the Ministry of Justice) Sofia Jun. 5, 1942

11. Decree No. 5, on item 6 of the Law for the

Special Single Tax (by King Boris 111) Sofia Jul. 3, 1942

12. Decree No 52, demanding a Law to

authorize the Cabinet of the Ministry of Home

Affairs, to define in details the Jewish question

(by King Boris 111) Sofia Jul. 4, 1942

13. A Law authorizing the Cabinet to settle42

the Jewish question Sofia Jul. 9, 19

14. Decree No. 68 (King Boris 111), with

approval of the Order for changing amendments

in the Law for Special Tax Sofia Jul. 28, 1942

15. Decree 69 (King Boris 111), with approval

of Order to an amendment to the Law Against

Speculations in the Jewish Real Estate Sofia Jul. 28, 1942

16. Order No. 2 (A. Belev, Secretary of Department

of Jewish Affairs) on Item 22, authorizing

the cabinet for settlement of the Jewish Question Sofia Sep. 4, 1942

17. Definition of the Jewish privileged strata on,

Order 3, item 33 in Law for Protection of the
MACEDONIA 303

Nation (A. Belev) Sofia Sep. 4,1942

18. Order No. 5 (A. Belev) for economic sanctions,

on item 45, of the Order for settlement of the

Jewish question Sofia Sep. 8, 1942

19. Order (by A. Belev) for the levels of rents

for Jewish people Sofia Sep. 11, 1942

20. Order No. 8 (A. Belev), precise rents

on rents for Jewish people Sofia Sep. 12, 1942

21. Order (part) for curfew and limitations of

movement of Jews (Chief of Police in Veles) Veles Sep. 14, 1942

22. Order No. 32 (A. Belev) obliging all

Jews to wear the Star of David Sofia Sep. 23, 1942

23. Directives (A. Belev) to consistories,

of Jewish Councils on their management Sofia Oct. 21, 1942

24. Instructions (A. Belev) to consistories,

of Jewish Councils, regarding the Law,

for wearing badges Sofia Oct. 21, 1942

25. Orders (A. Belev) to consistories of

Jewish councils to submit precise lists of

Jewish businesses Sofia Oct. 31, 1942

26. Regulations (A. Belev) for management

councils of Jewish Sofia Oct. 31, 1942

27. Order No. 255 (A. Belev) for limitation

of income and expenditures of Jewish councils Sofia Nov. 2, 1942

28. Order 362 (A. Belev), on item 4 of the

Regulations for expenditures of the Jewish

Council Fund Sofia Nov. 10, 1942

29. Regulations (Department of Jewish

Affairs) for distribution and expenditure of

finances of the Jewish Council Fund Sofia Nov. 18, 1942

30. Order No. 462 (A. Belev) regulating

expenditures of finances of Jews, deposited

in the Bulgarian National Bank Sofia Nov. 23, 1942

31. Names of Jews (I. Zahariev) whose accounts Skopje Nov. 27, 1942

have been frozen

32. Instructions (Department for Jewish Affairs)

to Jewish councils on determination the wages

and salaries Sofia Nov. 27, 1942

33. Instructions (Department of the Jewish

Affairs) on the budget for 1943 Sofia Dec. 11, 1942

34. Order (A. Belev) putting in charge the
304 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Jewish Council in Skopje for Gjevgelija Sofia Dec.31, 1942

35. Additional instructions (A. Belev) on permanent

residence of Jewish people Sofia 1942

36. Order (Department of Jewish Affairs

) to prohibit Jews visiting public places,

restaurants etc. in Skopje Sofia Jan. 4, 1943

37. Order (Department of Jewish Affairs)

prohibiting Jews to stay in hotels Sofia Jan. 5, 1943

38. Order (A. Belev) regulating control of

Jewish properties Sofia Jan. 12, 1943

39. Instructions (A. Belev) on rents Sofia Jan. 14, 1943

40. Order (Department of Jewish

Affairs) regulating Jewish movement Sofia Jan. 15, 1943

41. Note (Department of Jewish Affairs)

forbidding Jews to visit public places Sofia Jan. 21, 1943

42. Adolf Bekerle (German ambassador)

on the persecutions of Jews Sofia Jan. 22, 1943

43. Report (A. Belev) on the deportation

of the Jews from Macedonia Sofia Feb. 2, 1943

44. Demands (A. Belev) all Jewish rents to be

deposited in the National Bank of Bulgaria Sofia Feb. 5, 1943

45. Demand (Department of Jewish Affairs)

of list of all Jews Sofia Feb. 9, 1943

46. Decision report from T. Daneker (National

Security of Third Reich) of the Bulgarian

cabinet for the deportations of Jews in

Macedonia and Aegean belt Sofia Feb. 16, 1943

47. Order (A. Belev) for strict araha payment

of all Jews Sofia Feb.20, 1943

48. Agreement for deportation of 20.000 Jews Sofia Feb.22, 1943

from Macedonia and Trace (A. Belev and T. Daneker)

49. Decisions (Department of Bulgaria) on

deportation of the Jews from Macedonia, and

the Aegean belt, with confiscations Sofia Mar. 2, 1943

50. Decision (Cabinet of Bulgaria) to confiscate

all Jewish properties Sofia Mar. 2, 1943

51. A plan (Department of Jewish Affairs) for

collection of the Jews from Aegean coastal belt Sofia Mar. 4, 1943

52. Minister of Home Affairs (P. Gabrovski

) report on the agreement (A. Belev and T. Daneker)

for deportation of 20,000 Jews, from
MACEDONIA 305

Macedonia and Thrace, and establishment of

temporary concentration camp in Skopje Sofia Mar. 1943

53. Order (Department of Jewish Affairs)

of a temporary concentration camp Sofia Mar. 1943

54. Orders No. 1 and 2 (P. Draganov,

Commander of the temporary camp in Skopje Skopje Mar. 8, 1943

55. Order No. 865 (A-Belev) for liquidation

of the properties of the deported Jews Sofia Mar. 13, 1943

56. Instructions (G-Djambazov, delegate of Dept.

of Bitola Jewish Affairs) for the properties sale of

the deported Jews Mar. 24, 1943

57-Order No.339 (D. Baev, Director of Skopje

District Office), on estimating the "damage"

caused by the Jews in the concentration

camp "Monopol" Skopje Mar. 30, 1943\

57. Ribbentrop-King Boris III talks on the

Jewish question Berlin Apr. 4, 1943\,

58.Report of the German police in Niska Banja, ,

about the transport of Jews from Skopje to Niska Banja Apr.3

Treblinka Apr. 7, Apr. 12, 1943

59. Order 1283 (A. Belev) on procedures

for the sale of Jewish valuables Sofia Apr. 19, 1943

60. Order (A. Belev) for collection of araha Sofia Apr. 19, 1943

61. Order (Dept. Jewish Affairs) for the sale

of Jewish properties to be obeyed Sofia Apr. 19, 1943\

62. Order (A. Belev) - all properties of

deported Jews (Bitola, Skopje, Aegean District)

to be sold to Bulgarian Agriculture and

Cooperative Bank, and the confiscated properties

to be sold in favor of the state. Sofia Apr. 21, 1943\

REFERENCES

1. Z. Kolonomos and V. Veskovich Vangeli: The Jews in Macedonia

During the Second World War (1941-1945). Macedonian Academy of

Sciences and Arts, Skopje 1986. 2 Volumes.

2. A. Matkovski: A History of the Jews in Macedonia. Macedonian

Reviews Editions. Skopje 1982.

3. E. Benbassa and A. Rodriguez: Juifs des Balkans. Editions la

decouverte. Paris 1993.
306 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

4. S.A. Rosanes: The History of the Jews in Turkey and the Middle East.

Rav Kook Institute, Husijatin, Tel Aviv-Sofia-Jerusalem 1907-1945, 6

volumes.

5. Aaron Assa: Macedonia and Jewish People. Macedonian Reviews

Editions. Skopje, 1994.

Harry Nissimov: By the skin of our teeth. IK "Kolumb'92", Sofia, 1995.

Skopje, 11.27.98
POLAND

Delegation Statement

The Polish delegation that took part in Washington Conference

on Holocaust Assets in December 1998 has submitted to all delegations

the detailed materials concerning all the problems discussed at the

conference. The document is a shortened copy of texts on most important

issues from the above-mentioned volume. Due to the shortage of space

not all issues have been raised so please refer to the original materials for

a comprehensive view of Polish side on these matters.

The Polish delegation has made a promise to prepare and be a

host to the similar conference on restitution of communal property in

post-communist countries of the Eastern Europe. The Polish Government

shares the opinion of U.S. Under Secretary of State, Mr. Stuart E.

Eizenstat, that the issue of restitution of communal property must be seen

in respect to all religious communities like the Protestant, Catholic and

Jewish communities that lost their property because of WW II and later

the communist rule. The conference will be prepared jointly by the

Chancellery of the President of Poland and the Chancellery of the Prime

Minister of Poland. In order to ensure the proper preparation the

government of Poland suggests November 1999 as the best suitable date

to hold the conference.

It is also very important to recall that Polish delegation wants to

play an active part in the new body called the Task Force for

International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and

Research. Polish Government is extremely interested in this idea and

gives it unquestionable support.

INSURANCE MARKET IN THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

BEFORE AND AFTER WORLD WAR II

Before the Second World War there was a well developed

insurance market in Poland. In the territory of the Republic of Poland

there were 79 insurance companies operating in 1939.
308 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

After the end of the Second World War the assets of the

insurance companies existing before the Second World War in Poland

were not nationalized, but the process of liquidation was carried out.

With respect to insurance companies the Act of Parliament dated January

3, 1946 on the taking over by the State of the basic sectors of the national

economy was not in force. On January 3, 1947 a Decree on the

regulation of property and personal insurance was published. From the

day of the entry in force of this decree, that is from January 3, 1947 the

domestic and foreign private insurance companies irrespective of their

legal form have lost the right to further conduct insurance business.

The permit for the continuation of the conduct of business within

the scope defined in this decree was granted only to two insurance

companies existing before the Second World War, namely: The

Reinsurance Company „Warta” S.A. in Warsaw and Powszechny

Zakad Ubezpiecze  Wzajemnych (General Mutual Insurance

Company - PZUW). These two companies became State owned.

With respect to the remaining companies the liquidator of Polish

private insurance companies had to be the Powszechny Zakad

Ubezpiecze  Wzajemnych (the General Mutual Insurance Company -

PZUW) which was later on transformed into the State Insurance

Company of Poland - PZU, and the liquidator of the foreign insurance

companies operating in the territory of Poland had to be the main

representative of the foreign insurance company or the liquidator

appointed ex officio by the court.

On the other hand, with respect to insurance companies

underwriting exclusively personal insurance, the liquidation of their

operations had to be carried out by insurance companies for personal

insurance which had to be set up especially for this purpose. However,

these insurance companies were never created. With respect to insurance

companies whose liquidation was not finished, for any reasons,

Pastwowy Zakad Ubezpiecze  (the State Insurance Company of

Poland – PZU) became their liquidator. PZUW had taken over the

management and the assets of insurance companies being in liquidation

from their companies’ bodies. In the liquidation process the legal

provisions generally in force were applied in order to ensure the

correctness of the carrying out of the procedure/ proceedings.

Altogether PZUW carried out the liquidation of 26 insurance

companies. With respect to the two larger mutual insurance companies

operating in Poland before the Second World War, that is: „Dniestr”

Mutual Insurance Company in Lwów and, „Karpatia” Mutual Life

Insurance Company in Lwów, the liquidation proceedings were not
POLAND 309

carried out as their assets remained in the territories which after the

Second World War have not belonged to the territory of the Polish State.

Before the Second World War there were six foreign insurance

companies operating in Poland through their own representations. On the

basis of the Act of Parliament dated January 3, 1946 on the taking over

by the State of the basic sectors of the national economy, the

nationalization of two German insurance companies had to take place.

Also with respect to these companies liquidation proceedings were

carried out. At the moment of the liquidation it was stated that neither of

the two did own immovable property. The only movable property of

Aachen-München fire insurance company located in Katowice was

intended to cover the dismissal money for the employees. All the

securities of the two companies were lost during the period of the

German occupation or were transported to Germany.

The owners of the policies of the British insurance companies:

„Alliance” and „Prudential”, living abroad were told to request for the

payment of indemnities resulting from these policies at the Head Office

of the company in London. This was done on the basis of the PolishBritish Financial Agreement dated November 11, 1954 which declared

that they did not benefit from the satisfaction of their claims with the

funds located in Poland. Similarly the owners of the policies of Italian

insurance companies, „Assicurazioni Generali” and „Riunione Adriatica

di Sicurta”, living abroad were told to go to the Head Office in Triest, but

although negotiations took place several times in 1959, 1972 and 1977,

Poland did not sign a bilateral financial agreement with Italy in this

respect. For the owners of the policies of the above mentioned British

and Italian insurance companies in Poland, the payments on the basis of

these policies were covered/ paid by the Polish State with the amounts

obtained from the assets of these companies located in Poland. No claims

concerning the two German companies were registered.

In the majority of the cases the only real element of the assets of

the insurance companies being liquidated were the real estate which

survived the war. These were mostly urban real Estate whose value was

defined according to approximate technical standards taking into account

the technical condition of these pieces of real estate including the war

destruction.

The value of the securities which consisted mainly of bonds

issued by the State before the war, by the association of communes and

by other institutions dealing with long-term credit, such as Bank

Gospodarstwa Krajowego (The Bank for Domestic Economy),

Towarzystwo Kredytowe Ziemskie (Land Credit Company), etc. was
310 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

assumed as being equal to zero, because these loans were not

reimbursed, and the bonds had no real value. The valuation of other

securities was made taking into account the provisions of the agreements

on indemnification concluded by Poland with other countries and taking

into account the principle of reciprocity.

The valuation both of assets and of liabilities was homogeneous

for domestic companies domestic companies with foreign shareholding

as well as for foreign insurance companies operating in Poland. Also

claims resulting from policies were treated identically both in case of

Polish citizens living in Poland and abroad and in case of citizens of

other countries (with exception of claims of persons living abroad which

were addressed to foreign insurance companies, British and Italian

insurance companies - the explanation has been given above).

According to the data that survived the Second World War there

were approximately 275 insurance contracts in 1939 concluded for a total

amount of 640 million zloties. The indemnities resulting from the

policies of the insurance companies existing before the war and being

liquidated were paid after the submission of the original policy or of the

evidence/vouchers of the payment of premium until August 1939, and

each case was examined separately (separate liquidation report). The

liabilities resulting from insurance contracts with respect to the persons

entitled were paid according to the principles defined in the general

conditions of insurance. However, if the total amount of these liabilities

was not covered by the balance-sheet value of the assets of the estate, the

payments were made proportionally to the existing funds.

Of course in case of life insurance, the death-taking place in the

conditions of Holocaust was considered as a death connected with acts of

war. However, it results from the files of the liquidation that although the

particular general conditions of insurance excluded the payment of

indemnity in case of death occurring in connection with acts of war, the

indemnities were paid to all persons submitting claims resulting from

concluded insurance contracts - the amount of payments depending on

persons-survivors or the recipient heirs of the policies.

Poland, as a country occupied by Germany during the Second

World War and whose citizens suffered deeply under the Hitler’s

occupation has not obtained the full payment of indemnities for the

victims of nazi crimes from Germany. On the other hand, there was no

indemnification program for the victims of the Holocaust.

One has however to stress that on October 16, 1991 as a result of

an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the

Government of the Republic of Germany a foundation called „Polish-
POLAND 311

German Reconciliation” was set up. This foundation operates according

to the legal principles being in force in the Republic of Poland. The

Foundation Reconciliation grants financial assistance having the nature

of a single benefit. The assistance granted by the foundation, however, is

not an indemnity and may not be considered as damages for all the

injuries suffered. Polish citizens are entitled to request for financial

assistance out of the funds of the foundation. These citizens include

Polish citizens of Jewish origin, who were alive on January 8, 1992,

who have submitted an application personally, who have their

permanent residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland and

who are the victims of special nazi persecutions.

It is important to stress once again that in Poland there was a

liquidation of the assets of the insurance companies existing before the

Second World War that was carried out in accordance with law, and

there was no nationalization.

THE PROBLEM OF RESTITUTION OF MONETARY GOLD TO

POLAND

The Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of the Monetary

Gold which adjourned on July 25, 1998 in its final task sent, to the

countries that in 1947 submitted their claims to the Nazi gold restitution,

statements informing them about the remaining gold pool for particular

countries and the necessity of their final distribution. According to the

Commission’s calculations, Poland was to receive 1.206,228 ounces of

pure gold and 4.782,90 sterling pounds – the sum remaining after the

undistributed parts of monetary gold. The calculations were accompanied

with the proposal from the three governments of the United States, Great

Britain and France which made up the Commission to contribute the

remaining gold, including Poland’s share, to the Nazi Victims Relief

Fund – founded in order to bring relief to those victims who presently

live in difficult conditions. This Fund, to be managed by nongovernmental organizations, was established in New York on the basis of

the agreement between the government of Great Britain and the

Management Board of the Federal Reserve Bank in N.Y.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Brussels, which

was the city where the Commission held its headquarters, signed the

according voucher for received gold and the given amount of money,

while Minister of the State Treasury during the London Conference on

the Nazi gold of December 2 – 4, 1997 made an offering of a
312 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

contribution to this Fund. The transfer of the money took place on July 2,

1998.

THE DORMANT SWISS ACCOUNTS IN THE CASE OF POLAND

The Governments of Poland and Switzerland in the Polish-Swiss

Compensation Agreement of 1949, which among others included two

treaties: 1) On the Exchange of Goods and Forms of Payment; and 2) On

the Matter of Recompensatory Damages for Swiss Transactions in

Poland decided upon the restitution of bank accounts and the deposits

from insurance policies in Swiss banks by Polish citizens who had died

or disappeared during the Second World War. On the basis of the said

agreement the Poland was given money in the total amount of

480.391,65 Swiss francs with nearly 96,6% having been transferred only

in 1970, fifteen years after the first payment of 16.347,10 Swiss francs in

1960. Along with the money the Swiss government delivered the

documentation which included the available data concerning the owners

of bank accounts or insurance policies whose accounts or claims were

liquidated by the transfer of agreed-upon sums to Poland in 1960 and

1975. However, the information supplied by Swiss side was incomplete

often only with the surname and the place of residence of the account

holder as any meaningful information.

Despite that Polish government on January 7, 1997 made the

decision to return money to the rightful holders or their heirs. Several

complementing actions to correct the gaps in the documentation were

taken including the setting up of the Interdepartmental Disbursement

from the Dormant Accounts Task Team which included representatives

from the Ministry of State Treasury, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and

Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Finance published on December 8

and 9, 1997 the advertisements in Poland’s two largest nationwide

newspapers as well as in Its Internet site (www.prezydent.pl) calling

upon all persons interested in making a claim to contact the Ministry of

Finance, Office of Property Claims with the aim of establishing a

procedure to satisfy the outstanding claims. (It should be noted that in

order to facilitate the identification of „interested persons” - who are

often heirs of the original owners - the Ministry of Finance prepared a

special publication of all the documentation received from the Swiss

government which is available upon request in all Polish embassies, and

will be sent to all interested persons upon request). Thanks to all the
POLAND 313

actions new information was recovered however, in some cases not all

adequate data was retrieved.

In December 97 a Report by Ministry of Finance was introduced

on the subject of procedure of claims inquiries from the National

Treasury regarding the liquidation of dormant Swiss accounts. Those

requesting the disbursements have to present their claim through

administrative procedure to the Minister of Finance with an attached

petition documenting the justification of their claim. In case of heirs of

the holders of accounts and insurance policies it is necessary to attach to

the petition a legal copy of the Polish court’s judgement on the status of

the inheritance. It is verified as to its validity and then decision for the

disbursement payment is made. Such decision is the basis for the

conclusion of the contract with the claimants. In those cases where the

claimants’ claims are satisfactorily determined to be valid, the Ministry

of Finance will authorize the Director of the Office of Property Claims,

together with the Office’s Chief Accountant, to enter into a settlement

agreement with said claimants setting forth the amount of the claim to be

liquidated according the documentation delivered by the Swiss

government and the exchange rate of Swiss francs into Polish zloties on

the date of the agreement. In the event of a dispute concerning either the

basis of the claim, the amount, or especially the method of indexing the

original sum, the claimants are authorized to commence an appropriate

judicial action in the General Court against the Treasury Department of

the Ministry of Finance. As of December 1, 1998, out of 16 petitions for

disbursements, 13 settlement agreements have been signed with heirs of

the holders of lost accounts that were identified on the basis of the

documentation delivered by the Swiss government in November 1997.

Additional claims are currently being processed.

Persons who have financial claims stemming from Swiss

accounts held by themselves or their ancestors, the names of whom do

not appear in the documentation delivered by the Swiss government to

Poland, are encouraged to contact the firm Ernst and Young, having its

headquarters in Budapest, which is involved in the search for satisfying

such claims.

REPRIVATIZATION IN POLAND

One of the ongoing problems of Poland as democratic country is

how to repair the damage done to people deprived of their imposition of

Communist rule in Poland. It seemed at first to be easy to solve, but very
314 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

soon it proved that due scope of the problem it will be very difficult to

grasp the essence of reprivatization and complete it successfully. The

initial ideas were influenced by the notion that the continuity of Polish

statehood must be preserved and further by the constitutional provision

of Article 2 of the new Polish Constitution of April 2, 1997 stating that

“the Republic of Poland is a democratic state ruled by law and

implementing the principle of social justice. Consequently all statutes of

1944-1989 period remained in force with principle of constitutional state

of “rule by law being understood that any compensation for the wrong

done to citizens should be restricted to the cases in which property had

been appropriated by the state with infringements of the Communist

laws.

Since 1989 there have been several projects of reprivatization

bills starting with earliest initiatives of the higher house of Parliament –

Senate of so-called “small reprivatization” to the latest ones of Freedom

Union and the other by President Lech Wa sa, both rejected by Sejm

– the lower chamber of Parliament, so none has successfully gone

through the legislative path yet. This is at least partly due to the different

ideas towards the reprivatization. The most important questions

concerning here were included in the papers delivered by Polish

Delegation to all national delegations at the Conference. All the new

projects under preparation have a provision, which ensures that

restitution will include among others all former citizens of Poland

who no longer live in Poland.

The Polish Government that took office after the general

elections of fall 1997 instructed the Ministry of the Treasury to resume

work on the draft of the reprivatization statute. The latest proposals of

the issues included in the draft were also included in the above

mentioned papers.

COMMUNAL PROPERTY RESTITUTION IN POLAND

After World War II the established system of government in

Poland was based on and followed the Soviet model. A new type of

property was introduced: this was called the socialist property, which

meant common property of state and of the cooperative. This new type

was given preferential treatment especially in regards to the protection of

property laws. The role of private property was degraded. Ownership of

many private properties due to so-called nationalization bills and

expropriations was shifted to various persons.
POLAND 315

In response to the transitions that took place in Poland in 1989,

the entire system of governance including the legal system went under

principal changes. The return of protection of property rights in its

rightful place created a place for the new legal system. This took place

under new Constitution of the Republic of Poland, passed on April 2,

1997 (Articles 21 & 64). These articles regard property rights and their

protection as the founding stone for the new political and economic

system. Therefore the new legal system of the Republic of Poland marks

the return of property rights into the status they held before World War

II.

The process of property restitution to the rightful owners already

began in 1989. There are many reasons why the process of restitution is

much more complicated in Poland than in other Central European State.

Most important of them being: size of the achieved property

nationalization and expropriations, shift of the Polish borders to the West

and the migrations of million of people that accompanied such a change.

The problem gets much more attention in papers delivered by Polish

Delegation at the Washington Conference. The size of the performed

property changes means today that the total recovery to the WW II status

seems to be unrealistic. This remark does not pertain only to Jewish

property but equally to any other, disregarding the owner's ethnicity.

Scanning through laws passed in the after war period suggests that there

were no special circumstances attached to Jewish property rights status.

Therefore, based on legal means, there is no special distinction made as

to Jewish property status.

In 1989 the new Polish State began the process of restoring

friendly relations with Jewish State. This need of normalization of

relations with the Jewish State but also with the Jewish Diaspora based

on democratic principles gave the problem of Jewish property restitution

a political dimension.

The first law that regulates the restitution of property to Jewish

Owners was passed on January 20, 1997. It set the relation of the State

towards religious Jewish communities in the Republic of Poland. This

Law was a part of a package of bills describing the relation of the State

towards different religious organizations. The thorough description can

be found in the above mentioned papers. The compensation of Jewish

property, based on this bill, is considered in Poland as an important step

for normalizing Polish-Jewish relations. It can even be considered as a

turning point in the relations of the State towards the entire problem of

Jewish restitution. The 1997 law created legal limitations of property

restitution for Jewish communities. These limitations permit, following
316 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

the logic of restitution, the restitution of property to the past owners, i.e.

Jewish Communities. A new proposal allowing other subjects than

Jewish communities to receive property, which belonged to these Jewish

communities, would mean creating the rights to the property restitution

principles that are used in the relation of the state in these matters to

other religious communities.

The sketched issues of property restitution for Jewish

communities and other Jewish religious organizations are only a small

part of even a bigger. If the problem of property restitution for Jewish

communities is very complex; then the problem of property restitution to

persons and legal persons creates even a larger challenge for the Polish

legislators.

A more thorough view of the problem is included in the papers

prepared by Polish Delegation, mentioned in the above text several

times.

ACCESS TO POLISH ARCHIVES

Once upon a time Poland could be proud of its archives but the

history of our country in the last two centuries – the partition of our

territory for 123 years and two World Wars had an irreversible and of

course negative impact on the integrity of the assets of the Polish

archives. However it is important to mention here that countless wars

that had through centuries rolled over Polish lands had not caused such

horrid losses like the ones that occurred during WW II only. These losses

affected all existing kinds of archives – state, local-government, church,

private as well as archival collections in the National Library and in the

private libraries of the great aristocratic Polish families. Several key

factors contributed to that destruction. Direct military operations affected

archive assets in September 1939; during the Warsaw uprising of 1944;

and during the liberating operations of the Soviet Army and the Polish

Armed Forces in 1944 and 1945. Beside that the total number of losses

must be increased to include materials that were removed and plundered

by the occupiers. Despite the 50 years that passed since the end of WW

II many of these records are still stored in foreign countries and the

majority of them were not even accessible for Polish Scholars until 1991.

Thus the number of assets is limited.

Documents and other archive materials are primarily stored in

state archives. The network of state archives is composed of archives
POLAND 317

directly subordinated to the Chief Director of State Archives, as a central

organ of state administration, and of others.

The „Law on the national archive assets and archives” of July

14, 1983 regulates the general principles of access to archive materials

stored in state archives. It determines that archive materials are made

accessible to institutions and individuals for scientific, cultural, technical

and economic purposes after 30 years from their creation, on condition

that this does not infringe legally protected interests of the State and

citizens. Permission to use archive materials is granted by the director of

the relevant state archive and in the case of foreigners - the Chief

Director of State Archives. Further information can be found in the

papers of Polish Delegation prepared for the Washington Conference.

The restrictions that may arise – applying to both Polish citizens and

foreigners – stem from the legal principle of protection of the State and

citizens. When granting permission for the use of materials, directors of

state archives and, in some cases, the Chief Director of State Archives

must also take into account other legal regulations, in particular

protection of so-called personal goods, law on protection of state and

professional secrets of 1982 and the 1997 law on protection of personal

data.

Research institutions make their archive materials free of charge.

Charges are levied – according to a price list determined by the Chief

Director of State Archives – for copying of records and for the time lost

in finding materials inaccurately described by interested persons.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

MUSEUM

From the very beginning of the Museum there have been

educational activities addressed to the future, to guiding youth so that the

tragic past of Auschwitz would not be repeated. The overriding task of

those who created the Museum fifty years ago was, however to

commemorate the boundless sufferings and the deaths of all who died, in

the gas chambers immediately after being brought to the camp or later as

a result of the atrocious conditions that prevailed.

Auschwitz symbolizes all the evil bred by hatred and contempt

in interpersonal relations, and in social life by violence and coercion,

racism and lack of respect for the other peoples. For this reason the place

should be an international center for the education, where new

educational methods will be developed through the joint efforts of the
318 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

best specialists, where Polish and foreign teachers can obtain help and

practical guidelines, together with a broad assortment of suggested

methodological materials.

Interest in the subject of Auschwitz is growing around the world,

and special centers for teacher and student training are being established

in many countries. Because this process is coupled with the history of the

Auschwitz camp and other Nazi camps where Jews were killed en masse

during WW II in German-occupied Poland, Poland is compelled to be the

center for this research. Since Auschwitz functions in the world as a

symbol, it is essential for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and

Museum to become, as quickly as possible, an important center for

education about the history of Auschwitz, the Holocaust, and also the

history of the Jews in Poland. In this regard the Museum is working with

other institutions involved with this subject matter, but a lack of

resources has prevented many initiatives and plans from being

implemented so far.

For deeper study of these all the programs prepared and

conducted by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Owi cim please

refer to the papers mentioned in previous sections of this paper.
RUSSIA

The General Goals of the Conference

and the Looted Art Problem

Statement by

Ambassador Valentin Kopteltsev

HEAD OF DELEGATION

Plenary Session on Nazi Confiscated Art Issues

Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Russia favors the humane idea of seeking possibilities to

provide aid to victims of the Nazis, regardless of their nationality, who

have not previously received such aid in sufficient volumes and require it

due to their health conditions and low income.

2. The establishment and operation of the New York

International Fund for Needy Victims of Nazi Persecution is valued

positively. Due to its current economic conditions Russia is now unable

to become a donor of this Fund, however it anticipates that the Fund's

resources will be used to provide aid to the citizens of Russia and other

Republics of the former USSR. Russian authorities and non-government

organizations are prepared to cooperate with the Fund in the distribution

of such aid. It is important in this respect to take into account the

disproportionate allocation of aid that has so far been provided to the

Nazi victims in the West, Russia and other Republics of the former

USSR.

3. In accordance with the Russian law Russia will continue the

search for cultural values confiscated by the Nazis from their victims,

and continue publishing their list. The law provides that claims for these

values could be submitted only within the 18- month period beginning

from April 21, 1998. Since the work in the archives as well as attribution

of the retrieved works of art is difficult and time-consuming the Russian

Government will be ready to discuss these issues even after the

expiration of the above period.
320 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

4. Compilation by the interested parties of the catalogue of

values missing from the private collections of the victims of the Nazis

and transferring it to the Russian side to organize offset search activities

would accelerate the work of the Russian experts to identify the

unknown values.

5. We are ready to accept a large-scale research program

focusing on preconditions, practices and consequences of the Nazi

<<Holocaust>> policy and to conduct on this basis a research in the

Russian archives and cultural institutions on the Nazi gold issue and

displaced cultural values. We hope that other countries of the former

Soviet Union, whose national property was plundered by the Nazis,

could adhere to this program.

6. In case of failure to locate the former owners of the cultural

values among the victims of the Nazis or their direct inheritors, Russia

proposes to consider these values property of the states where they are

currently located, and use them for providing aid to the victims of

Nazism and war in this countries. In this context we would be able to

support the Eleven General Principles with Regard to Nazi-confiscated

Art circulated here if the word <<direct>> would be set before the word

<<heirs>> in articles VII., VIII. and X. of these Principles.

7. Due to the immense damage caused by the Nazism to the

cultural property of the former Soviet Union, Russia urges the

participants of the Washington conference and the entire world

community to do everything possible to locate these cultural values and

return them to countries from which they were stolen. For this purpose,

Mr. Chairman, I convey to you the first volume of a series of catalogues

of cultural values looted from the territory of Russia during World War

II.

Thank you.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Delegation Statement

One of the critical duties resulting from political changes in 1989

for the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and since 1993 for Slovak

Republic as one of successors of Czecho-Slovakia was the mitigation of

injustices of the past. It was necessary to compensate the victims of Nazi

persecution during the World War II and at the same time to compensate

injustices of the communist regime 1948-89. Quite naturally, these laws

could not eliminate all cases of treatment. However, this was a

successful practical start to mitigate the cases of violations of

fundamental rights and freedoms which, as far as its extent and impact

on public funds concern, can hardly be matched to any other country of

the former communist block. The rehabilitation and restitution

proceedings, so vitally important for the emerging democracy, have been

nearly completed. The federal and the national authorities which

initiated these proceedings in the early 1990 ́s should be credited with a

considerable recognition for their commitment. Democratic forces

coming forward after the period of violations of political and property

rights should always lead those proceedings.

Looking at the problem from the aspect of time, it was necessary

to compensate victims of communist persecution from 1948-89,

including compensation of victims of deportations to soviet

concentration and work camps (GULAGs) in post war period. That is

why appropriate acts were adopted in former Czech and Slovak Federal

Republic. The basic framework consisted of: Act n.119/90 on Judicial

Rehabilitation, Act n.403/90 on Mitigation of Consequences of Results

of Some Property Injustices (restitution act), Act n.87/1990 on Extra

Judicial Rehabilitation, Act n.229/91 on Conversion of Some Ownership

Relations to Land and other Agricultural Property, Slovak National

Council Act n.319/1991 on Mitigation of some Propriety and other

Injustices and on Competence of Authorities of the Slovak Republic in

the field of extra judicial rehabilitation.

All these acts were subsumed into the legal order of the Slovak

Republic after 1993. The adoption of National Council of the Slovak
322 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Republic's Act n.125/1996 on Immorality and Illegality of Communist

System represented a moral satisfaction to all victims of communist

persecution.

The adoption of the National Council of the Slovak Republic's

Act n.282/1993 of 27 October 1993 on Mitigation of Some Property

Injustices Inflicted to Churches and Religious Communities was the base

for compensation of victims of Nazi persecution. The range of entitled

persons is determined in §1 of the aforesaid act. In this paragraph the

peremptory period concerning deprivation of movable and immovable

property of religious communities in breach to the principles of

democratic society and relevant covenants on civil, political, economic,

social, and cultural rights is determined. The law maker took into

account that the religious communities became victims of persecution

mostly after The World War II and that is why the peremptory period

was determined for these communities from 8 May 1945 to 1 January

1990. At the same time it was necessary to take into account that an

extensive Jewish community had existed before the World War II on the

Slovak territory. This community was systematically destroyed between

1939 - 45. That was the reason for explicit determination of peremptory

period by lawmakers for Jewish religious communities in §1 of aforesaid

act. The peremptory period for Jewish religious community has been

determined since 2 November 1939 to 1 January 1990. Movable and

immovable propriety is the object of return of propriety to the entitled

persons who are the churches and religious communities or their parts,

with legal personality registered by state, resident on the territory of the

Slovak Republic. The entitled church organization or religious

community had one year for claiming their property from the entity

which possessed or disposed with the property in question. If such entity

failed to make an agreement with a church organization of a religious

community to return the property within ninety days of the submission of

the claim, the entitled person could turn to court within fifteen months.

In civil or administrative proceedings church or religious organizations

were exempted from payment of administrative and judicial costs. Any

expenses arising from restitution, e.g. in surveying the estate, were

reimbursed by the State as fixed by law. According to the reports of the

Ministry of Culture under the auspices of which the restitution of

property of religious communities occurred, no major problems were

encountered. In the restitution of the property of Jewish congregation,

the Ministry of Culture provided consultation services which resulted

mostly in fruitful restitutions.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC 323

The act presumes that the state takes the primary responsibility

for the compensation of injustices: „The responsible persons are state,

municipality, legal persons established by the state or municipality and

legal persons established by the law who are managing the state or

municipal propriety or are administering and possessing such propriety

to the day of effect of this law..." (§3 part 1).

The responsible persons are also natural persons who have

acquired the propriety in accordance with §4 of the aforesaid act, and

also if these persons have acquired the property contrary to regulations

which were in effect at that time.

At the same time it has been determined in this paragraph which

categories of propriety do not fall within the scope of the law: „...except

a) legal persons with foreign interest and commercial corporations

where the associates are exclusively natural persons. This exception is

obsolete if the propriety is acquired from legal persons after 1 January

1990; b) foreign states."

Preparing this act, the lawmaker paid the diligence to the fact

that there is some property which should be returned in accordance with

the act, but in reality it is not possible to return such property and that's

why it is necessary to exclude such property from the act (§7), or in

reasonable event to limit the free dispensability with the property by

entitled person (§11).

The mitigation of injustices caused by the Nazi persecution

cannot be limited only to property injustices, it has to be above all a

direct compensation of victims of persecution and reprisals. In these

days the act on compensation of some injustices caused by Nazi

persecution during the World War II is under preparation. The draft law

anticipates financial compensation and bonuses to the retirement benefits

to persons deported to and detained in concentration camps, and also to

their family survivors.

The draft act determines the entitled persons in its §2 part 3 and

4, and §3 part 2 and 3. These are persons directly sanctioned by

deportations into concentration camps, or sanctioned by other Nazi

repressive actions in period 1939-45. If there are no such persons, their

bereaved spouses and children are entitled and if there are neither those

persons, their parents are entitled. The preliminary assessment of

expenditures needed for compensations is 500.000.000 SK (it is

approximately 16.000.000 USD).

Quite obviously, the debates on the act focused mainly on

financial resources necessary for payment to the entitled persons.

Extensive considerations have been given to the assistance in
324 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

anticipation from the German Government, that launched the plan of

compensation of victims of Nazi persecution in several European

Countries including the Czech Republic. The new Government,

according to a statement by Vice-Prime Minister in charge of the

Legislative Board, will reconsider the draft law prepared during the

preceding parliamentary period. Such proposal may become a key topic

for the ongoing discussion, and in particular for its immediate

presentation for a parliamentary debate.

In the preparation of and the debate on the new bill regulating

the compensation of victims of Nazi persecution, the appropriate

governmental authorities in Slovakia will have to consider the following:

1. the time factor – the passage of the law cannot be delayed in

view of the age of entitled persons, and also in view of the fact

that this will be the last law on the compensation adopted after

1989, even though the period of violation of human rights and

freedoms preceded the period of 1948-89, in which alleviation of

the injuries and injustice have been granted;

2. The cooperation with the interested non-governmental

institutions, i.e. communication with the Slovak Union of Fascist

Resistance, the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities

should become a basis for drafting the bill corresponding to the

nature of injuries and suffering;

3. financial factor – the financial resources, as one of the

fundamental conditions for this compensation of victims must be

a priority in the process of the completion of rehabilitation and

restitution processes in Slovakia.

In addition to these measures the Government of the Slovak

Republic at its session on 26 May 1998 took into consideration that the

Tripartite Commission for Restitution of Monetary Gold had returned

5.312,108 ounces of fine gold in value of approximately 1,6 mil. USD to

the Slovak Republic. The Government of the Slovak Republic agreed

that this amount of gold will be used for compensation of Slovak victims

of Nazi persecution and at the same time the Slovak Republic will take

part in Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund. From the amount of fine gold the

3/4 part (1,2 mil. USD) will be used for direct compensation for victims

of Nazi persecution in accordance with the prepared compensation act

and 1/4 (approximately 400.000 USD) will be used as contribution of the

Slovak Republic to the Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund established at the

London Conference on Nazi Gold in December 1997.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC 325

The Slovak National Archives concluded an agreement on

cooperation with the Holocaust Memorial Museum enabling to provide a

large number of copies of documents concerning various aspects of the

Holocaust period, as well as facts related to that period.

These facts evidence the effort of the Government of the Slovak

Republic to ensure by internal measures the compensation of victims of

Nazi persecution to the greatest possible degree. At the same time it is

necessary to mention that Slovak victims of Nazi persecution, as

compared with other victims, have not yet received any compensation for

their sufferings from German authorities, although the Federal Republic

of Germany made a symbolic gesture in the form of so called „Hirsch

initiative" for some countries of Central and Eastern Europe, granting

simple humanitarian aid for some categories of victims of Nazi

persecution.

Slovak victims of Nazi persecution are still hoping that the

Federal Republic of Germany will act in the same manner as it did with

respect to all other victims of Nazi persecution duly compensated by

German authorities.

REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Delegation Statement

The Delegation of the Republic of Slovenia to the Washington

Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets has the honor to announce that the

Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the decision that it

renounces its share of the gold pool of the Tripartite Commission for the

Restitution of the Monetary Gold to the benefit of the Nazi Persecutee

Relief Fund.

The text of the decision is as follows:

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia herewith adopts the

following decision:

The Republic of Slovenia, as one of equal successor states to the

former SFR of Yugoslavia, renounces its share of the gold pool of the

Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold – which was

due to the former SFR of Yugoslavia – to the benefit of the International

Fund for Needy Victims of Nazi Persecution (Nazi Persecutee Relief

Fund), established at the London Conference on Nazi Gold held from 2 to

4 December 19.97, and, within the said Fund, to the benefit of

non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Slovenia to aid

individual victims of Nazi Persecution.

The share renounced by the Republic of Slovenia (for which it

has already been established or will be established that it belongs to the

Republic of Slovenia as an equal successor to the former SFR Of

Yugoslavia) is equivalent to 16.39% of the share of the gold pool –

which was due to the former SFR of Yugoslavia – being formerly held

by Tripartite Commission for the restitution of Monetary Gold, and now

held jointly in the names of the Governments of France, the United

Kingdom and the United States of America in the Bank of England.

The two non-governmental organizations in the Republic of

Slovenia to the benefit of which the Republic of Slovenia renounces its

share of the gold pool are the Slovenian Red Cross and the Slovenian

Karitas which are obliged to allocate the funds acquired from the

International Fund for Needy Victims Of Nazi Persecution (Nazi
328 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Persecutee Relief Fund) either for the programs of aid to individual

victims of Nazi persecution or for relevant educational programs.
SPAIN

Activities of the Spanish Commission on

Holocaust-Era Assets

The Spanish commission was established by Royal Decree of

July 11, 1997, with the aim of investigating the role of Spain in its

economic relations with the Third Reich during the Second World War.

The Commission carried out research focused on the transactions

of gold during the war and by December 97 it had already drafted a

provisional report. The report was introduced, along with its

conclusions, in the London Conference.

The final report was presented to the Government of Spain in

April 1998, along with a series of recommendations. It concluded that

Spain had bought gold during the Second World War, mainly from the

Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Portugal and the Bank of England. It

also concluded that only a small part of the gold acquired in those years

came directly from Germany.

The report also studied the negotiations that took place between

the Spanish Authorities and the Allies after the war, that led to an

Agreement in execution of which Spain returned the amount of gold that,

according to the investigations conducted at the time, had been looted by

the Nazis.

At a later stage, the Spanish Commission presented two

additional reports: the first one on the German insurance companies in

Spain during the Second World War, and the second on the works of art

bought or sold in Spain during the war.

The research on the German insurance companies was carried

out in the archives of the Spanish Foreign Ministry and the Bank of

Spain. The conclusions are as follows: during the war, German

insurance firms in Spain increased both their capital and their customer

base. Most of these customers as well as the signatories of the insurance

policies were citizens of Spain or Spanish companies. Nothing came out

in the research that points to any problem of non-payment of the policies

during or after the war. There is no documentary trace of any claim
330 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

whatsoever that affected either Spanish citizens, Jewish or non Jewish, or

foreign nationals.

After the war, and following the recommendations and

resolutions of the Allies, German goods and property in Spain, including

the assets and liabilities of all German firms, were embargoed by the

Spanish Authorities. Of the eighteen companies so embargoed, four

were completely expropriated and liquidated.

Both the Report on Insurance and the Report on Works of Art, as

did the Report on Gold Transactions from Central Europe, coincided in

their conclusions: the role of Spain was very limited.

Indeed, in what pertains to works of art – and apart from

smuggled items, difficult to trace – the cases registered are few in

number and of minor importance. It was estimated that only one per cent

of all the art dealers operating in Europe did business in Spain at the

time. Therefore, this issue was barely examined in the course of the

negotiations between the Spanish Government and the Allies at the end

of the war.

The only case worth noticing is that of Alois Miedl, Göring’s art

dealer, who brought to Spain a total of twenty-two painting, that were

deposited in the Tax Exempt Warehouse in Bilbao (Northern Spain).

What happened to these paintings after 1949 is not known. Eight of the

twenty-two paintings belonged to the Goudstikker Collection. The origin

of the other fourteen is not known to this day.

Having reached the aforementioned conclusions, the Spanish

Commission, well aware and sharing in the global feeling on the horrors

of the Jewish Holocaust, shared also by many Sefardim, and keeping in

mind the links and common culture and origin of the latter with Spain

and the Spanish people, proposed to the Government of Spain – and the

latter approved the proposal – to provide two hundred and fifty million

Pesetas to the Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund, with the specific proviso that

the money would be applied to the needs of the Sefardim.

Washington, D.C. December 1st, 1998
SWEDEN

Statement by

Mr. Salomo Berlinger

SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE COMMISSION ON JEWISH ASSETS IN SWEDEN

AT THE TIME OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH DELEGATION

Sweden does definitely not belong to the countries that were on

the headlines with Nazi-confiscated art. Nevertheless, we considered it

our duty to make a thorough investigation also of this subject in our

Commission.

The Swedish Commission therefore appointed a special project

group to work with art and insurance. Because of the limited time at

disposal, let me just mention that among the actions taken we have

interviewed a number of trade organizations dealing with art, Art

associations, auction houses, transport- and storage companies, active

during that period. We have advertised in daily newspapers in order to

obtain information from the public and we have sent a questionnaire to

every member of the Jewish Communities in Sweden.

The Project Group has through a number of experts conducted

research in various public archives in Sweden and abroad and made a

thorough study of the leading art museums in Sweden including the

National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Purchases during and

shortly after the war of international art were checked. Relatively few

pieces of international art were purchased. There were however some

purchases and donations of art works which the Nazis regarded as

”Entartete Kunst”.

The fact that there was no obligation to supply information about

previous owners and that our researchers for that reason noted several

examples of missing links in the documentation did not make our work

easier. Even more complicated was the research done in private archives

and galleries. However the lack of evidence or proof so far of dealings

with looted art does not stop us from continuing our investigations.

Let me also state that we have a close look - as much as one can

look into private collections - into possible looted art works, emanating
332 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

from Göring and brought to Sweden by or to his relatives and friends, a

very tough task for our Commission.

We have naturally also closely followed the international

activities, particularly in the United States, to trace and find looted

Jewish art. As a conclusion at this stage can be said that the

investigations so far have not yielded any concrete and convincing

examples of acquisitions of looted or confiscated works of art belonging

to Jews in Sweden. However some traces have been found and we hope

that with the co-operation we can get from abroad and from this

conference – including the establishment of the Art Loss Register – we

can finish our work with a good conscience. The final report of our

commission and its conclusion will be submitted at the end of February

1999.
SWITZERLAND

Introductory Declaration

By Ambassador Thomas G. Borer

HEAD OF DELEGATION

Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Secretary of State, Mr. Foreign Secretary,

Mr. Under Secretary of State, Honorable Delegates:

I would like to begin by expressing my great appreciation that

this Conference is being held and that my country has been invited as an

active participant. It is an honor for me and my delegation to be here, and

I would like to thank the U.S. Government and the Holocaust Museum

for making this important event possible. My country sees this

Conference as a unique opportunity for all those concerned to pool their

knowledge and to work together to achieve a deeper understanding of the

historical questions related to the Holocaust era still awaiting answers.

As the previous conference on Nazi gold held in London last year has

shown, the task of establishing historical facts on these extremely

delicate and complex issues is colossal and requires close international

cooperation. We sincerely hope that the Conference will make a major

contribution to clarifying the historical context of looted art, insurance

policies, communal property, libraries, and archives.

We also especially welcome the fact that the Conference will pay

special attention to Holocaust education, remembrance, and research.

This dimension of the Conference is of particular importance: The

memory of the victims and the sufferings of the survivors place a duty on

all of us to keep remembering, for our conscious awareness of the

mechanisms of history and of the roots of human evil is all we have to

protect us against a resurgence of such monstrous insanity. Tragically,

the passage of time is irreversible, and, as time goes by, this duty to

remember takes on a new dimension: As the Holocaust survivors are

approaching the end of their lives, the day will come when we won't have

direct testimony at our disposal anymore. It is therefore important to

develop ways and means of remembrance and sensitization. Even though

Switzerland was largely spared the unspeakable horrors of World War II,
334 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

it shares with other nations the commitment to remember and remain

alert. To this end, it has undertaken a large number of initiatives at the

cultural, educational, and political level. Switzerland – which has a longstanding tradition of peaceful coexistence of different languages,

cultures, and faiths – is ready and willing to share with others its

experiences in this field in order for us all to ensure that future

generations will never be able to say "We didn't know..."

Therefore, I would like to express the sincere hope that this

Conference will offer us the opportunity to pursue a constructive

dialogue on how to advance towards a greater understanding of our

common past in order to build a better future.

Mr. Chairman, Honorable Delegates,

Since 1996, Switzerland has been implementing an

unprecedented series of measures to come to terms with the painful and

recurring questions which have remained unanswered since 1945. Our

objective is to shed light on the role Switzerland played in the context of

World War II and on open questions related to any dormant accounts,

looted art works and insurance policies that may still be held in

Switzerland. My country has also demonstrated its profound sense of

compassion towards the survivors of this unspeakable tragedy in the

history of mankind by setting up a humanitarian fund endowed with Sfr.

275 million. These efforts have gained international recognition, and

Under-Secretary of State Eizenstat will allow me to quote him when he

stated some weeks ago: "Switzerland continues to take the lead among

the wartime neutral nations in the commitment it has made to provide

justice in concrete ways."

Although the role played by Switzerland with regard to

unclaimed insurance policies or looted art is quite modest in comparison,

our genuine will to cooperate has also been demonstrated by the leading

role played by Swiss insurance companies in setting up an International

Experts Commission. Its mandate is to address the difficult problem of

World War II insurance policies. By the same token, Switzerland is

undertaking detailed investigations with regard to looted art, a topic

which is currently being investigated by the Bergier Commission.

Furthermore, the delicate issue of combating any manifestation of antiSemitism and of promoting tolerance among civilian society is being

addressed by the Swiss government in the same resolute manner, as the

recently released report by the Federal Commission against Racism

illustrates. This serious and objective report has been unanimously

praised for its candor and quality. Abraham Foxman, Anti-Defamation
SWITZERLAND 335

League National Director, referred to the report in the following terms:

"The Swiss report should serve as a model for countries confronting their

problems with anti-Semitism. We hope other nations and institutions will

follow the Swiss example as they examine their wartime role and antiSemitism in their society".

By focusing all its efforts on carrying out these and other

measures efficiently and rapidly, Switzerland has demonstrated an

unambiguous and profound commitment to dealing with this issue. My

Government would like to take the opportunity of expressing its hope

that our discussions over the next three days will be held in a spirit of

openness and objectivity, and that we will always bear in mind the

common goal of our endeavor: Justice for the victims and awareness for

the future, for the tragedy of the Holocaust shall never repeat itself.

Mr. Chairman, honorable delegates, thank you for your attention.

Delegation Statement

The following paper sums up the position of the Swiss

government with regard to topics on the agenda of the

Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets.

I. REVIEW OF GOLD ISSUES

More than 53 years ago, in September 1945, the Swiss National

Bank (SNB) provided the U.S. Legation in Berne with a statistical

overview of gold transactions it had carried out during World War II

with the central banks of 16 countries. These data have been confirmed

since by each subsequent historical investigation. The gold purchased

from the German Reichsbank amounted to $280 million, clearly less than

the gold purchased from the Allies ($523 million). By the end of the war,

the SNB had resold two thirds of the gold it had acquired from the

Reichsbank.

While negotiating in spring 1946 with Switzerland in

Washington, the Allies were informed extensively of the gold

transactions. The result of these negotiations was a political agreement in

the interest of both sides, representing governments only. On the gold

issue, Switzerland agreed to pay $58 million to the Allies, whereas the

latter waived all claims against Switzerland which could result from

taking delivery of gold from the Reichsbank during the war.

It cannot be disputed that Switzerland completely fulfilled its

obligations under the agreement. It paid the sums agreed to with the

Allies both for gold acquired from Germany during World War II and for

liquidation of German assets.

Moreover, neither the two Eizenstat reports (two studies on the

conduct of wartime neutrals headed by U.S. Undersecretary of State

Stuart Eizenstat and published in May 1997 and June 1998) nor the

interim report on gold transactions published in May 1998 by the Bergier

Commission (an independent body of Swiss and foreign experts

established to examine Switzerland's history before, during, and after the

war) raised historical arguments justifying the reopening of the

Washington Agreement. On the contrary, they confirmed that the Allies

were fully informed of all wartime gold transactions between the SNB
338 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

and the German Reichsbank. The Bergier interim report even confirmed

that the amount of looted gold acquired by the SNB was in fact lower

than estimates the Allies made at that time.

One should not forget that, while legally binding, the

Washington Agreement includes a political dimension. As in the case of

the negotiations the Allied conducted with other neutral countries, this

agreement resulted from concessions accepted by both sides. It involved

four related issues: restitution of gold, liquidation of German private

assets in Switzerland, abolition of blacklists affecting Swiss firms in the

USA, and unfreezing of Swiss assets in the USA. It is thus clear that any

renegotiation would imply a renewed discussion of all these issues and

not simply of the gold question. For example, this would be the case with

Swiss assets frozen by the US government during the war. Their

unfreezing was also part of the Washington Agreement. At the time, the

US claimed that about $100 million of those assets could not be certified

and consequently confiscated those assets.

In any case, the 18 signatory countries of the Washington

Agreement declared that "they waive (...) all claims against the

Government of Switzerland and the SNB in connection with gold

acquired during the war from Germany by Switzerland. All questions

relative to such gold will thus be regulated." This unmistakably clear

language made the accord a final global settlement.

In May 1997, the first Eizenstat report was released. It includes

some assertions that go beyond a serious historical analysis and hence

give rise to inaccurate interpretations. To begin with, neutrality is

referred to as having fundamentally collided with morality. Such

criticism is based on a premise that neutrality between those states

defending what is good and those incarnating evil is immoral. It applies a

latter day moral judgment to positions taken in the midst of war that is

alien to and inconsistent with the tenets of international law that applied

at the time. Significantly, all criticism of Swiss neutrality during the

ensuing Cold War is avoided in the report. It must be emphasized that

Swiss neutrality during World War II was aimed at protecting the

country from conflict in order to safeguard the independence and

survival of the population. These goals are the responsibility and priority

of any sovereign nation. This policy also allowed Switzerland to become

a haven for tens of thousands of refugees. It is true that the report

indicates that Swiss neutrality benefited the Allies on many occasions,

for instance, with regard to protection of tens of thousands of British and

US prisoners of war.
SWITZERLAND 339

When considered as a whole, neutrality implied a delicate

balance between the pressure to adjust to the new order of the time and to

resist its abhorrent ideology. If Switzerland had not remained neutral

and, as a result, suffered the fate of France or Belgium, would anyone –

including the Allies and Holocaust victims – have been better off?

Clearly, the answer is "no".

A second historically unfounded reproach formulated against

Switzerland touches on the alleged Swiss contribution to prolonging the

war, which is said to have caused the death of tens of thousands of

civilians and soldiers. Yet the report contains no corroborating evidence

of this allegation. One might also ask what made the war possible in the

first place. Even without coming back to such decisive stages as the

Munich Conference of 1938 and the Hitler-Stalin Pact on the eve of the

war, some simple facts put into true proportions the role of Switzerland,

a country of only 4 million inhabitants during the war years.

It is today estimated that the total cost of the German war effort

approached $850 billion. The Swiss share – including all financial and

commercial transactions – amounted to 0.5% of this amount. Although

bled white after Stalingrad, Germany was still able to launch murderous

offensives such as the occupation of Italy in September of 1943, of

Hungary in March 1944, and the Battle of the Bulge in December 1994.

What made these last-ditch efforts possible has nothing to do with Swiss

supplies, but everything to do with the last throes of a fanatical and brutal

regime. In contrast, in a daring effort of mediation, Swiss intermediaries

negotiated the surrender of all German troops in Italy, numbering one

million men, a week before the end of the war in Europe. A modest

shortening perhaps, but how many lives were spared?

At the London Gold Conference, which took place in December

1997, participants agreed that the results of the research on gold

transactions with Nazi Germany must be shared at the international level

and that this research process should continue.

At this international meeting, the Bergier Commission presented a

substantial contribution, the Statistical Review with Commentary. In May

1998, it released an interim Report on Switzerland and Gold Transactions

in the Second World War. According to U.S. Undersecretary Eizenstat, both

reports «demonstrate the integrity and the probity of the work of the

Commission.»

The interim report fully confirms the amounts of SNB gold

transactions, as they have been known since the end of World War II as

well as historical facts already published in the literature. But it also

reveals new and tragic facts: a few gold ingots delivered by the
340 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Reichsbank to its deposit in Berne, which were not distinguishable from

the others, contained some 120 kgs of fine gold seized by the Nazis from

extermination-camp victims. Although the Commission did not find any

evidence that the responsible SNB parties had or could have had

knowledge of this, the Swiss government declared itself shocked at this

finding, since this victim gold stands for the immeasurable suffering the

Nazis inflicted on victims of their persecution.

The question of victim gold requires further historical

investigations on an international scale. The Swiss Independent

Commission of Experts ("Bergier Commission") has always worked in

that perspective. The Swiss Government welcomes all efforts from other

countries and interested organizations. Therefore, it decided recently to

publish a summary of the Commission's interim report. It is convinced

that the Swiss people are entitled to know the truth about Switzerland's

past, be it positive or negative.

Finally, mention should be made of the "Swiss Fund for Needy

Victims of the Holocaust". The Fund was endowed with roughly $200

million through the contributions of Swiss banks, other private-sector

companies, and the SNB. The Fund was set up in 1997 to support needy

survivors of the Holocaust and their families. Switzerland welcomes the

fact that other countries have decided to follow this path by creating an

"International Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund".

II. OVERVIEW OF HOLOCAUST-ERA INSURANCE CLAIMS

The question of Holocaust-era insurance claims was revived not

long ago and has not yet become the subject of extensive research. Thus

Switzerland welcomes the opportunity to debate this important matter.

In order to gauge the relative relevance of this topic for

Switzerland, the following facts need to be recalled:

Four Swiss insurance companies (Basler, Swiss Life, Vita, and

Winterthur) had a branch in Germany long before Hitler came to power.

About 80 German companies dominated the German market, whereas the

four Swiss companies had a market share which did not exceed 2 to 3

percent. No Swiss life-insurance company was established in Central or

Eastern Europe at the time.

Notwithstanding these facts, both the Swiss Government and the

Swiss insurance companies concerned are fully committed to clarifying

all open questions and providing active support for this process.
SWITZERLAND 341

Since 1996, Swiss insurance companies have been searching

intensively for policies which may have been held by Holocaust victims.

Committed to find the owners of any World War II policy that may exist,

they launched intensive searches in their archives and set up information

mechanisms, such as cost-free "help lines" interested individuals can call

to give or receive information on such policies.

The Swiss insurance companies have also been at the forefront

of international efforts to establish an international commission of

investigation which will examine all policies drawn up between 1920 and

1945 which have remained unclaimed since World War II. It should be

mentioned that the Swiss companies were the first to sign the related

Memorandum of Understanding, thus giving a clear sign of their genuine

commitment to and support for this international effort.

The Swiss authorities welcome these initiatives, which clearly

reflect a strong will to find a satisfactory solution to all remaining

questions concerning World War II. The Swiss government further called

on the Conference to actively support the work of the newly constituted

International Commission of Investigation (IC), for it is only through

international cooperation that satisfying answers can be found to this

complex issue. On the other hand, this cooperative approach is

incompatible with confrontational methods such as the pending classaction law suits and threats of sanctions. The Swiss government rejects

such methods and urges that they be discarded in the process.

III. SWITZERLAND'S ROLE IN THE TRADE OF ART WORKS

STOLEN BY THE NAZIS

1. Situation at the outset

Given its location in the heart of Europe, its highly developed

infrastructure, and good international connections, Switzerland has been

an important art market since the end of World War I. The Swiss art

market participated in the boom of the 1920s with annual import values

between SFr. 4 and 7 million. Like the economy as a whole, the Swiss art

market was then heavily affected by the Depression of the 1930s. During

World War II, borders remained closed, and imports as well as exports of

art works declined sharply, with import values of between SFr. 1.9

million in 1939 and SFr. 219,000 in 1945 and export values between SFr.

1,142,000 and SFr. 16,000. Even in the 1950s, import values of art

objects did not attain the level of the 1920s.
342 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

2. "Degenerate" art in Germany sold abroad

With Hitler's accession to power, many art works and artists

were considered "degenerate"1 by the Nazi regime. Following a decree

issued by Goebbels on 30 June 1937, the "degenerate" art works could be

removed from German public museums, and the most valuable of them

could be sold abroad on the international market in exchange for foreign

currencies.2

Such a sale took place in Switzerland on 30 June 1939 in

Lucerne where the internationally known Galerie Fischer put up for

auction 126 paintings and sculptures by great modern masters removed

from the German public museums: Braque, van Gogh, Picasso, Klee,

Matisse, Kokoschka, and 31 other artists. Out of the 350 persons

attending the auction, 40 bought two thirds of the art works. The works

were mainly sold to buyers from Switzerland, Belgium, and the United

States.

3. Switzerland, a safe haven for endangered art works and artists

Before and during World War II, Switzerland became a secure

deposit location, either temporarily or permanently, for endangered art

works and artists. Stephanie Barron (Los Angeles County Museum of

Art) wrote with reference to Helmut F. Pfanner3: "After Hitler’s rise to

power, neutral Switzerland became a haven, albeit temporarily, for

German artists (and collectors who emigrated to keep their collections

intact), writers, musicians, actors, theatrical directors, and other

refugees. Many settled in Swiss cities, hoping to pursue their careers

with relatively little disruption. Some stayed only long enough to make

arrangements to emigrate elsewhere in Europe or to Palestine or the

United States. Some remained permanently; others returned to Germany

after the war".

Robert von Hirsch transferred his first-class collection from

Frankfurt/Main to Basel in 1933; he obtained the right to export it with a

 

1

 Impressionists, expressionists, fauvists, cubists, and surrealists.

2

 The rest was kept for "terror exhibitions" or destroyed.

3

 "The Role of Switzerland for Refugees" in The Muses Flee Hitler, edited by

Jarrel C. Jackman and Carla M. Borden, Washington, DC, 1983, p. 243
SWITZERLAND 343

present to Hermann Goering4. In 1941, he donated Gauguin’s major

work Te matete (1892) to the city of Basel in gratitude for accepting him

as a refugee. The Austrian painter, writer, and humanist Oskar

Kokoschka transited through Switzerland for his emigration from

Czechoslovakia to England in 1938. Another example is the Dutch art

dealer Nathan Katz who was able to flee to Switzerland, thanks to Swiss

mediation in 1941.5

4. LOOTED ART WORKS IN SWITZERLAND

In neutral and democratic Switzerland, the rule of law prevailed

during the whole period of World War II. As a result of closed borders,

trading or dealing with art works in Switzerland was difficult. As

indicated above, imports and exports of art works declined sharply

during the war. Nevertheless, objects were shipped to and through

Switzerland, for instance, by smuggling or through diplomatic pouches

of the German legation and consulates.

Indeed, some art dealers, among them Theodor Fischer, took

advantage of the situation and dealt with art of dubious origin. Fischer

sold looted objects to collector Emil G. Bührle, an industrialist living in

Zurich. Another well-known collector, Oskar Reinhart, in Winterthur

wanted to avoid entanglements through dubious dealings and devoted

great attention to the origin of the art works he was interested in

acquiring. In 1958, he bequeathed his collection to the Swiss

Confederation. In a study published in May 1998, the Federal Office of

Culture concluded that no object found in Reinhart's collection had been

acquired through illegal dealings.

5. Restitution efforts after World War II

The British Wing Commander and art historian Douglas Cooper,

who belonged to the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA)

branch of the Allied armed forces, was sent to Switzerland in February

1945 to investigate the matter of stolen art works. He traveled freely

 

4 Cranach’s Judgment of Paris. Cf. J.W.Wille in "Masterpieces" from the Robert

von Hirsch sale at Sotheby’s". London, 1978, p. 5.

5

 Cf. A. Venema, Kunsthandel in Nederland, 1940-1945, ("Art Dealing in the

Netherlands, 1940-1945"), pp. 254 ff.
344 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

through the country and spoke with all who had rank and names in art

dealing. His investigation led him to compile a list of 77 art works stolen

by the Nazis. Cooper’s list formed the basis for the looted-art suits before

the Swiss Supreme Court.

The Swiss federal government, aware of looted art works in

Europe, instituted special measures in order to return looted art works to

their rightful owners or their heirs: on 10 December 1945 and 22

February 1946, two Federal Council decrees initiated and facilitated the

process of restitution. The first decree remained in effect until 31

December 1947. A special looted-objects chamber of the Federal

Supreme Court was designated as the sole and exclusive authority

responsible for looted goods. The 77 stolen art works on Cooper's list

were recovered and subsequently returned to their owners. More than

half of the works belonged to the well-known Parisian art dealer Paul

Rosenberg and the rest to art dealers and collectors like the Parisian

Bernheim-Jeune and Levy de Benzion and a British citizen established in

Paris, Alphonse Kann. These paintings were bought by Theodor Fischer,

of which he resold 12 to Emil G. Bührle.

It must be assumed that the art works mentioned represent less

than the total number of stolen art objects sold in or having passed

through Switzerland during World War II. Since a number of such works

were sent to Switzerland by German diplomatic pouch, it remains very

difficult to estimate the number of unreported cases of looted art works

having ended up in or transited through Switzerland. However, in

relation to restitution problems other countries face today, it is safe to

assume that despite Switzerland's relatively important role as an art

market during the war, the number of stolen art works that might still be

located in Switzerland should be limited. Indeed, Marc Masurovsky, an

expert on the American safe-haven policy, asserts that after the war

thousands of paintings found their way from Europe to South and North

America.6 This seems confirmed by the number of art works of dubious

 

6

"American and British intelligence reports have detailed the presence of

substantial collections transiting through Cuba, Venezuela, and Argentina, en

route to the United States. According to American officials based in France in

1945 and 1946, export controls were so lax between Western Europe and the

Western Hemisphere that they held special meetings to figure out ways of

tightening them in order to prevent looted art from finding a safe haven in the

U.S. or Latin America. The closing down in late 1946 of Allied commissions

searching for looted art, the shift in priorities in the European theater from

reparations to reconstruction, the lack of highly skilled individuals to screen art

works bound for the Western Hemisphere in search of looted items, all these
SWITZERLAND 345

origin that emerged in the USA and may be hanging in American

museums or possessed by private collectors. Research on this topic has

just begun and should continue.

6. CURRENT RESEARCH EFFORTS

In the context of the present international debate on assets and

other questions dating from the World War II period, Switzerland has

taken concrete steps to clarify any open questions concerning looted art.

In August 1998, the Federal Office of Culture published a study

concluding that no object in collections belonging to the Swiss

Confederation was found which had been acquired through illegal

dealings. Another study on development of the Swiss art market between

1930 and 1955 will be published on 11 December 1998. In addition, the

Independent Commission of Experts "Switzerland – Second World War"

is mandated by the government to investigate this subject systematically

and comprehensively and will put it in a historical and international

context.

Furthermore, the Swiss authorities have taken concrete measures

to address the issue of stolen art. At the federal level and based on the

report drafted by the independent historian Thomas Buomberger, the

Federal Office of Culture (FOC) will accept, from mid-January 1999,

inquiries in connection with looted art dating from the period of World

War II. This "Contact Bureau for Looted Art" will serve mainly as a

contact office to register and pass on inquiries.

The FOC will examine possible inquiries that might affect the

federal collections. If cases of unlawful acquisition were identified in the

process, the possibility of restitution or compensation would have to be

clarified immediately.

Moreover, the FOC has invited the cantons and Swiss museums

to address the issue of looted art works and to check the provenance of

their collections as the federal authorities have already done.

Finally, the FOC is prepared to call upon other institutions or

organizations in Switzerland to comply with possible internationally

 

factors allow us to postulate that from August 1944 to July 1946, an untold

number of paintings and drawings – perhaps numbering in the thousand – found

their way out of Europe and into North and South American collections."

Testimony of Marc Masurovsky, before the Committee on Banking and

Financial Services. U.S. House of Representatives, 25 June 1997
346 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

agreed recommendations similar to guidelines of the American

Association of Art Museum Directors and to support those responsible

for implementing such recommendations, in particular with regard to

publishing lists.

All international research, inventory, and publication efforts

deserve our basic support. The same applies to opening all relevant

archives. In this respect, one has to note that access to files from the

federal inventory is granted liberally in Switzerland. These files are in

principle accessible up to 1963. As to access to other archives, we

strongly support all networking efforts at the national and international

level.

Switzerland welcomes the current efforts towards closer

cooperation in the context of looted art. It is in this spirit that the Swiss

delegation has played an active role in order to facilitate a consensus on

the 11 principles on restitution of Nazi looted art proposed at the

Washington Conference.

IV. HOLOCAUST EDUCATION, REMEMBRANCE, AND

RESEARCH

This century has produced more victims, more fallen soldiers,

more murdered citizens and slain civilians, more dislodged minorities,

more tortured people, more flayed and starved human beings, more

political prisoners, and more refugees than we even could have imagined.

Within this sad enumeration of atrocities, the Nazi crimes against

humanity are unparalleled. They remain the symbol of the most complete

denial of what we call humanity. As such, they stand before us as a

constant warning never to let history repeat itself.

As time goes by, this duty to remember takes on a new

dimension: As the Holocaust survivors are approaching the end of their

lives, the day will come when we will have no direct testimony at our

disposal anymore. It is therefore important to develop ways and means of

remembrance and sensitivity. The place where we are gathered today is a

perfect example of what is possible to pursue for this important purpose.

Remembering the Holocaust should not be seen as a way of

constantly looking back at the past but as an important basis for

discussion on issues relating to humanity, democracy, and equality, the

Holocaust being a reference or starting point. An intelligent and sensitive

way to do Holocaust teaching has much to tell us about tolerance, about

freedom, about peace, about ourselves.
SWITZERLAND 347

Switzerland is committed to this effort towards the future. This is

also the reason why the Swiss delegation has proposed an important

initiative to the States gathered at the Conference: The Swiss Delegation

has invited the participants in the Washington Conference on HolocaustEra Assets to welcome, during the concluding plenary session, the Swiss

government's proposal to host a governmental conference on the fight

against use of the Internet for racist, anti-Semitic, or hate purposes.

In recent years, the Internet has considerably developed. The

web acts as a media, discussion forum, educational tool, and market

place. However, the Internet is also used – or rather abused – as a most

favored means of propaganda, in particular by racist and anti-Semitic

activists, many of whom disseminate the "Auschwitz lie" theory. This is

all the more worrying as the web appeals to and is used by younger

generations.

As a concrete example, we can mention the plagiarism of the

Swedish "Living History" project web site. Those who deny the

Holocaust have recently set up an almost identical home page in order to

spread their revisionist message by creating confusion.

More generally, the Swiss Federal Police recorded 700 racist,

anti-Semitic, or revisionist websites in 1997. None was based in

Switzerland, as dissemination of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda is

strictly forbidden in our country. However, as the Internet has no

borders, prohibition in specific countries is not a viable solution, for hate

propaganda can be disseminated via foreign providers and anonymous

parties. The need for international cooperation in this field is thus

obvious.

While we are discussing Holocaust remembrance and education,

the Swiss delegation wishes to stress the importance of preventing

distribution of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda through the Internet:

more and more youngsters use the Internet every day as a primary source

of information and as an educational tool. As such, it is a critical task for

every nation to contain the spread of hate propaganda on the web.

This Conference carries a huge moral burden. While work in the

fields of remembrance and education is essential, the Conference should

go further. In our opinion: this Conference shall send an important

signal: A signal showing that the participants will not allow use of new

technologies to deny a past that should never be repeated.

Switzerland and World War II:

A General Presentation

1. A wide-spread image depicted Switzerland during World War

II as an island in continental Europe preserved from Nazi terror and war

devastation by divine providence. It is hardly necessary to say that such

an image does not correspond to reality.

Lying at the crossroads of big powers of continental Europe,

Switzerland had a centuries-long experience of avoiding implication in

wars. As a matter of fact, military, political and economic factors - and

not divine providence - preserved the territorial integrity of the country,

its democratic institutions, its democratic values, its cultural variety and

the life of the about 300,000 refugees admitted, including 28,000 of

Jewish confession. Up to 450,000 men served simultaneously in the Swiss

Army, which corresponded to more then 10 percent of the population. They

were ready to resist to any foreign military attack. The German General

Staff had prepared detailed operations plans for attacking Switzerland, as

those known under the code name of Tannenbaum.

If Switzerland was not preserved by divine providence but by a

series of man-made factors, we should add it was, indeed, not an island.

There was no ocean between this little democratic country of 4 million

inhabitants and Europe dominated by the Axis powers, their Allies and

the countries they occupied (see map of Europe in early 1943). Or, using

Undersecretary Eizenstat's words: "Alone among the neutrals,

Switzerland was totally encircled by the Axis powers and the countries

they occupied."

2. Switzerland's economy was very useful for Germany. First of

all, we should not forget that Germany was Switzerland's main trade

partner since long before World War II. These economic relations

subsisting during the war were not in contradiction with the longstanding

neutrality status of Switzerland recognized by international law.

Switzerland had no choice but to deal economically with its potential

aggressor in order to maintain its independence. This policy was simply a

non-heroic way to survive.

The commercial links with Germany did not make Switzerland

richer: real national income diminished considerably between 1939 and
350 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

1945. But they raise an important question: did they contribute to

prolong World War II? Apart from the impossibility to answer this

question on a scientific-historical basis, we have to consider the

quantitative data and keep the sense of proportion. Gold sold by the

German Reichsbank to the Swiss banks amounted to 0.1 percent of the

Reich's total war costs. Swiss war material sold to Germany amounted to

a percent still less important. Gold and war material operations were

conducted with both belligerent camps.

3. The rise of German power in Europe had a dampening effect on

export trade relations for Switzerland, a land short of raw materials and

energy. It meant an increasing economic dependence on its trade partner,

thereby increasing Switzerland's exposure to German blackmail according

to the prevailing military and political situation. Despite these extremely

difficult conditions, the scope of trade transacted with the Allies amounted

to one third of that carried out with the Axis. By the way, Berlin repeatedly

demanded that Bern completely sever these economic ties. Without

success.

In consequence, Switzerland was in a highly difficult position

until the end of 1944, when France was completely freed. But even in

April 1945, a powerful German army was still occupying Northern Italy,

at the Southern border of Switzerland. The Swiss were sensitive to the

catastrophe under way out of their borders. They demonstrated from 1944

concrete and material solidarity with European countries hit by the war:

the Swiss donation to war victims consecrated about 200 million Swiss

francs to relief projects and to the hospitalization in Switzerland of more

than 10,000 victims of the war. This important effort was acknowledged

by the US Government, which, in a document from 19501, stated:

"Switzerland’s economic contribution to European recovery, begun

before the Marshall Plan was inaugurated, has been substantial. Since

the end of the war the Swiss Government has extended over

$187,000,000 in credits to other ERP countries. Additional private

credits from Swiss banks come to approximately an equal amount.

Coupled with purely charitable gifts for international relief and welfare,

Switzerland’s aggregate contribution to European relief and

rehabilitation amounts to half a billion dollars, a significant sum for a

small country whose total yearly national income is less than $4 billion.“

 

1 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, Volume III, p. 1586.
SWITZERLAND 351

4. In the last two years, distorted views of Switzerland and its

people were disseminated by some media. According to one critic

accusation, the Swiss were said to have had great sympathy towards the

Nazis. If this had been true, the country would have been easily annexed

to the Third Reich. In the Foreword of his Second historical report,

Undersecretary Stuart Eizenstat underlines the historical truth: "The

Swiss people were overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Allies, even

against the backdrop of Switzerland's strict neutrality".

* * *

5. After the end of the war, Switzerland assumed its

responsibilities on several issues. The gold claims were definitely settled

with the Allies here in Washington. German assets were liquidated in

conformity with agreements concluded with the Allies in 1946 and 1952.

Legal dispositions concerning the return of looted assets to their rightful

owners and concerning heirless assets were taken. However, as

elsewhere, the United States of America included, these measures were

taken in the spirit of the postwar period, and their implementation was

not perfect.

6. During the past two years, Switzerland took a series of

measures in the spirit of truth, justice and solidarity.

• First, as an expression of solidarity and thanks to

contributions from Swiss banks, private-sector companies,

and the Swiss National Bank, the Swiss Fund for Needy

Victims of the Holocaust was set up to support needy

survivors of the Holocaust and their families. The Fund was

endowed with approximately $200 million. Thus far, over

$26.7 million has been paid to more than 30,000 Holocaust

victims. Of the remaining funds, about $37.1 million are

already granted for payment, mainly to survivors in the

USA. Additional applications totaling SFr. 7 million ($5.10

million) are pending. A further installment of about $60

million will be paid to the WJRO in Jerusalem for needy

Holocaust survivors in Israel as soon as a distribution

channel is made available.

• Second, an International Independent

Commission of Experts is examining historical and legal

aspects of Switzerland’s role as a financial center before,
352 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

during, and after the war years. The Commission has

released an intermediate report on the Swiss National Bank’s

gold transactions. A second intermediate report on refugee

policy is to be published in 1999.

• Third, the Swiss Bankers’ Association published

in July and October 1997 several lists of names of foreign

and Swiss holders of unclaimed accounts. More than 16,500

people have registered and lodged claims to date on lists of

foreign holders of dormant accounts. Moreover, the Swiss

banks set up an independent Claims Resolution

Foundation to provide an international and objective forum

to adjudicate claims on dormant accounts of foreigners from

the period prior to 1945. Up to 15 Swiss and foreign

arbitrators with experience in international adjudication

preside over a fast-track procedure to hear claims cost-free to

the claimants under relaxed standards of proof that recognize

the difficulty of presenting evidence under the tragic

circumstances of the Holocaust and World War II. As a

concrete result, the first 58 payments of dormant accounts

were made by the end of September 1998. Settlement of all

claims could occur within a year.

• Fourth, a Committee of Eminent Persons

headed by Paul Volcker was set up in May 1996. Its

mandate is to investigate all unclaimed assets in Swiss banks

by Nazi victims which have not yet been identified. The

Committee’s objective is to complete the major elements of

its investigation by the end of this year. The final report is to

be released in 1999.

• Fifth, another project bears witness to

Switzerland's commitment to strengthen our humanitarian

tradition and solidarity: the Swiss Foundation for Solidarity,

with a planned annual budget of several hundred million

Swiss francs. The main purpose of the Swiss Foundation for

Solidarity is to contribute to a future in human dignity,

including for those suffering from or threatened by poverty

or violence, in Switzerland and abroad.
SWITZERLAND 353

Finally, in connection with the discussion on Switzerland’s role

during and immediately after World War II, Swiss citizens have

expressed their solidarity and, in keeping with the humanitarian tradition

of our country, offered proof of it through various campaigns.

The Solidarity Association/Foundation for Holocaust

Victims: an initiative of a high school in Berne. Since the beginning of

1997, more than SFr. 140,000 have been donated and presented to relief

agencies that care for Holocaust victims. An example: a gift of SFr.

50,000 to the AMCHA (National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support

of Survivors of the Holocaust and the Second Generation)

Foundation for Humanity and Justice: Collected SFr. 2

million for needy victims of the Nazi regime and their descendents.

Individuals and projects were previously supported by SFr. 800,000.

Fund in Favor of Holocaust Survivors and Jewish People in

Distress: Mobilized resources for Holocaust survivors and their

descendents (SFr. 270,000).

With these measures, Switzerland has shown that it is not

suppressing its past but rather learning from it, as we work toward a

future of peace and solidarity. We are fully committed to righting the

wrongs that may have been done with these appropriate moral and

financial answers.

* * *

7. In May 1998, Under Secretary Stuart Eizenstat acclaimed

the Swiss efforts: "No country is undertaking more comprehensive

research than Switzerland through its historical commission headed by

Professor Jean-François Bergier. (...) Switzerland continues to take the

lead among the wartime neutral nations in the commitment it has made

to provide justice in concrete ways. It is important to recognize, amidst

all the criticism and controversy, the breadth and depth of the Swiss

effort".

Three months later, a settlement was agreed upon in New York

between plaintiffs and the two Swiss banks concerned by Class actions.

It is our sincere hope that following this settlement, a just distribution

plan can be established shortly and that the Holocaust victims will soon

benefit from those payments. We appreciate that this settlement has in

general led to a fairer and less polemic debate about Switzerland's past.
354 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

We hope that such a fairness, which we have always asked for, will be

respected in the future.

The Bank's settlement does in no way affect the strong

determination of the Swiss Government and the Swiss people to

pursue the implementation of the measures of truth, justice and

solidarity.
Switzerland’s Role in the Trade of Art Works

Stolen by the Nazis

1. SITUATION AT THE OUTSET

Given its location in the heart of Europe, its highly developed

infrastructure and good international connections, Switzerland has been

an important art market since the end of World War I. It experienced a

peak in 1920 when art works valued at about SFr. 11 million were

imported. Although imports of art works declined in the following years,

the Swiss art market participated in the boom of the 1920s with annual

import values between SFr. 4 and 7 million. Like the entire economy, art

dealing was greatly affected by the Depression of the 1930s. During

World War II, borders were closed, and imports as well as exports of art

works declined sharply, with import values of between SFr. 1.9 million

in 1939 and SFr. 219,000 in 1945 and export values between SFr.

1,142,000 and SFr. 16,000. Even in the 1950s, import values of art

objects did not attain the level of the 1920s.

2. "DEGENERATE" ART IN GERMANY SOLD ABROAD

With Hitler's accession to power, many art works and artists

were considered "degenerate"1 by the Nazi regime. Following a decree

issued by Goebbels on 30 June 1937, the "degenerate" art works could be

removed from German public museums, and the most valuable of them

could be sold abroad on the international market in exchange for foreign

currencies.2

Such a sale took place in Switzerland on 30 June 1939 at the

Grand Hôtel National in Lucerne when the internationally known Galerie

Fischer put up for auction 126 paintings and sculptures by great modern

masters removed from the German public museums: Braque, van Gogh,

Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Kokoschka, and 31 other artists. Out of the 350

people who were invited, 40 bought two thirds of the art works. The

 

1

 Impressionists, expressionists, fauvists, cubists, and surrealists.

2

 The rest was kept for "terror exhibitions" or destroyed.
356 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

works were mainly sold to buyers from Switzerland, Belgium, and the

United States.

3. SWITZERLAND, A SAFE-HAVEN FOR ENDANGERED ART

WORKS AND ARTISTS

Before and during World War II, Switzerland became a secure

deposit location, either temporarily or permanently, for endangered art

works and artists. Stephanie Barron (Los Angeles County Museum of

Art) wrote with reference to Helmut F. Pfanner3:

"After Hitler’s rise to power, neutral

Switzerland became a haven, albeit temporarily, for

German artists (and collectors who emigrated to keep

their collections intact), writers, musicians, actors,

theatrical directors, and other refugees. Many settled in

Swiss cities, hoping to pursue their careers with

relatively little disruption. Some stayed only long enough

to make arrangements to emigrate elsewhere in Europe

or to Palestine or the United States. Some remained

permanently; others returned to Germany after the war".

Robert von Hirsch transferred his first-class collection from

Frankfurt/Main to Basel in 1933; he obtained the right to export it with a

present to Hermann Goering4. In 1941, he donated Gauguin’s major

work Te matete (1892) to the city of Basel in gratitude for accepting him

as a refugee. The Austrian painter, writer, and humanist Oskar

Kokoschka transited through Switzerland for his emigration from

Czechoslovakia to England in 1938. Another example is the Dutch art

dealer Nathan Katz who was able to flee to Switzerland, thanks to Swiss

mediation in 1941.5

 

3

 "The Role of Switzerland for Refugees" in The Muses Flee Hitler edited by

Jarrel C. Jackman and Carla M. Borden, Washington, DC, 1983, p. 243

4 Cranach’s Judgment of Paris. Cf. J.W.Wille in "Masterpieces" from the Robert

von Hirsch sale at Sotheby’s". London, 1978, p. 5.

5

 Cf. A. Venema, Kunsthandel in Nederland, 1940-1945, ("Art Dealing in the

Netherlands, 1940-1945"), pp. 254 ff.
SWITZERLAND 357

4. LOOTED ART WORKS IN SWITZERLAND

In neutral and democratic Switzerland, the rule of law prevailed

during the whole period of World War II. As a result of closed borders,

trading or dealing with art works in Switzerland was difficult. As

indicated before, imports and exports of art works declined sharply

during the war. Nevertheless, objects were shipped to and through

Switzerland, for instance, by smuggling or through diplomatic pouches

of the German legation and consulates.

Indeed, some art dealers, among them Theodor Fischer, took

advantage of the situation and dealt with art of dubious origin. Fischer

sold some looted objects to collector Emil G. Bührle, a rich industrialist

living in Zurich. Another well-known collector, Oskar Reinhart, in

Winterthur wanted to avoid entanglements through dubious dealings and

devoted great attention to the origin of the art works he was interested in

acquiring. In 1958 he bequeathed his collection to the Swiss

Confederation. In its study published in May 1998, the Federal Office of

Culture concluded that no object found in the Reinhart's collection had

been acquired through illegal dealings.

5. RESTITUTION EFFORTS AFTER WORLD WAR II

At the end of the war, the British Wing Commander and art

historian Douglas Cooper, who belonged to the Monuments, Fine Arts,

and Archives (MFAA) branch of the Allied armed forces, was sent to

Switzerland in February 1945 in order to investigate the matter of stolen

art works. He traveled freely through the country and spoke with all who

had rank and names in art dealing. His investigation led him to compile a

list of 77 art works stolen by the Nazis. Cooper’s list formed the basis for

the looted-art suits before the Swiss Supreme Court.

The Swiss federal government, aware of plundering of art works

in Europe, instituted the following measures in order to restitute looted

art works to their rightful owners or their heirs: on 10 December 1945

and 22 February 1946, two Federal Council decrees initiated a process to

restitute stolen art works. The first one remained in effect until 31

December 1947. The looted-objects chamber of the Federal Supreme

Court was designated as the sole and exclusive authority responsible for

looted objects. The 77 stolen art works on Cooper's list were recovered

and subsequently restored to their owners. More than half of the works

belonged to the well-known Parisian art dealer Paul Rosenberg and the
358 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

others to art dealers and collectors like the Parisian Bernheim-Jeune and

Levy de Benzion and a British citizen established in Paris, Alphonse

Kann. These paintings were bought by Theodor Fischer from whom Emil

G. Bührle acquired 12 of them.

These art works do not represent the whole amount of stolen art

objects sold in Switzerland during World War II. Since a number of them

were sent to Switzerland by German diplomatic pouch, it remains very

difficult to estimate how many other looted art works ended up in or

transited through Switzerland. However, in relation to problems related

to restitution that other countries face today, it is safe to assume that

despite Switzerland's relatively important role in the art market during

the war, the number of stolen art works that might still be located in

Switzerland should be limited. Indeed, Marc Masurovsky, one of the

best-known experts on the American safe-haven policy, asserts that after

the war thousands of paintings found their way from Europe to South and

North America.6 This seems confirmed by the number of art works of

dubious origin that emerged in the USA and may be hanging in

American museums or possessed by private collectors. Research on this

topic has just begun and should be investigated further.

 

6

"American and British intelligence reports have detailed the presence of

substantial collections transiting through Cuba, Venezuela, and Argentina, en

route to the United States. According to American officials based in France in

1945 and 1946, export controls were so lax between Western Europe and the

Western Hemisphere, that they held special meetings to figure out ways of

tightening them in order to prevent looted art from finding a safehaven in the

U.S. or Latin America. The closing down in late 1946 of Allied commissions

searching for looted art, the shift in priorities in the European theater from

reparations to reconstruction, the lack of highly skilled individuals to screen art

works bound for the Western Hemisphere in search of looted items, all these

factors allow us to postulate that from August 1944 to July 1946, an untold

number of paintings and drawings – perhaps numbering in the thousand – found

their way out of Europe and into North and South American collections."

Testimony of Marc Masurovsky, before the Committee on Banking and

Financial Services. U.S. House of Representatives, 25 June 1997
SWITZERLAND 359

6. CURRENT RESEARCH EFFORTS

In the context of the present international debate on assets and

other questions dating from the World War II period, Switzerland has

taken concrete steps to clarify any open questions on looted art: the

Federal Office of Culture already published in August 1998 a study

concluding that no object in collections belonging to the Swiss

Confederation was found which had been acquired through illegal

dealings. Another study on the development of the Swiss art market

between 1930 and 1955 will be published on 11 December 1998. In

addition, the Independent Commission of Experts "Switzerland – Second

World War" is mandated by the government to investigate this subject

systematically and comprehensively and will put it in a historical and

international context.

Concrete steps have also been taken: At the Federal level and

based on the Buomberger report, the Federal Office of Culture (BAK)

will accept, from mid-January 1999, inquiries in connection with looted

art dating from the period of World War II. This "Contact Bureau for

Looted Art" will serve mainly as a contact office to register and pass on

inquiries.

Possible inquiries that might affect the Federal collections will

be examined by the Office. If cases of unlawful acquisition were

identified in the process, the possibility of restitution or compensation

would have to be clarified immediately.

Moreover, the Federal Office of Culture has invited the Cantons

and the Swiss Museums to address the issue of looted art works and to

check the provenance of their collections as the Federal authorities have

already done.

Furthermore, the Federal Office of Culture is prepared to call

upon other institutions or organizations in Switzerland to comply with

possible internationally agreed recommendations similar to the

guidelines of the American Association of Art Museum Directors and to

support those responsible for implementing such recommendations, in

particular with regard to publishing lists.

All international research, inventory and publication efforts

deserve our basic support. The same applies to opening all relevant

archives. Here I wish to note that access to files from the Federal

inventory is granted liberally in Switzerland. These files are in principle

accessible up to 1963. As to the access to other archives, we strongly

support all networking efforts at the national and international level.

Teaching Tolerance

Initiatives to Promote Educational, Cultural and Political

Tolerance in Switzerland

November 1998

INTRODUCTION

The heat and acrimony that permeated the controversy about

Switzerland's role before, during and after World War II have largely

died down. We hope that the nation can now get down to examining this

period of its history in the necessary calm and with the commitment that

this task requires. The most important issue is to find out the truth, while

bearing in mind that truth within the framework of history is always

more complex than simple scientific truth. Both the Swiss government

and parliament have expressed the firm wish that questions should be

asked openly, investigated thoroughly and with the maximum

transparency, and answered without reservations. This task is essential; it

is in the interests of our country, especially of future generations.

The results of the Commission of Independent Experts (Bergier

Commission) will make an important contribution to this process. It is

essential that its findings are discussed as widely as possible among the

Swiss public, and especially among the younger generation. It is

important that the discussions cover both the negative as well as the

numerous positive aspects of the Swiss response.

However, this wide-ranging dialogue should not deal only with

the past. Even though Switzerland was largely spared the unspeakable

horrors of the Second World War, it shares with other nations an

obligation to remember and to remain alert, so that such a tragedy can

never happen again. To this end, a large number of initiatives in the areas

of culture and education have already been taken in Switzerland - a

country which has long been the home of communities with different

languages and faiths. This document lists and briefly describes these
362 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

initiatives, some of which are of long-standing. They have been selected

on the basis of their particular relevance to current efforts to reappraise

our history and to generate more awareness of the importance of

promoting tolerance and the fight against racism and anti-Semitism.

POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS

• In 1997, a number of federal parliamentarians including the

President and the Vice-President of the Swiss Confederation set up a

group against anti-Semitism.

This multi-party group is committed to and supports activities

against anti-Semitism both in politics and society.

• On 14 May 1998, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Flavio

Cotti, gave a major policy speech entitled Tolerance in a

Democracy at the National Congress of Teachers and

Educationalists in Zurich.

This speech, which condemned all forms of racism, anti-Semitism

and intolerance as counter to Swiss secular values, had a strong

impact in the media and on the public.

• During 1998, as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the

Swiss constitution, a traveling exhibition entitled Tolerance 98, a

game with limits is touring all the different linguistic regions of

Switzerland.

This multi-lingual exhibition invites viewers to analyze the topic of

tolerance for themselves. Stands, stories, pictures, listening stations,

interactive experiments, workshops, framework events and an

illustrated multi-lingual magazine as well as live and Internet

discussions supplement and accompany the exhibition. *More

information is available on: http://www.tolerance.ch
SWITZERLAND 363

• On 18 November 1998, the Vice-President of the Swiss

Confederation, Ruth Dreifuss, inaugurated the exhibition Visas for

Life in Bern.

This exhibition shows for the first time in Switzerland how the Swiss

consul Carl Lutz, the police captain, Paul Grüninger, and a dozen

other courageous diplomats from Germany, China, Holland, Italy,

Japan, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary and the USA saved persecuted

people from the Nazi gas chambers. Together these courageous

people saved between 150,000 and 200,000 people, many of them

Jews. *The exhibition will last until 2 December 1998.

• In June 1998, an exhibition Les chemins de passage (Escape

routes) was opened in Geneva.

This meticulously presented exhibition, illustrates the clandestine

routes through which "guides" led refugees towards Switzerland –

the last remaining haven of liberty on the continent. The exhibition

has also been mounted in other cities throughout Switzerland.

• The Lutz-Born-Wallenberg monument is due to be unveiled soon

in front of the House of Human Rights in Geneva.

It will honor three exceptional people who distinguished themselves

helping refugees during the Second World War. A monument

commemorating the gratitude of refugees who were admitted into

Switzerland during the Second World War may also be erected in

Geneva at the initiative of a group of these refugees.

• A number of cinemas, including the Kellerkino in Bern, have shown

a series of films on the theme Jewish Stories.

We mention, in particular, the showing of the film by Walo Deuber

Spuren verschwinden, Nachträge ins Europäische Gedächtnis,

which, as its title indicates, traces the important history of Jewish

culture in Eastern Europe.

• A traveling exhibition, entitled Swiss Jews, is currently shown across

the country.
364 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

This exhibition presents the origin and diversity of the history of the

Jews in Switzerland.

• Last but not least, a project for a Center for Tolerance, initiated by a

Jewish-Gentile committee is well under way.

The idea is to present the issues of tolerance, combating racism and

anti-Semitism, and to promote coexistence with a focus on the

Holocaust. The Center would house a permanent exhibition and

would also organize temporary exhibitions, seminars and

conferences. It would target on schools, teachers, youth associations,

as well as be open to the general public. The project is planned to be

completed in two to three years. The Center will probably be located

in Bern.

INITIATIVES AND PROJECTS IN EDUCATION

Sociological, historical and educational background material

• "Le rôle de la Suisse durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale,

Bibliographie choisie", ("Switzerland's role during the Second

World War, selected bibliography"), published by the Federal

Office of Culture, 1997.

This exhaustive 227-page bibliography on Switzerland during WWII

presents various works on topics such as refugee policy, dormant

accounts, Switzerland’s relations with Germany and with the Allies,

Switzerland's defense army, and domestic policy. This volume

stresses the educational aspects of the works it lists as well as on

their particular relevance. It contains brief summaries of their

contents and critical reviews. It is useful to anyone interested in

these subjects and especially to teachers and researchers.

• Medienpaket Rassismus (Media package on racism)

This new set of teaching materials on racism, anti-Semitism and

tolerance was launched in April 1998 by the Foundation for

Education and Tolerance, the foundation against racism and antiSemitism, and the Pestalozzianum Center in Zurich. It consists of

modern educational material, and includes a basic manual and a file
SWITZERLAND 365

of teaching materials and aids, as well as a video on the topic of

racism and tolerance entitled Colors of Schweiz. It is intended for

secondary school teachers, who have been familiarized with it at

special seminars, and is being progressively distributed throughout

schools in German-speaking Switzerland. It has been so successful

that projects are now under way to adapt it to Switzerland's other

national languages, French and Italian.

• "Geschichte des Judaismus in der Schweiz" ("History of

Judaism in Switzerland")

This work will be published by the specialist publisher of educational

and school publications, Lehrmittelverlag.

• "Anti-Semitism in Switzerland"

This is a report on past and current manifestations of anti-Semitism,

with recommendations for counter-measures.

It was published in November 1998, in French, German, Italian and

English by the Swiss Federal Commission against Racism. The AntiDefamation League in New York called the report "Honest, Hardhitting and realistic". ADL national Director Abraham H. Foxman,

further said: "The Swiss report should serve as a model for countries

confronting their problems with anti-Semitism. We hope other

nations and institutions will follow the Swiss example as they

examine their wartime role and anti-Semitism in their society"

• "Le Livre Noir et Blanc" ("The Black and White Book")

This book, aimed at primary school pupils, is accompanied by a

teaching manual "Tous différends, tous égaux" ("All different, all

equal").

It was produced and published in 1993 by three associations: la

Déclaration de Berne (The Bern Declaration), le Comité suisse pour

l'UNICEF (The Swiss Committee for UNICEF), and le Service écoletiers monde (The Service for Schools and the Third- World).
366 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

• "Odyssea: Accueils et approches interculturelles" ("Odyssea:

Intercultural Welcomes and Approches")

This reference manual on intercultural teaching methods, including

preventing racism was written by the educationalist, Christiane

Perregaux, and published in 1994 in French, German and Italian by

la Commission romande des moyens d'enseignement et

d'apprentissage (the French-speaking Swiss Commission on methods

of teaching and learning). It is used in Schools throughout

Switzerland.

• "Rassistische Vorfälle in der Schweiz, eine Chronologie und eine

Einschätzung" ("Incidents of racism in Switzerland, a

chronology and evaluation"), published annually by the

Gesellschaft Minderheiten in der Schweiz (The Society of Minorities

in Switzerland) and the Foundation against Racism.

This work contains detailed accounts of incidents and other

information concerning racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism that

have occurred during the past year. It gives statistics on legal

proceedings, based on Art. 261 bis of the Swiss Penal Code (the antiracist law), brought against such acts, and on the resulting

judgments. It also contains research-based findings on how to

prevent such incidents.

• Summarized version of the Interim Report by the Independent

Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War on

Gold transactions in Switzerland during WWII

The Swiss Government has decided to publish the main points of the

Bergier Interim Report on gold transactions in the form of a free

booklet. This booklet will be published in German, French, Italian

and English. It will provide an account of this important

investigation, and will be easily accessible to a wide public.

• "Die Schweiz im Zweitem Weltkrieg" ("Switzerland during the

Second World War")

The editors of the Journal of Swiss Teachers are planning to devote

an edition of their Journal to the subject of Switzerland and the

Second World War.
SWITZERLAND 367

This special edition, intended for teachers, will contain researchbased contributions on various subjects related to Switzerland and

the Second World War, and will include a chapter on teaching about

the Holocaust. Each chapter will be accompanied by notes giving

advice and teaching ideas.

• "Aussenpolitik, Die Schweiz in der Welt von heute und morgen,

1997" ("Foreign policy, Switzerland in today’s and tomorrow’s

world, 1997")

This school text book on Swiss foreign policy, edited by the Swiss

Foreign Policy Society in conjunction with the Conférence des

Directeurs cantonaux de l'instruction publique (CDIP) (Swiss

Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education), is aimed at students

at secondary schools. It contains a chapter devoted to the discussions

of Switzerland's role before, during and after the Second World War.

At the end of 1998, the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of

Education studied the question of teaching the issues of the

Holocaust and tolerance at its annual general meeting. In particular,

it recalled its 1991 Déclaration sur l'enseignement à la tolérance

(Declaration on the Teaching of Tolerance), as well as the report

"Racisme et école" (Racism and Schools) of its educational

commission."

• List of refugees admitted into Switzerland during World War II

(to be published)

The Swiss government is planning to publish an exhaustive list of the

51,000 or more civilian refugees who were admitted into Switzerland

between 1939 and 1945.

Awards and Prizes

• Fischhof Prize

This prize (named after a WWII refugee in Switzerland) rewards

institutions or individuals who have distinguished themselves in

fighting racism, xenophobia or anti-Semitism. It is awarded by the
368 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

"Gesellschaft Minderheiten in der Schweiz" (Society of Minorities in

Switzerland) and the Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism.

• Max und Erika Gideon School Prize

This prize rewards school pupils and teachers who have

distinguished themselves in fighting racism, xenophobia or antiSemitism. It is awarded by the "Gesellschaft Minderheiten in der

Schweiz" and the Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism.

Other recent initiatives and studies

• Working Group on the fight against racism and anti-Semitism on the

Web

The Swiss federal authorities together with Internet providers in

Switzerland have just set up a working group to study the problem of

racism on the Internet. This aims to contribute to the fight against

the dissemination (mostly from abroad) of racist or pornographic

pages on the Web. The Working Group will present a list of joint

proposals at the beginning of 1999.

• Exchange programs and seminars

Numerous exchange programs for teachers and pupils have taken

place. The last one involved 27 intermediate-school teachers from

the French-speaking part of Switzerland, who attended a continuingeducation seminar at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Center in

Jerusalem.

Besides field trips and visits to memorials, the program included

seminars and presentations on the history of Judaism, anti-Semitism

and the Holocaust, as well as on current forms of anti-Semitism.

Teachers learned to teach the subject of the Holocaust to children,

and to adapt their methodolgy to various age groups. Contacts with

Holocaust survivors who talked about their experiences, made a

deep impression on the Swiss teachers. This program showed that

teaching history is not simply a matter of presenting facts but must

also touch on the issue of human suffering. The participants received

specific teaching material on this subject.
SWITZERLAND 369

• Various events at schools and universities have been set up to

generate awareness about the problems of racism, xenophobia

and anti-Semitism.

These include lectures given by Holocaust survivors and visits to

extermination camps in Germany and Poland. In September 1997,

the Central Office of Continuing Education for Teachers in Bern

organized a seminar called: "Switzerland and the Second World

War", at which more than 100 teachers participated. On 2 March

1998, a meeting of Swiss and Israeli students entitled On the

threshold of a new century enabled the participants to discuss the

subject of the Holocaust, its significance and its dimensions.

• A seminar on anti-Semitism organized for history and philosophy

teachers by the Coopération Intercommunautaire contre

l'antisémitisme et la Diffamation (CICAD) (Committee against AntiSemitism and Defamation) was held in the summer of 1998.

• An international colloquium on the subject of racism and antiSemitism was held at the Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne

in October 1998.

More than 100 people attended, several of whom were specialists

from Eastern European countries which are confronted with acute

problems of intolerance and even inter-ethnic violence. In her

opening address, the Vice-President of the Swiss Federal Council,

Ruth Dreifuss declared the fight against racism a permanent task of

the state, and emphasized that society must maintain a constant

guard against it.

• Evaluation studies on teaching methods for the prevention of

racism and anti-Semitism

Two studies on preventing xenophobia, racism and violence were

conducted in 1995 and 1997 among selected groups of 17 to 19 yearold students from Swiss vocational schools in Switzerland.

The projects focused on tolerance and understanding of asylum

seekers and their situation, on the role of foreign workers in

Switzerland, and on increasing awareness of both the Jewish

religion and the Holocaust. One of the main conclusions of these
370 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

projects was that direct contact with people who have first-hand

experience of suffering is the most effective way of changing

attitudes because it appeals more to pupils' hearts than to their

minds.

• In 1996, the Federal Commission against Racism launched a media

campaign called Der Schöne Schein (Fine Appearances), to fight

racism and anti-Semitism.

This campaign, which aimed to teach tolerance and prevent racism,

received the Gold Medal of the United Nations Department of Public

Information, as well as the Swiss Art Directors Club prize for the

best campaign of the year.

• Between July and August 1997, a six-part documentary series

entitled Die Schweiz im Schatten des Dritten Reichs (Switzerland

in the shadow of the Third Reich), produced by the German

television channel DRS was broadcasted on Swiss national

television.

BODIES, FOUNDATIONS AND OTHERS NGOS ACTIVE IN THIS

FIELD (NON-EXHAUSTIVE):

• Federal Commission against Racism

• Stiftung gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus

• Gesellschaft Minderheiten in der Schweiz

• Stiftung Erziehung zur Toleranz

• Coopération Intercommunautaire contre l'antisémitisme et

la Diffamation (CICAD).

• Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme

(LICRA)

• Stiftung Bildung und Entwcklung

• Akademie der Menschenrechte

• Christlich-Jüdische Arbeitsgemeinschaft

• Centre contact Suisse-Immigrés

• Forum contre le racisme

• Institut für Unterrichtsfragen und Lehrerinnenfortbildung

• Komitee "Stop dem Rassismus"
SWITZERLAND 371

• Service d'information antiraciste

• Zentrum für Antisemitismus-Forschung

• SOS Racisme

• Association romande contre le racisme (ACOR)

• Asylkoordination Schweiz

• Bewegung für eine offene demokratische Schweiz

• Konfliktophon

• Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund – Kontaktstelle

Menschenrechte

• TiKK – SOS – Team für interkulturelle Konflikte unf Gewalt

• Déclaration de Berne

• Comité suisse pour l'UNICEF

• Service école Suisse Tiers-monde

Proposal on the Fight Against the Use of the

Internet for Racist, Anti-Semitic or Hate

Purposes

The Swiss Delegation would like to invite the participants in the

Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets to welcome, during the

concluding plenary session, the Swiss government's proposal to host a

governmental conference on the fight against the use of the Internet for

racist, anti-Semitic or hate purposes.

• The Washington Conference represents an important

milestone in the discussion about Holocaust remembrance

and education. However, this duty to remember the

Holocaust should not only be seen as a way of looking back

to the past, but as an important basis for promoting tolerance

for the future.

• The Internet has become an invaluable tool for students,

educators, the media and the market-place. However, it has

also provided a platform for racist, anti-Semitic, and

revisionist activists, many of which disseminate the

"Auschwitz lie" theory. This is all the more worrying as the

web appeals to and is used by younger generations.

• More generally, the Swiss Federal police recorded 700

racist, anti-Semitic or revisionist websites in 1997. None was

based in Switzerland, as the dissemination of racist and antiSemitic propaganda is strictly forbidden in our country.

However, as the Internet has no borders, prohibition in

specific countries is not a viable solution, for hate

propaganda can be disseminated via foreign providers and

anonymizers. The need for international cooperation in this

field is thus obvious.

• While we are discussing here Holocaust remembrance and

education, the Swiss delegation wishes to stress the
374 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

importance of preventing the distribution of racist and antiSemitic propaganda through the Internet: more and more

youngsters use the Internet every day as a primary source of

information and as an educational tool. As such, it is a

critical task for every nation to contain the spread of hate

propaganda on the web.

• This Conference carries a huge moral weight. While work in

the fields of remembrance and education is essential, the

Conference should go further. In our opinion, this

Conference could send an important signal: A signal

showing that the participants will not allow the use of new

technologies in order to deny a past that should never repeat.

SWISS PROPOSAL FOR THE CHAIRMAN'S CONCLUDING

REMARKS

"THE PARTICIPANTS WELCOMED THE SWISS

GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSAL TO HOST A GOVERNMENTAL

CONFERENCE ON THE FIGHT AGAINST THE USE OF THE

INTERNET FOR RACIST, ANTI-SEMITIC OR HATE PURPOSES".
INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF EXPERTS

“SWITZERLAND – SECOND WORLD WAR”

The Swiss Insurance Industry during the

Second World War:

Research Issues – Initial Results – Perspectives

1. GENERAL QUESTIONS

Contrary to the tendency of the general public to regard

insurance as an extension of banking, questions relevant for the banking

sector cannot simply be transferred to the insurance industry. A good

example is dormant life insurance policies which are frequently

compared with dormant bank accounts, although in contrast to bank

accounts, every insurance contract is limited in duration and has a clear

expiration date. After ten years the statute of limitations has expired and

claims are therefore considered lapsed.

It is clear that detailed legal settlements still have to be resolved.

Although insurance companies have violated existing laws in only a few

cases, they were readily able to conform to changing legal norms during

the Nazi era, and at war's end, they were often able to obstruct Jewish

claimants and other policy holders using questionable arguments.

Furthermore, public interest has focused on the settlement of

claims after the Crystal Night pogrom. Even this issue is usually viewed

narrowly. Although the companies' behavior towards policy holders was

formally correct, the arguments used by insurance companies to reject

claims by the insured as well as those made by the Nazi German state

were problematic. (The Nazi state had tried to submit and collect claims

on behalf of the insured with limited success.)

The questions of corporate insurance policy and commercial

practice before, during, and especially after the Second World War are

broader. They include issues of accommodation and resistance, of taking

advantage of maneuvering room, of behavior towards victims and

perpetrators – even within their own ranks – as well as to Allied

demands.
376 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The question of the development of the insurance business is

closely linked to these issues: How did specific Nazi measures affect the

course of insurance industry business? What were the pressures and what

were the additional business opportunities that the war created for

insurers? One specific aspect of insurance companies' business that must

be examined is financial transactions between Germany and foreign

countries. These transfers not only reflect the general course of business,

but also often give information about the routine behavior of

corporations toward the Third Reich and its leaders.

The problem of so-called "Aryanization" constitute another

major focus of research. What role did insurance companies play in

restructuring ownership as well as in dealing with its own staff,

management, or officers in the context of German "racial policies"?

These issues are often closely linked to the acquisition of Jewish real

estate under forced liquidation procedures.

The last problem involves reinsurance. Our knowledge about this

subject is especially meager. Two complex issues predominate: (1) the

guarantee bonds issued by reinsurers on life insurance policies of later

victims of the Nazis, and, (2) the risks which were knowingly or

unknowingly reinsured by companies within the Nazi Reich.

2. ARCHIVAL SOURCES: THE CASE OF SWITZERLAND

The scope of the ICE's mandate enables it to conduct research in

Swiss corporate insurance archives. Despite substantial gaps, more

records are available than originally anticipated. However, this has not

eliminated the difficulties of access, since the companies have sometimes

misunderstood the quantity and nature of the records available.

Moreover, not all corporate historical records have indices or inventories.

In instances where no archives are available, it is possible to go to public

archival holdings in Switzerland as well as abroad. However, gaps are

also encountered here.

Access to files in the archives of Swiss insurance companies is

also frequently difficult. The Commission is not able to obtain an

overview of the existing collections without basic archival order or

finding aids.
SWITZERLAND 377

3. INTERIM FINDINGS IN SWITZERLAND

The economic significance of the Swiss insurance industry and

especially its foreign business has not been adequately understood until

now. Although Swiss insurance companies usually only held small

market shares abroad, combined they contributed essentially to the

premium income -- depending on the line of insurance business between

25 and 90 percent -- and also to the profit of individual companies.

Moreover, a somewhat differentiated examination shows that Swiss

businesses possessed comparatively high market shares of specific

products and segments. Finally, it must be emphasized that after the war

began, Swiss insurers were practically the only foreign suppliers (and in

the life insurance business the only one) to the German economy.

Although we do not yet have the complete range of proven data,

we know that the Swiss insurance market increased in significance for

the German economy during the war. On the one hand, this is because of

its strong, internationally-oriented reinsurance, where for all intents

practically only Swiss companies were able to underwrite these policies.

On the other hand, during the war Swiss insurance companies

administered German insurance contracts in a fiduciary capacity and thus

made it possible for those companies to continue their insurance relations

despite embargo. Furthermore, early precautions taken by German

authorities for the postwar period emphasize the importance given to the

Swiss insurance industry for the reconstruction of Germany.

There were also close, personal relations between the leading

representatives of German and Swiss companies that existed parallel to

their business relationships. Moreover, Swiss insurance companies

interested in business with Nazi Germany had, at their disposal, good

contacts with important individuals in the Third Reich. They were

always able to negotiate favorable solutions. The question here is

whether or not room for maneuverability was completely exhausted or

whether the valid interests of their clients were sacrificed to corporate

self-interest. In any case, insurance business with Germany developed

favorably under existing conditions. At least part of the profits could be

transferred to Switzerland.

Because the insurance companies that were active in Germany

were implicated in Nazi looting policies (forced surrender or repurchase),

it is safe to assume that within the insurance industry there was a high

level of knowledge about developments inside Germany. It is not known

how broad this knowledge was within the insurance industry, and why
378 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

barely any concrete evidence of this can be found in surviving business

records.

It is also known that as a rule, claims made by the insured were

handled strictly according to formal criteria, irrespective of their personal

fate. Within various corporations, there was the tendency to insinuate

that claimants who were harmed by Nazi measures were being

intentionally dishonest when they made claims to their insurance

company.

4. OPEN QUESTIONS

The history of insurance and its corporate history have not been

adequately researched. This gap means that new methodological studies

are required. How can we achieve concrete answers about the insured,

whom we do not know and whose existence is not even certain? How do

we compare economic data developed under changing criteria? What are

the relevant parameters for assessing this or any other development?

Moreover, there are open questions particularly about the

economic, political, and legal framework. For example, the preferential

treatment of the insurance traffic within clearing cannot be sufficiently

substantiated. Many technical insurance questions also await answers

and it is often difficult to locate specialists familiar with the procedures

used at that time. The most important questions are about confiscated and

possibly dormant insurance assets. These are not only questions of an

historical or legal nature. All of these questions lead finally to the same

basic question: Can apparent injustice be the norm and can it be made the

norm just because it carries the cloak of legality?

5. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Intensive cooperation is particularly important for this subject,

since it is not widely studied. Contact with similar corporate history

research projects initiated by German firms, in the framework of the

recent discussions about the Second World War era, has been more

productive for the ICE than cooperation with purely academic

researchers. These projects are more advanced than academic research,

and they have also benefited from very favorable financial sponsorship

and access to records. However, the Swiss insurance industry is not the

focal point of these foreign projects. It is therefore hoped that these
SWITZERLAND 379

already existing contacts can be intensified and extended to most

insurance companies which operated in Nazi Germany and occupied

Europe. It would be desirable if universities would include these projects,

integrating them as new areas of research in their curriculum.

Nevertheless, this will only be possible when the insurance companies'

private archives are opened for research in general.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF EXPERTS

“SWITZERLAND – SECOND WORLD WAR”

Gold Transactions of Nazi Germany

Research Issues – Initial Results – Perspectives

1. GENERAL ISSUES

For a long time, the public and historical research have been only

peripherally concerned with German looted gold during the Second

World War. This situation has changed decisively during the past few

years. Gold has become the symbol of Nazi crimes because of extensive

and increasing public interest in the Holocaust.

Public debate focused initially on Switzerland. Since then other

countries, commercial banks, and corporations have been in the critics'

line of fire. The investigation of German "gold policies" has become an

international affair.

2. THE ICE INTERIM GOLD REPORT

The Independent Commission of Experts: SwitzerlandSecond

World War (hereafter ICE), created in late 1996, decided its goal was to

document as precisely as possible gold transactions between Germany

and Switzerland during the Second World War. For this purpose, the

Commission compiled the most significant statistics for its first interim

report.

The report is entitled "Switzerland and Gold Transactions in the

Second World War." It was published in May 1998 in four languages and

reached the following conclusions:

1. Our approach was not to examine gold looted by the Nazi regime by

looking at its results, but to start with the robbery and thus follow the

process of exploitation. This approach seemed more appropriate for

the ethical as well as the historical requirements of the subject.

2. The interim report is based on extensive material from diverse

archival sources. Until now, Switzerland's role in the German gold
382 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

trade has usually been traced from the Swiss point of view. The ICE

has analyzed this role from both domestic and outside perspectives.

It is for this reason that the Commission employs research teams in

foreign countries. Private corporate archives in Switzerland as well

as public archives in the United States, Germany, Great Britain,

Poland, and Russia were consulted.

3. We concluded that Swiss commercial banks clearly received more

gold from Germany than was previously assumed. Moreover, the

behavior of Swiss banks and insurance companies showed that as

financial creditors they had substantial interest in preserving the

solvency of the German state. This probably increased pressure on

the directorate of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to accept gold

from Germany, even if its origins were dubious, despite Allied

warnings against its acceptance. We know today, beyond a doubt,

that the SNB clearly knew from the beginning of 1941 that the

Reichsbank had amassed disturbing quantities of looted gold.

4. Switzerland functioned as the most important "gold hub" for the Nazi

regime. About four-fifths of German gold deliveries abroad were

processed through Switzerland. As a result, gold from the murdered

and surviving victims of Nazi genocide reached Switzerland. Based

on current knowledge, the SNB received only a fraction of this gold.

Furthermore, it could not be proven that the leadership of the SNB

was informed about the origin of this gold. Nevertheless, in

retrospect, it must be stated explicitly that the directorate of the SNB

regarded its relations with the Reichsbank for the most part as

"business as usual," and that until the end of the war, the SNB failed

to distance itself from the German Central Bank.

3. THE CURRENT DEBATE

The ICE interim report has stimulated a lively response in

Switzerland and abroad.

The Commission held an academic conference about the

financial history of Nazi Germany at the University of Bielefeld. Based

on the results of our interim report, questions were formulated that will

enable specific research to proceed, thus increasing our level of

knowledge. Important new information is also found in the published

second Eizenstat report, as well as in studies published by Sweden,

Argentina, and Luxembourg.
SWITZERLAND 383

4. OPEN RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The principal questions, still remaining open, that require

research are:

1. Various aspects of gold transactions between the SS Central

Office for Economy and Administration and the Reichsbank

still require clarification. It is not clear why some gold

ingots, deposited in the Reichsbank by SS Captain Bruno

Melmer, had high levels of purity. The rationale for smelting

gold in some concentration camps is also not known. It is

also unclear what routes were used to transport gold from the

East across customs' borders into Germany. It is unlikely that

the remaining existing documentation will enable us fully to

trace the routes of victim gold.

2. A scientific history of the Reichsbank has yet to be written.

The close linkages between the Reichsbank and Nazi

financial and economic policy also necessitates that gold not

be separated from the wider context of the currency situation

and political framework of that time.

5. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Interpretations based on specific national positions fail to

understand the complexity of gold transactions during the Second World

War. This is connected with the fact that gold is fungible and, that

therefore, it is possible to obscure its origins. The leaders of Nazi

Germany systematically took advantage of this fact when they robbed

their victims and systematically exploited such stolen goods.

The international dimensions of gold transactions during the

Second World War does not mean the relativization of individual

countries' profits and responsibilities. Only within the framework of

empirically sound comparisons can national idiosyncrasies be revealed

and hasty moralizing be replaced by differentiated interpretations.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF EXPERTS

“SWITZERLAND – SECOND WORLD WAR”

Report on Switzerland’s Refugee Policy

Research Issues – Initial Results – Perspectives

BACKGROUND

The Independent Commission of Experts: Switzerland - World

War II (hereafter ICE) will issue an interim report in 1999 about

Switzerland's refugee policy. Although Switzerland was only one of

many possible havens for those fleeing Nazi German persecution before

1939, it became the major potential sanctuary for Jews fleeing Nazi

German despoliation and deportation operations after 1940. Because of

its geographical proximity to Germany and Austria and to occupied

territories in France, and later Italy, Swiss restrictionism has been a

central concern in historiography about refugee policy. As early as 1957,

the official Swiss report by Carl Ludwig provided details about the "J"

stamp in 1938 and the closure of Swiss borders in mid-August 1942.1

Swiss anxieties about Überfremdung --"being overrun with foreigners" --

frequently prevailed over moral or humanitarian concerns. The massive

number of political, economic, and racial refugees in flight from

German, Italian, and Spanish fascisms during the 1930s resulted in

growing emigration restrictions in most western countries, including

Switzerland. Moreover, the interaction of Nazi policies with the

responses of other governments reveals global patterns fluctuating

between hostility, benign neglect, and occasional sympathy. These policy

variants, in turn, depended on local prejudices, economic apprehensions,

political constraints, and bureaucratic procedures.

 

1

 See Carl Ludwig, Die Flüchtlingspolitik der Schweiz seit 1933 bis zur

Gegenwart: Bericht an den Bundesrat zuhanden der eidgenössischen Räte (Bern,

1957).
386 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

STRUCTURE OF THE ICE FUTURE REFUGEE REPORT

The major segments of the 1999 ICE refugee report will include

discussion of:

1. Historiography, sources, and refugee categories;

2. the political and institutional framework of Swiss refugee

policy;

3. economic and legal aspects;

4. 1938 as a turning point closing the door to refugees,

including the Evian conference, the "J" stamp, and the

closure of borders in August 1942;

5. Swiss governmental knowledge of Nazi German policies,

1941-1944;

6. refoulement, expulsion, or acceptance of refugees, 1939-

1945;

7. refugee life in Switzerland;

8. international and national charitable organizations in

Switzerland, including American licensing procedures for

refugee relief work by these agencies during the war;

9. financial aspects of refugee policy in Switzerland, including

mandatory deposits of a "bond" [Kaution] for temporary

residence and the issuance of "tolerance permits"

[Toleranzbewilligungen];

10. the problems of quantification and refugee statistics; and

11. postwar refugee policy in Switzerland.

THE "J" STAMP

Until 1938, Switzerland nominally maintained its traditional

policy of asylum for refugees admitting 10,000-12,000 refugees between

1933 and 1938. Refugee policies were initially decentralized and vested

with the cantons rather than with federal authorities, although refugee

policy was increasingly centralized after 1938. Refugees were usually

not allowed to work and were generally under police surveillance.

Moreover, they had no access to their finances during their stay in

Switzerland, although mandatory security deposits were required before

certificates of residence could be issued.

Escalating German measures against Jews, political dissidents,

Jehovah's Witnesses, and Roma and Sinti limited employment

possibilities and accelerated their impoverishment inside Nazi Germany.
SWITZERLAND 387

Cumulative Nazi exclusionary legislation, employment discrimination,

and economic restrictions also resulted in denaturalization and

impoverishment. This made many refugees unwelcome as residents or

transients in potential European countries of exile, including Switzerland.

German territorial changes in 1938, with the incorporation of

Austria and the Sudetenland, resulted in the eviction and attempted flight

of thousands of native and refugee Jews from these regions. Switzerland

had a common border with both Nazi Germany and incorporated Austria,

and fearing a deluge of Austrian Jewish and stateless refugees, the Swiss

Federal Council ordered visa requirements reinstated initially for

Austrian passport holders and later for all refugees. Lengthy negotiations

from April to October 1938 between the Swiss Police, the Swiss

Legation in Berlin, and the German Foreign Office, resulted on October

5, 1938, in a German decree ordering every German and Austrian Jew to

hand in their passport inside the German Reich and at German consulates

or missions abroad to receive a special 3 cm. high red "J" stamp on the

left-hand side of the first passport page. ("J" stood for Jude - "Jew"). On

October 4, 1938, the Swiss police announced that Germans bearing

passports indicating they were not Aryans would require special

authorization to enter Switzerland.

The spontaneous emigration of Jews from Germany after 1933

accelerated by 1938 under concerted official pressure. Although

historians have usually held only Switzerland responsible for the

invention of the "J" stamp, it is clear that Germany had already

introduced a black "J" stamp on domestic identity cards during the late

summer of 1938. Regulations for resident registration inside Germany

were amended on July 23, 1938, requiring all German and Austrian Jews

to carry special identification papers inside the Reich.2 This identity card

was subsequently stamped with a black "J." Moreover, the German

Security Service had already considered in January 1937 "marking

Jewish passports, for use only inside Germany," but delayed

implementation "so that foreign consulates would not deny visas to

 

2

 See David Martin Luebke and Sybil Milton, "Locating the Victim: An

Overview of Census-taking, Tabulation Technology, and Persecution in Nazi

Germany," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 16, no.3 (Fall 1994): 30-

31. See also "Bekanntmachung über den Kennkartenzwang vom 23. Juli 1938,"

Reichsgesetzblatt 1938, I:922.
388 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

holders of such passports."3 Such blatant measures would have nullified

official German policy to expedite Jewish emigration.

By August 1938, Germany had also introduced new "name"

legislation, requiring the addition of the middle names "Israel" or "Sara"

on all official Jewish documents, including identity cards and passports.

Nevertheless, Swiss diplomatic pressure resulted in the acceleration of

German measures explicitly identifying Jews on their passports, thereby

inhibiting possibilities of flight and asylum. Similarly, the SwedishGerman passport agreement of October 15, 1938, restricted the entry of

specified "persons" without passport validation into Sweden.4 Concurrent

Italian racial legislation also led Italian border police to ask all German

and Austrian passport holders crossing an Italian border in late 1938 if

they had Jewish names.

The question of Swiss responsibility for the "J" stamp must also

include precedents before 1933. After 1910, a pencil "J" had been affixed

on some naturalization requests by East European Jews in Switzerland.

By the end of World War I, a red-ink stamp of the Star of David in a

circle as well as the letter 'J' was sometimes placed on such files.

Although it is impossible to prove direct continuities of Swiss knowledge

and police personnel between the end of World War I and 1938, the

earlier use of the "J" may have been a precedent for 1938.5

After the war started, the Swiss Federal Council ordered on

October 17, 1939, that foreigners who entered Switzerland illegally

would be immediately expelled to the countries from which they came,

with the exception of deserters and recognized political refugees. During

the war years, Jewish refugees also faced political expediency,

indifference, and open hostility in other allied and neutral nations.

Restrictive American immigration policies, British hostility to Jewish

resettlement in Palestine, and international apathy doomed most Jews

and many Roma and Sinti („Gypsies“) to death in the ghettos and

concentration camps of occupied Europe. In October 1943, the Swiss

 

3

 See Michael Wildt, ed., Die Judenpolitik des SD, 1935 bis 1938: Eine

Dokumentation (Munich, 1995), p. 100. See also Bundesarchiv Berlin, R58/956.

4

 See Paul A. Levine, From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and

the Holocaust, 1938-1944 (Uppsala, 1996), chap. 5. See also Schweizerisches

Bundesarchiv Bern, E 2001 (D) 2/114.

5

 See Marc Perrenoud, "Problèmes d'intégration et de naturalisation des Juifs

dans le canton de Neuchatel, 1871-1955," in Pierre Centlivres, Devenir Suisse:

Adhésion et diversité culturelle des étrangers en Suisse (Geneva, 1990), pp. 82-

83.
SWITZERLAND 389

opened the Italian border to increasing numbers of civilian and military

refugees, including Jews. In the final stages of the war by early 1945, the

inevitability of German military defeat resulted in German offers for

releasing Jews to safety in Switzerland for ransom in money, goods, or

postwar alibis against war crimes prosecution. In 1944, 1,686 Hungarian

Jews arrived in Switzerland from Bergen-Belsen and in early February

1945, 1,200 Jews from Theresienstadt entered Switzerland. The costs of

their support were absorbed by the Swiss Jewish community, the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the Swiss Society to

Assist Jewish Refugees. It must also be remembered that the Swiss

consul in Budapest, Carl Lutz, worked together with Raoul Wallenberg

to save the lives of many thousands of Jews. The legacy of Swiss refugee

policy is mixed with relatively tolerant behavior in 1933 and after 1944,

but with severe restrictionism during the critical period from 1939 to

1943.

OPEN QUESTIONS

The 1999 ICE refugee report will try to clarify the financial

aspects of refugee life in Switzerland, including whether mandatory

security deposits reverted to the depositors or their heirs. The magnitude

and handling of refugee "surety" accounts and related assets are being

researched by the Independent Experts Commission as part of the

refugee report in 1999.

Other issues include the quantification of refugees in Switzerland

between 1939 and 1946. Partial statistics of refugees rejected at the

border reveal that at least 24,000 refugees were denied entry to

Switzerland. Additionally, 14,500 visa applications at Swiss embassies

and consulates were denied.6 There is a high probability that these

statistics include duplications, since those who did not receive visas may

 

6

 See Guido Koller, "Die schweizerische Flüchtlingspolitik im Zweiten

Weltkrieg," in Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv, ed., Fluchtgelder, Raubgut und

nachrichtenlose Vermögen: Wissenstand und Forschungsperspektiven (Bern,

1997), pp. 44-49.
390 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

also have been turned away from borders. The clarification of these

questions and the personal fates behind these statistics are part of the

ICE's current research agenda.
TURKEY

Delegation Statement on Holocaust-Era Assets

Turkey is one of the few countries in the world where the Jews

have never been persecuted. Indeed, it was the Ottoman Empire which

sent its powerful Mediterranean fleet to save thousands of Jews from

Spanish Inquisition in 1492. These Jews were then settled in various

parts of the Ottoman Empire, almost all in urban areas in Istanbul,

Salonica, the coastline as well as the Balkan provinces at that time.

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, many of these Jewish

communities left behind were not always as lucky, since many of them

were to be exterminated either during the Second World War or even

before. It is not, therefore, surprising that so many Jewish communities

retreated together with their Turkish and Moslem neighbors from the

territories the Ottoman Empire evacuated especially in the Balkans. And

this joyful co-existence between the Jews in Turkey and the rest of the

Turkish population continued during the Second World War.

Moreover, during the difficult years of the war, Turkey acted as

a guardian of the Jewish communities who were chucked out of Europe

by the Nazis. All evidence confirms that Turkey played a significant role

in a variety of ways in rescuing Jews from the Nazis during the

Holocaust. Turkish diplomats throughout Nazi occupied territories in

Western Europe did all they could, sometimes even acting beyond what

their diplomatic status allowed them, to protect and save Turkish citizen

Jews, as well as their properties. The Jewish Agency which established

itself in Istanbul due to Turkey’s proximity to the Nazi occupied South

Eastern and Eastern Europe worked freely during the war, and saved and

directed thousands of Jews through to Palestine through a number of

ways. As Professor Stanford Shaw pointed out in his book Turkey and

the Holocaust, “Turkey...came to constitute a true bridge to

Palestine, a transit center that enabled Jews being persecuted in

their own countries to go on to the Holy Land.”

Further evidence in Turkish and the International Committee of

the Red Cross (ICRC) archives in Geneva points to the fact that Turkish

authorities allowed the passage of Jewish refugees even without an
392 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

official permission by British authorities to enter Palestine. The Jewish

Agency conducted these rescue operations, some of which were certainly

carried out in a clandestine manner, with the tacit approval of the Turkish

authorities. According to many scholars who have written on the subject,

the number of Jews saved by Turkey during the Second World War goes

up to a hundred thousand, if not more.

One other important point to be borne in mind about Turkey’s

policy during the war regarding the plight of the Jews is that hundreds of

Jewish intellectuals, in particular the Jewish academics of German

origin, found refuge in Turkey for a long time. In fact, many German

Jewish professors made their way down to Turkey well before the

outbreak of the war in order to escape persecution in Germany at the

hands of the Nazis, and stayed over for several more years after the end

of the war. Some of them even decided to remain in Turkey altogether.

And several of them later published their memoirs, which talk of a

friendly country to Jews not only during the war but in general.

Therefore, Turkey would never have expected to have been

included in the list of the countries which were in one way or the other

involved in the transaction of Nazi gold and related issues. In a sense,

Turkey was quite surprised at the allegations in the reports published by

the US Department of State. Nevertheless, Turkey took the matter

seriously and a Cabinet Minister was assigned by the Prime Minister to

deal with the matter, who in turn immediately set up a Commission of

Experts, composed of high ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs (hereafter MFA), the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey

(hereafter CBRT), academics, historians and members of the Turkish

Jewish Community. The Commission has conducted extensive research

in the Turkish and foreign archives, and is still carrying on with their

research on some detailed aspects of the issues. The Commission’s

findings have been brought to the attention of the officials who prepared

the previous reports, and historian members of the Turkish Commission

and Dr. William Slany, the State Department Historian, have agreed to

write reports, articles and even books on these matters.

Nonetheless, until those publications come out, the Turkish

Commission would like to clarify all the allegations regarding Turkey in

the previous reports, which blamed Turkey on three counts: Nazi gold,

Turkey’s sale of chromium to Germany between 1942 and 1943 for

about twelve months during the Second World War and German assets

held by Turkey after Ankara declared war on Nazi Germany and returned

gratis to the Federal Republic of Germany in the second part of the

1950s.
TURKEY 393

A) THE NAZI GOLD ISSUE

It is clearly inferred from the latest publications that the gold

assets looted by Germany during the Second World War were used to

finance the German war machine, and several countries became involved

in this process by facilitating Germany’s transactions through the looted

gold. However, Turkey is unjustifiably mentioned among the countries

alleged to have been implicated in this whole affair. It seems that this

accusation against Turkey mostly stemmed from the fact that Turkey’s

gold assets increased considerably from the end of 1938 to the end of the

Second World War. Indeed, the gold assets of the CBRT increased from

a level of 27.4 metric tons in 1939 to 216.2 metric tons by the end of

1945. In other words, the total increase was about 188.8 metric tons. This

increase seems to have led to speculations that perhaps a large part of it

was to do with the Nazi gold.

However, this assumption does not seem to be borne out by

archive documents. If anything, figures of the State Statistical Institute

clearly demonstrate that during the period in question Turkey’s foreign

trade surplus went up to 341.5 million US Dollars during the Second

World War, and that much of this surplus was invested in gold by the

Turkish government to meet the constant demand for foreign currency

and to protect its foreign holdings against possible depreciation under

war conditions. And, should this amount be fully translated into gold, the

total would have made 300 metric tons of gold.

At first sight, this might look a bit odd, given that Turkey had

experienced almost a constant trade deficit in the years previous to the

outbreak of the war. Nonetheless, the point to be borne in mind is that,

although Turkey managed to remain outside the war, it was one of the

very few countries which could not escape from the devastating effects

of the war, particularly in economic terms. For instance, Turkey’s trade

with the outside world shrank considerably during the war years.

However, perhaps paradoxically, Turkey’s current account in relation to

its foreign trade underwent an impressive surplus during these years, not

least because the country, feeling the war clouds on its borders, was

careful not to spare much money for imports, and also because all those

countries who used to export to Turkey found themselves in the war, and

in a sense Turkey lost a number of its trading partners. In addition, in

1940, impressive increase in the cotton harvest and coal production

together with the discovery of oil fields also contributed, to a large

extent, to tilting the balance in the foreign trade in favor of Turkey. The

trade agreement Turkey signed with Britain in December 1940 also
394 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

appears to have contributed to Turkey’s foreign trade surplus. All the

money Turkey earned from its exports were kept in corresponding banks

mostly in North America and partly in Europe. According to an

agreement between the CBRT and the Swiss National Bank (hereafter

SNB) signed in 1942, the latter would automatically invest foreign

exchange deposits of the CBRT with the SNB into gold, when the

amount exceeded certain limits, or would make the payment from the

gold when the amount dropped under a certain agreed limit.

The CBRT records account for the movement of every piece of

gold purchased by Turkey during the Second World War. The following

is a brief account of all these gold movements: For instance, records in

the CBRT indicate clearly that 55.7 metric tons of this increase in the

gold reserves of Turkey, 29.6 per cent of the total increase, came from

the gold bars that the Turkish Treasury was able to buy from Banque de

France thanks to a credit facility of the British government of 15 million

pounds through the Bank of England. Initial research into the British

archive documents in the Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) in

London under catalogues FO371 for the year 1939 explains extensively

how the credit facility was arranged between Ankara and London as part

of a financial package to Turkey. The records of the CBRT and of PRO

also explain how the purchase of this gold was made and how it was

brought over to Turkey. According to the documents, this gold, having

been purchased from Banque de France with British credit and brought

over to Turkey, was deposited with the CBRT to form collateral for the

future cash demands of the Treasury during the war.

From the records of the Board of Directors of the CBRT, it is

obvious that with the advent of the Second World War, the CBRT

adopted a policy of transferring all its gold assets entrusted with its

correspondent banks in Europe to North America, in particular, to the

USA. These records make it clear that a large bulk of Turkey’s gold

purchases was made through the CBRT’s correspondent banks abroad.

Indeed, the total amount, 127.2 metric tons which the CBRT’s

correspondents bought during this period account for 67.6 per cent of the

total increase in gold assets.

The CBRT records also track down the rest of the gold increase,

5.0 metric tons, which was bought abroad in two separate instances and

brought over to Turkey in two parties. The first party, 2.0 metric tons,

was purchased in the form of bars, from Reichsbank in 1942 prior to the

Allied Declaration of January the 5th, 1943, and the payment for the

purchase was made through the accounts of the CBRT with SNB and

Sveriges Riksbank. The second party was the acquisition of 249 bars,
TURKEY 395

approximately 3.0 metric tons in 1943. The records of the Board of

Directors of the CBRT dated May 5th and May 21st of 1943, with

reference numbers of 2662 and 2681 respectively, the minutes of the

meetings of the CBRT’s Board of Directors, the strongroom records of

the CBRT, as well as related SNB documents explain the purchase and

the transfer of the gold in full detail. According to this documentation,

the CBRT was planning to buy gold for SFR 10.000.000 at the beginning

of May 1943. However, due to the high transportation cost which was

likely to incur under war conditions, the Board later decided to increase

the amount to SFR 15.000.000 in order to reduce the transportation cost

per kilogram. At that point Reichsbank offered to sell gold for SFR 5.000

per kilogram which was found to be more expensive than the offer of the

SNB, 4.920.63 per kilogram. Moreover, in compliance with the Allied

Declaration of 1943 which forbade all countries from buying gold from

Germany, the Board of the CBRT looked at possibilities of entrusting it

with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to be safeguarded or of

purchasing the desired gold from the USA against Swiss Franks, and

finally came to the conclusion that the gold should be purchased from

SNB. Accordingly, the SNB purchased 3.048,40672 kilograms of gold

on behalf of CBRT for SFR 15.000.081 on May 8th, 1943.

Though the gold was bought, its transportation presented certain

difficulties. While Turkey was in search of ways to bring it home, an

option emerged whereby the Reichsbank would supply 249 bars of gold

weighing 3.047.32 kilograms in total to Turkey against the gold

purchased by SNB on behalf of CBRT. This offer was accepted by the

CBRT and in order to finalize the transaction, the CBRT instructed the

SNB on May 25th, 1943, to transfer the gold it had bought earlier on

behalf of the CBRT to Reichsbank. From these records, it is clear that for

all intents and purposes, the CBRT acted in this whole matter in good

faith. According to the records of the CBRT, the gold supplied by

Reichsbank in return for the transfer of the gold SNB bought on behalf of

the CBRT was used in minting commemorative coins by the Turkish

State Mint during 1944-1946.

The 243 kilograms of gold bars and 32.000 gold coins handed

over by the German Embassy in Ankara to the Swiss Embassy and

finally to the Turkish authorities when Turkey declared war on Nazi

Germany in 1945 were kept on consignment basis by the CBRT. These

gold bars and coins were fully returned to the German side (Deutsche

Bank, Dresdner Bank and the German government) by the Ministry of

Finance in June and November 1960 under the provisions of an
396 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

economic protocol signed between Turkey and the Federal Republic of

Germany within the context of NATO solidarity.

From the documents of the Bank of England, it became clear that

the CBRT approached the Bank of England about the possibility of resmelting 8 tons of bars of varied and relatively low fineness and 3 tons of

miscellaneous coinage in 1947. However, the Bank of England declined

this request at the time, on the grounds that it was concerned that perhaps

these were either fully or partly the looted gold. Finally, in 1952 the

CBRT made an arrangement with the Bank of England about the resmelting of 8.706 kilograms of gold bars of varied and relatively low

fineness. The strongroom records of the CBRT clearly indicate that these

gold bars re-smelted in London were either the bars purchased between

1931 and 1939 by the CBRT or the ones received from the Ministry of

Finance in 1934 to back up the bank notes in circulation under the

provisions of Article 6 of Act No. 1715 of the CBRT. In other words, all

that gold re-smelted in London had nothing to do with Nazi gold.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that according to a number of

Turkish and Polish documents Turkey became a place of safekeeping for

most of the Balkan countries during the war. For instance, 70.0 metric

tons of Polish gold was saved by Turkey and transferred to free Syria

with the assistance of Turkish authorities. In addition, US$ 3.000.000 of

the Kingdom of Yugoslavia were kept on consignment basis in Turkey

during the war. Needless to say, these assets would have been looted by

the Nazi authorities to finance their military campaigns, otherwise.

B) CHROMIUM ISSUE

On a related matter, that of the German purchase of chromium

from Turkey during the Second World War, mentioned in the report of

the US State Department published on June 3rd, 1997, the records of the

Turkish Foreign Ministry, as well as British archive material and books

based on British documents challenge the allegation that Turkey sold

Germany large quantities of chromium in order to keep the German war

machine going. Indeed, even a cursory look at the report published by the

State Department reveals that the subject was examined only in light of

American documents starting from 1941, after the US declaration of war

on Germany.

But it was a matter extensively discussed between Britain and

France on the one hand, and Turkey, on the other, from the beginning of

the war onwards. It is possible to track down all the negotiations between
TURKEY 397

Ankara and London regarding the chromium issue both through the

Turkish Foreign Ministry records and all the archive material in PRO. In

order to understand what happened, the Turkish Commission Experts

carried out extensive research in various Turkish Archives.

The truth of the matter is that Turkey allied itself to Britain and

France through formal alliance treaties at the outbreak of the Second

World War. And although Turkey remained non-belligerent during much

of the war until 1945, which is when it declared war on Germany,

Turkey continued its close cooperation with Britain and France

throughout the war. For instance, if Turkey had been selling chromium

to Germany without the knowledge and consent of Britain, the latter

would probably have refused to come up with a financial assistance

package to Turkey after the beginning of the war, and without the credit

facility rendered to Turkey, the CBRT would not have been able to

purchase gold from Banque de France.

The following is a brief summary of what took place. Having

realized that the Soviet Union could no longer be trusted after the Soviet

Foreign Minister, Molotov, had struck a Non-Aggression Pact with his

German counterpart, Ribbentrop, on 23rd August, 1939, Turkey allied

itself to Britain and France through a Tripartite Alliance Agreement of

Mutual Defense despite German preponderance both in economic and

military terms in the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe, areas very

close to Turkey. In addition to this Tripartite Agreement, a Special

Accord was also signed on the same day which offered economic aid by

Britain and France to Turkey. Almost simultaneously, Turkey informed

Germany that it could not renew its trade agreement with the latter until

and unless Germany sorted out its differences with France and Britain

and signed a trade agreement with them. Turkey also informed Germany

that it was not to prolong the trade agreement with Germany the two

countries had signed on 26th of July 1938. Not surprisingly, all the trade

between Turkey and Germany came to an abrupt end on the 1st of

September 1939, the day the war broke out.

Since Turkey broke off its economic relations with Germany, it

negotiated with Britain and France as to how to sell its products,

primarily chromium which was a major export item, to these allies. In

fact, breaking-off with Germany had been part of the deal. In the course

of the negotiations within the framework of the Tripartite Agreement and

the Special Accord among Turkey, Britain and France, Secretary General

of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Numan Menemencioglu, visited both

Paris and London soon after the outbreak of the war, and he made an

offer to the Allies in December 1939 while he was still in London:
398 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Britain and France should purchase all Turkey’s chromium for a period

of fifteen years, corresponding to the duration of the Tripartite

Agreement. But, as Britain was purchasing its chromium from several

countries, mostly its colonies, it turned down this offer, on the grounds

that the duration of the agreement would be too long. Instead, Britain

proposed that London and Paris governments should buy all Turkish

chromium for a period of two years, after which time the matter would

be taken up again between the three countries. And Turkey accepted this

offer, however grudgingly it may have been, and the Chrome Trade

Agreement was signed in Paris on January 8th, 1940, between these three

allies. According to this deal, France was to buy 4/15 and England 11/15

of Turkey’s total chromium production of 250.000 tons. This agreement

also stipulated (Article 6) that Turkey could sell its surplus chromium

production to third countries, particularly to the USA, on condition that

Britain and France approve the sale beforehand. The Agreement, which

was concluded only for two years, could be renewed, but only for one

more year, between the signatories.

It seems clear from the documentation both at the MFA as well

as PRO that the Turkish side wished to prolong the trade for a much

longer period than only one more year when the two years term expired.

However, Britain appeared quite unwilling for a longer extension of the

agreement, while France had already been overrun by Nazi Germany.

Professor W.N. Medlicott, the famous late British historian who

conducted extensive research into British archives laments this decision

on the part of the British government. According to him, Numan

Menemencioglu made a bold attempt on 21st of December, 1941 in

arguing that Turkey’s agreement with Britain and France to sell

chromium to these allies should continue for a period of twenty years.

Sadly, however, this was turned down by the British government. As

Professor Medlicott put it: “later events showed that the British would

have been well-advised to tie up Turkish chrome for a longer

period.”

Meanwhile, Germany had approached Turkey with an offer to

buy Turkey’s chromium. Having secured Britain’s agreement within the

context of the Chromium Trade Agreement between Turkey, on the one

hand, and Britain and France, on the other, and in particular in

accordance with Article 6 of that Agreement, Turkey agreed to the sale

of chromium to Germany by signing a chrome agreement with that

country on 9th October, 1941. It is perhaps important to note that, by that

stage, the USA was still a neutral country. Even then, Turkey was very

cautious with Germany. It inserted a clause in the Agreement which
TURKEY 399

stipulated that Turkish chromium deliveries to Germany could start only

after January 1943, the termination of the Tripartite Chrome Agreement

and one year extension. And when the actual deliveries began, all the

transaction was done on the basis of barter, particularly war material to

Turkey, avoiding any Nazi gold.

The documentation in the MFA makes it clear that the whole

deal with Germany was carried out in close consultation with the British

government. When, in fact, the British government asked for clarification

in September 1943, the Turkish Foreign Ministry instructed the Turkish

Embassy in London to remind the British authorities that the German

Chrome Agreement had been signed with the approval of the British

government, and that the British had expressed the view at that time that

the requirements put forward for the sale of the chromium to Germany

were drafted by Turkey in such a way as to make it quite difficult for the

Germans to carry forward the plan in full-swing.

When the allies requested of Turkey that chromium deliveries to

Germany be stopped, Turkey immediately complied with that request on

24th April, 1944 and discontinued the chromium trade with Germany

though the chrome agreement with that country had not yet expired. Few

months later in August 1944, Turkey severed all its diplomatic relations

with Germany. It is interesting to note that almost a year later, April

1945, the Swedish Embassy protecting Germany’s interests in Ankara

handed in a Note to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, saying that the Krupp

Company in Germany had decided to annul the chrome agreement with

Turkey in the absence of any chromium deliveries to Germany.

There is further evidence which clearly indicates that Turkey

acted in this whole matter of the chromium in good faith and in

accordance with the letter and spirit of the Alliance Treaty which it had

signed earlier with Britain and France. For instance, according to the

agreement between Turkey on the one side, and Britain and France on

the other, Turkey was to have sold all its chromium to these two

countries for as long as the agreement was in effect, an obligation which

Turkey duly respected and undertook. When France came under German

occupation and the Vichy government was set up, which collaborated

with Nazi Germany, Turkey, instead of going on to supply the so-called

government of France with chromium, discontinued shipments to France,

and directed instead the chromium deliveries to England who assumed

the French share. All this refutes the allegations that Turkey contributed

to the ongoing German war machine by selling large quantities of

chromium to Germany during the war.
400 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

It is important to note that all this is documented by large bulks

of documents in various Turkish archives, that initial research into the

archive material in PRO does confirm this assessment, and that Turkish

Commission Experts’ research into the material in PRO will resume in

early 1999 with a view to writing a detailed report on all aspects of the

chromium issue.

C) THE ISSUE OF THE GERMAN ASSETS

The issue of the German assets seized at the end of the Second

World War by Turkey as a victor country has also been turned into a

matter of unfounded allegation against Turkey. The truth of the matter is

the following: Turkey broke off its diplomatic relations with Germany in

August 1944, and, later, in 1945 declared war on Nazi Germany. As a

result, all the German assets, including the embassy and consular

buildings and the German school in Istanbul were seized by Turkey as

enemy property. These German assets also included 243 kilograms of

gold bars and 32.000 gold coins handed over by the German Embassy in

Ankara to the Swiss Embassy when the German Ambassador was

leaving, and finally to the Turkish authorities when Turkey declared war

on Nazi Germany in 1945. It is important to note that these gold bars and

coins were kept under the CBRT’s care by Turkey on a consignment

basis.

Turkey at the time thought that when the general procedures as

to how to deal with these assets became established, it would handle the

matter accordingly, since Ankara was to make war claims against

Germany. Oddly enough, however, Turkey was not invited to the Paris

Conference for Reparations in 1946 although it had duly declared war on

Nazi Germany. Therefore, Turkey acted on its own to handle both

matters of Turkish claims against Germany and the German assets seized

in Turkey, following Turkey's declaration of war on Germany and Japan.

The Agreement which came out of the Paris Conference for Reparations

in January 1946, established the modalities of the liquidation of German

assets. Upon the conclusion of this Agreement, the Allies approached

Turkey which, in turn, informed the former rightfully that it was not

bound by international agreements which it had not signed, and which it

had taken no part in framing. Turkey duly expressed the view and

registered its position accordingly that it “maintains sole jurisdiction

over its program of German external assets and enemy property,
TURKEY 401

and that the proceeds of the liquidation be used first to satisfy

Turkish war claims against Germany.”

In fact, the Allies left it to Turkey to deal with this matter

directly by excluding Turkey from the Paris Reparation Conference in

which 18 countries had participated. In the previous reports on the issue

published by the State Department, there was a reference to a remark

(pages 136-137) by a US delegate, Seymour Rubin, in the Conference on

Economic Security held in Paris between 27th of April and 7th May 1948.

Mr. Rubin, according to the documents used to prepare that report,

mentioned Turkey in relation to the termination of efforts on the

liquidation of German assets in some countries, including Turkey.

But closer scrutiny of American documents suggests that a very

important State Department document was omitted in preparation of that

report. In a telegram sent by the State Department to the US Embassy in

Ankara dated 8th April, 1948, twenty days before the Paris Conference on

Economic Security was held, the State Department was recommending to

the US Embassy in Ankara that Turkey be treated as a special case with

regard to the seized German assets. The Turkish Commission Experts

have already brought this document to the attention of the officials who

prepared the report.

According to the documentation, Turkey maintained its position

that it should deal directly with this issue because it had not been invited

to the Paris Reparation Conference. In the end, Turkey gave up its war

claims against Germany who had by then become Turkey’s ally in

NATO, and all the German assets estimated by the Allies at about 50 to

70 million Dollars were returned gratis to the Federal Republic of

Germany by the Turkish government within the context of NATO

solidarity in the second half of the 1950s. The gold bars and coins

handed over to Turkey by the Swiss Embassy in Ankara were also

returned in full amount to the German side (Deutsche Bank, Dresdner

Bank and the German government) by the Ministry of Finance in June

and November 1960 under the provisions of an economic protocol signed

between Turkey and the Federal Republic of Germany, again, within the

context of NATO solidarity.

UKRAINE

Delegation Statement

The broad and fruitful discussion begun a year ago at the London

International Conference continues today in Washington. It is

endeavoring to set new parameters, that would allow us to declare new

claims, backed by evidence and calculations carried out by our experts.

A year ago, an experts group on the "Nazi Gold" problem was

established in Ukraine. Its primary goal was to examine all available

sources of information in Ukraine and abroad. With the active assistance

of local archivists, members of the group have studied documents in the

state archives of Ukraine, in the archives of the Autonomous Republic of

Crimea, in 19 regional archives, in the state archives of the Russian

Federation (Moscow), in the Central Repository of HistoricalDocumentary Collections (Moscow), in the Federal Archives in Berlin –

altogether some 500 archival collections have been accessed and more

than 500,000 pages of documents checked.

What were the venues of the Ukrainian share in the Third

Reich’s capital formation?

FINANCIAL POLICIES OF THE OCCUPIERS, COMPULSORY

PAYMENTS, FUNCTIONING OF THE BANKING SYSTEM:

The Nazis worked vigorously and broadly. The collection of

precious metals and currencies was carried out by forcing the inhabitants

of Ukraine to sell these at a very low fixed rate. (An order to this effect

was issued in August, 1942).

Earlier, in June, 1942, a new monetary unit – the karbovanets –

was introduced in Ukraine. By April, 1943, more than 2,000 million

Soviet rubles were exchanged for the karbovantsi. This was equal to 200

million Reichsmarks. All payments for forcibly bought precious metals

and currencies were made in karbovantsi.
404 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The exchange operations for the Soviet rubles were done at

extortionate rates – much lower than the rate in use by the German

Reichsbank at the time.

Sale of government bonds was widespread and residents were

forced to buy these bonds. In Bukovyna, for example (then under

Romanian occupation) state obligations were sold beginning in 1941.

The archives contain lists of inhabitants compelled to buy these bonds.

One should also note such measures of capital formation as

taxes, penalties, contributions and other compulsory payments.

Preliminary data we have gathered shows that the population of Ukraine

made payments in excess of 2,500 thousand rubles; Ukrainian

government data show that these payments amounted to 2,600 thousand

rubles, about 46 million Reichsmarks, 195 million karbovantsi, 14.4

million zlotys.

THE FUNCTIONING OF THE BANK SYSTEM:

Analysis of the operations of banks and other financial structures

and organizations within the Reichscommisariat of Ukraine shows an

increase in the volume of financial activity. We have data on account

balances in the Central Economic Bank during the final stages of

occupation. The liabilities of this bank were not paid to the creditors. As

the result, there was a windfall of 7,290 million karbovantsi. More than

5,500 million karbovantsi or 550 million Reichsmarks were not paid to

the creditors of the Economic Bank network.

UKRAINIAN SLAVE LABORERS IN GERMANY:

One should not overlook the use of the bank system for the socalled "savings" of the slave laborers from Ukraine, who were compelled

to transfer home some of their earnings made in the Reich. What were

the practical results of this? The Central Economic Bank of Ukraine,

which operated in the Reichscommissariat of Ukraine, received 191.1

million karbovantsi or 19.11 million Reichsmarks in deposits, or money

withheld from the Ukrainian slave laborers. This amount should be

added to the money removed from inhabitants of the territories that

constitute present-day Ukraine.

While the amounts transferred from the meager earnings of

individual people in penal servitude were insignificant (they were
UKRAINE 405

receiving inadequate payment for their hard labor), the total sum is

impressive. We have no right to disregard it.

Also worthy of note should be the accumulation of Nazi assets

through obligatory insurance of workers. The Reich minister of labor

issued an order in April, 1942, that business owners should make

monthly contributions of 4 Reichsmarks to local hospitals or treasuries

for every employee’s health care. We estimate that the total paid for

every Ukrainian slave laborer amounted to 200 million Reichsmarks.

Since these amounts were taken out of the earnings of the slave laborers

working under intolerable conditions, they should be included in the

compensatory requirements for Nazi victims.

ROBBERIES DURING ARRESTS, EXECUTIONS AND VARIOUS

RETALIATORY ACTIONS:

Capital formation in the form of gold and precious metals was

done not only through "spontaneous" robbery, but also in the process of

"scheduled" robbery during arrests, executions, removal to concentration

camps and other retaliatory actions. The valuables thus confiscated were

registered at the trophies reception posts of the Reich Treasury. They

came from German army units and from detention camps on the territory

of occupied countries, including the Soviet Union.

To date we have studied trophies records from the USSR and

from camps in Poland, Germany and other occupied territories where our

citizens were interned. The money and gold were transferred to the

German Reichsbank whose records also were examined. These records

provide a concrete data on the Ukrainian share of the "Nazi gold."

Currencies were recorded in Reichsmarks, but the value of jewelry was

not estimated. It was recorded as so many pieces or so many kilograms

of jewelry, and not specified whether the pieces were made of gold or

silver or some other precious metal.

The total amount of currencies and gold coins taken from the

Soviet Union was more than 1,800 million Reichsmarks. In addition, the

records show more than 1,210 kilograms of jewelry, made up of

1,123,525 individual items. The significant part of these came from

Ukraine. Almost 70,000 gold rubles and coins of other currencies were

registered with indications of their Ukrainian origin. Similarly, some

7,000 valuable items, separately recorded 588 gold items and about 110

kilograms of jewelry suggest that they came from Ukraine. But we are
406 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

convinced that the share of valuables confiscated in Ukraine is much

higher, as numerous records don’t show where the items originated.

Clearly, not all the stolen valuables reached the Reich Treasury.

But the analysis of the trophies reception post records is very important

for the establishment of appropriate parameters. Research in the archives

of the trophies reception post of the Reich Treasury (Bundesarchives in

Berlin) will continue.

RESEARCH IN UKRAINE

We continue to examine affidavits gathered by local assistance

groups of the State Emergency Commission, which would provide data

on property confiscation and on the suffering of Ukrainian population

during the German occupation.

Plans call for a compilation of a list of citizens who have had

their jewelry confiscated by the Nazis. Also, testimony and interrogation

records of persons who returned from slave labor camps and prisoner of

war camps about living conditions in Germany -- some 1,300,000 pages -

- is available in the State archives. This material came from the Security

Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

OUR CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS

1. Ukraine, where more than 600,000 Nazi victims still live,

supports the world community with regard to a fair distribution of Nazi

assets gained during the Holocaust era among the survivors of that era.

We would like to see the creation of a fund as suggested by the United

States and Great Britain for the support the victims of Nazi persecution

until the end of their days, and wish to note that the people characterized

at the London conference as "double victims" tend to die sooner. It is our

view that this problem is complex and requires a complex solution, rather

than a one-time humanitarian assistance.

2. The most urgent task for the benefit of Nazi victims – citizens

of Ukraine and other new independent states on the territory of the

former USSR – is the establishment of fair compensatory payments to

them by the Federal Republic of Germany, the successor state of the

Third Reich. This we emphatically reiterate. The payments should be

made on a non-discriminatory basis not just to one category of persons

(industrial slave laborers, for example), but to all categories of victims of
UKRAINE 407

the National-Socialist persecution, including inmates of concentration

camps, Gestapo prisoners, inhabitants of ghettos, persons compelled to

work in hard-labor factories. To accomplish this, negotiations have to be

undertaken with Germany and appropriate agreements concluded. In this

respect we look to the attention and understanding of the new German

government.

3. From Ukraine’s point of view, "Nazi Gold" should not be

defined only as stolen gold and other precious metals, but as a concept

that in a broad sense characterizes the process of the Reich’s capital

formation during the Second World War. We thus take into consideration

not only direct confiscation of valuables, but also the systematic fiscal

policy in occupied territories, use of compulsory labor and removal of

Ukraine’s material resources. This approach corresponds with the

orientation of the present conference. When we speak of "Nazi Gold" we

mean Nazi assets gained during the Holocaust.

4. Our approach to this problem may differ from those of other

European nations, but there is a reason: Ukraine had existed within the

totalitarian system of the Soviet Union. Under conditions of this system,

inhabitants of the greater part of Ukraine, on the eve of Nazi occupation,

had no property rights, no bank accounts, no assets in bank safe deposit

boxes. The only thing they were allowed to have were personal

belongings and modest savings. We should remember, however, that

during the Second World War millions of small streams of fine jewelry,

ornaments, rings, watches, crosses, tooth caps merged into a mighty river

of gold that became the Nazi assets of the Third Reich. The western

lands of Ukraine, on the other hand, which became a part of the Soviet

Union in 1939-40, did have the attributes of countries under whose rule

these lands existed until that time. It is our position, therefore, that

inhabitants of Eastern Halychyna, Bukovyna and Transnistria who

survived the war and Holocaust should be compensated the same way as

those of other European countries for their losses of bank savings,

insurance, property and the like.

5. We confirm our readiness to cooperate with the world

community in a full information exchange. Based on the principles of

open society, we will make available all the materials in our archives that

had been inaccessible before Ukraine’s independence not only to foreign,

but even domestic experts.

6. We support the idea of establishing an international archival

directory on problems of Nazi assets and we stand ready to participate in

planning such database. This directory, accessible through a world

computer network, would be a worthy representation of the world
408 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

community’s unity on the threshold of the third millennium. Moreover, it

would have not only a practical significance, but also serve as a

memorial to the victims of the Nazis and to remind the future generations

of the Nazi horrors.

7. Ukraine supports the creation of a permanent advisory body

made up of various experts, who would work on the problems of Nazi

assets.

The delegation of Ukraine has come to the Washington

conference with a fervent desire to promote practical achievements in its

work, first and foremost – a fair division of Nazi assets, fair

compensatory payments to the victims of Nazi persecution.

FIVE BASIC GROUPS OF THE ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS

- Archives of the state government bodies;

- Archives of regional government bodies;

- Archives of the invaders’ authority;

- Archives of the underground in Ukraine;

- Collections of documents.

The first group contains the instructive materials,

correspondence of the chief Party and Soviet authorities of the Ukrainian

Soviet Republic concerned with organizing the inventory of losses and

damage caused in the time of the German occupation of the territory of

republic, mass decimation of the civilians and prisoners of war,

compulsory export of products, works or goods to Germany. The

documents establishing or detaining carried out in areas of Ukraine

including enterprises, establishments, organizations, citizens; the robbery

of church property, museums, scientific and educational institutions: the

export of objects of material and cultural values to Germany, Romania,

are stored at the treasury of Council of the Peoples Commissars (CPC),

the State or dared commission attached to the Ukrainian CPC, the

Central statistical Department on the return of the equipment, property

and valuables attached to the Ukrainian CPC (1943-1947). At the

treasury of some People’s Commissars there are certifications on the

damages in various branches of the economy, health care, culture, overall

data, registers, and acts proving the damage.

The second group is submitted by the documents of regional

government bodies. Among them there are information, certifications,
UKRAINE 409

acts of regional certifications commissions of assistance to the

Emergency State commission of the USSR on the establishment and

investigation of invaders’ crimes; citizens’ petitions on the damage

caused lists of the destroyed occupied settlements, citizens put to death

or exported to Germany for slave labor; information on concentration

camps, ghetto on the territory of Ukraine, etc.

The third group of the documents - has the greatest potential

research value for studying occupation policy. It includes the

documentary materials of the ruling government bodies such as the Reich

safety services, Reich commissariat of Ukraine, Halychyna district; local

general - commissariat, local and regional authorities, material on banks,

police, different firms and organizations: the Reich Head Monetary

Department - the Trophies Service, the German Reichsbank, the

Economic banks in Ukraine, the agricultural banks, the Reich Society on

auditing the occupied enterprises of the eastern areas of the Soviet

Union, and material on concentration camps.

The fourth group includes the documents of the Ukrainian

Headquarters for underground movements (UHGM), associations, and

other groupings in which there is information on atrocities, crimes and

robberies carried out by the Nazis.

The document collections according to their origin which

characterize the Nazi regime in the occupied territory of Ukraine, the

results of investigations of crimes and damage caused by the invaders,

surveys of republican Emergency state commission concerned with the

fifth group.

In general the archival base presented contains a sufficient

volume of information to allow for scientific research of the problem.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Overview of the Washington Conference

Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during the Plenary Session: Overview of NaziConfiscated Art Issues

I want to thank all of our speakers for their extremely impressive

and well-documented presentations. The work of Jonathan Petropoulos

and Lynn Nicholas represent the outpouring of new scholarship about the

cultural consequences of the Holocaust by scholars and archivists in

many countries. We now have a better, more factual understanding

about the massive displacement of art that took place in Europe during

the Holocaust period. We know how the Nazis, in their expropriation of

artworks and other assets, took a first step toward the destruction of an

entire people. We understand the way in which well-meaning restitution

efforts after the War were ended prematurely by international political

considerations related to a focus on the Cold War.

From Mr. Kulishov's presentation, we have a renewed

appreciation of the suffering the Russian people endured during the War.

We welcome the Russian Federation’s participation in the efforts of the

international community to come to terms with issues relating to

Nazi-confiscated art. And we look forward to hearing how the Duma

exempted from its nationalization law art that the Nazis had confiscated

from religious organizations, charitable institutions, and individuals due

to their race, religion or national affiliation.

Ambassador Lauder has spoken from his perspective as a former

diplomat, as a knowledgeable collector, and as a distinguished leader in

the art world and the international Jewish community on the need for
412 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

principles and guidelines for returning Nazi-confiscated art to its rightful

owners.

Herr Bacher has explained the pioneering legislation last month

by Austria, which can serve as a model for the return of Nazi-confiscated

art. And Rusty Powell, Director of the National Gallery of Art here in

Washington, has explained the genesis of the guidelines issued by the

task force of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

When you think how much art was moved around during the

War, in the midst of the bombings and movements of whole armies, it is

amazing so much survived. It survived because there were German

officers who disobeyed the Fuehrer's orders to burn Paris; because there

were the dedicated "Monuments Men" among the Allied forces, who

managed to find millions of hidden works that were disintegrating; and

because there were civilians on both sides of the conflict who took risks

to save art from destruction because they saw it as a glory of our

civilization.

For decades, the search for Nazi-confiscated art was the lonely

effort of survivors of the Holocaust and their families, aided by

organizations devoted to their welfare. In the last few years, it has

become a serious international issue. In country after country, public

displays of this art have set off intensive controversy, touching on

sensitive memories and inflaming ancient prejudices, casting a cloud

over the international art market, threatening beneficial cultural exchange

and reopening the wounds of World War II at a time when our nations

are trying to construct new partnerships to serve us in the next century.

We must use this Conference to give new vigor to the work of

restitution, so that people who have been deprived of their property for

most of their lives can find justice. It will not be easy. Those were times

of great confusion. The provenance of much of this art is not fully clear.

Memories are fading, lives are drawing to a close. There are also

innocent purchasers involved, who also must be heard if justice is to be

served.

The purpose of our discussions at this Conference is not to blame

any nation or group of nations. Our purpose is more constructive. We

want to understand what happened to these works of art; to share the

positive steps' nations have begun to take; and to learn about the new

methods of archival research, the exciting new technologies for matching

art with claims and the useful new methods of resolving disputes without

lengthy and costly lawsuits.

Specifically, we shall discuss the general principles relating to

Nazi-confiscated art that we included in a discussion paper we provided
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 413

you during our consultations in the months preceding the Conference.

Some of these principles were inspired by the guidelines, noted by Mr.

Powell, prepared for American museums to use in dealing with

Holocaust-era art. Others reflect constructive initiatives of European

governments and museums.

I am convinced that with the background we have been provided

here, we can accept the opportunity and the responsibility to forge a

consensus around these principles and make a commitment to finish this

work.

Explanation of the Washington Conference

Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during the Break-out Session: Principles to Address

Nazi-Confiscated Art

I have been impressed - indeed I have been almost overwhelmed

- by the way this Conference has evolved so far. We have moved from

sadness and moral outrage, through a clearheaded definition of the issues

and the problems, to a strong determination to resolve the issues, with

more and more countries making commitments to do far more than what

has been done up to now.

This is especially true as regards art. I was immensely pleased

yesterday afternoon, when the chairman of the Russian delegation in

effect opened a new chapter in restitution for his country. I was also

immensely gratified as one delegation after another has committed itself

to the principles of open archives, full accounting, and international

cooperation in helping victims and their families find lost art.

The U.S. Government is very hopeful that out of our discussions

here will come a consensus on broad principles that can guide us down

this road. There are some difficult steps to take, but I hope we can take

them in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation among all nations and

all concerned institutions.

After we announced at the London Conference on Nazi Gold that

the United States would host a follow-up conference on other

Nazi-confiscated assets and that art would have a prominent place on the

agenda, the U.S. Government surveyed what was being done by various

countries and other interested parties both in Europe and in this

Hemisphere. We noted the actions being taken by a number of countries,

such as France and the Netherlands, to identify Nazi-confiscated art and,

in the case of Austria, to provide a comprehensive solution by which art
416 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

can be returned to pre-War owners, notwithstanding former legal barriers

such as the statute of limitations.

Several weeks ago, we prepared a discussion paper laying out

eleven general principles, which was used as the basis of extensive

consultations and which all of you have today. These principles are not,

in themselves, a solution. They are a means by which nations can

fashion their own solutions consistent with their own legal systems. The

principles try to capture the spirit of this Conference for nations to use in

this task.

If these principles are properly applied, the discovery of

Nazi-confiscated art will no longer be a matter of chance. Instead, there

will be an organized international effort - voluntary in nature but backed

by strong moral commitment - to search provenance and uncover stolen

art. This is a shared effort on the part of governments, NGOs, museums,

auctioneers and dealers.

Claimants who have long been ignored will be encouraged and

actively assisted in making claims. Those who research claims will no

longer find that files are closed. There will be open archives everywhere

in the world, easily usable by researchers. Issues of ownership will no

longer be decided solely by endless, expensive, winner-take-all litigation.

Instead, there will be enhanced opportunities for mediations, arbitrations

and negotiated settlements, so that the art world and cultural exchange

will be steadily freed from the taint of Nazi confiscation.

Let me add that, in light of the announcement yesterday by the

Russian Federation that it will participate in developing a database, open

archives to researchers, extend the period in which Holocaust survivors

can apply for return of their art and support the principles suggested to

this conference, I am confident that some of the greatest collections in

the world will be returned to their rightful owners and a vast storehouse

of information about other works will open up as well.

The first three principles envision a massive cooperative effort to

trace this art. We call upon museums to search the provenance of their

holdings, on governments to open up their World War 11 and related

archives to private researchers, for commercial galleries and auction

houses to seek information, document, and make available what

information they have. It is important to locate what was confiscated. It

is equally important to know what was not confiscated, or what was

restituted to the pre-War owners. The taint of "stolen art" should not be

applied to works that do not deserve it.

Researchers in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and France

are at work today tracing the provenance of artworks in their national
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 417

collections. The international auction houses have redoubled their

provenance investigations. Non-governmental organizations have

launched projects to find lost art and help survivors and their families in

the painful task of remembering what they owned and when and how it

was seized. The guidelines issued by the American Association of Art

Museum Directors and the Museum Directors Conference of the United

Kingdom call for institutions to research their collections and make them

available as well to outside researchers. These are practices that are

consistent with these principles. More and more nations are adopting

them.

The fourth principle deals with gaps and ambiguities in the

provenance of works. The vast displacement of art, the destruction of

many records and the furtive nature of the international market during

the War mean there must be some leeway in establishing provenance.

Where there is no bill of sale, a diary entry or an insurance listing might

be acceptable evidence of pre-War ownership. If a work is not on a Nazi

confiscation list, it may be in the archives of the “monuments men” or

the secret inventories of the French Resistance or in other archival

collections.

Conversely, there may be circumstantial evidence that works

were not stolen but sold at market, or restituted to families and

subsequently sold. Provenance work is not easy. But I can say from

experience that neither was it easy to trace the movement of Nazi gold.

Some said it would be impossible. Yet in two years of hard work we

were able to do it, as was the Swiss Bergier Commission.

The next three principles -- numbers 5, 6, and 7 -- deal with

publicizing the information and encouraging resolution of the issues.

They include circulating photos of the art and information about it

everywhere in the world, through the traditional media and on the new

electronic media. Maximum publicity will tell survivors and their

families if their art still exists. It will also tell the international art

community if questions still exist about a given work. I applaud the

government of France for its initiative in displaying on the Internet a

portion of the unclaimed art restituted to France by the Allied military

authorities, the so-called MNR collection. An impressive number of

other nations and non-governmental organizations are also preparing

databases and their own web sites.

The Internet is a powerful tool, but as anyone who uses it knows,

it can be overwhelming. With that in mind, we suggest the eventual

establishment, as a cooperative project, of a central registry -- in effect, a

digital collecting point -- of information about Nazi-confiscated art. This
418 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

will greatly help museums and collectors avoid acquiring stolen objects

and assist the victims of the theft in locating their losses. A number of

countries and institutions are making details of their archival holdings

and access information available on their dedicated web sites.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has

placed its finding aid to Holocaust-era art on the Internet. We encourage

all governments, museums, art dealers and other institutions to join in

this effort. On-line repositories could include lists of losses that have not

been restituted; lists of unclaimed items, and information that will help

individuals research and make claims. They should be linked for easier

access. In posting information on the Internet, institutions should bear in

mind the benefits of adhering to common standards. For example,

Object I.D., which is already gaining worldwide acceptance and is

available in many languages, sets forth minimum descriptive data for

uniquely identifying a work of art.

After existing art works have been matched with documented

losses, comes the delicate process of reconciling competing equities of

ownership to produce a just and fair solution -- the subject of the 8th and

9th principles. We can begin by recognizing that as a moral matter, we

should not apply rules designed for commercial transactions of societies

that operate under the rule of law to people whose property and very

lives were taken by one of the most profoundly illegal regimes the world

has ever known.

In this regard, the U.S. Government applauds the courageous

decision of the government of Austria to return art held in its federal

museums and collections to surviving pre-War owners and their rightful

heirs notwithstanding legal defenses. We hope other European

governments will follow Austria's example in their own way, so they can

complete the restitution process their predecessors left in abeyance after

the war.

The leadership of the art world is moving in the same direction.

The Art Dealers Association of America has flatly stated its members

will not knowingly purchase or sell Nazi-confiscated art. The guidelines

of the Museum Directors Associations, in both the United States and the

United Kingdom, call on museums not to acquire such art until

ownership questions are resolved.

Practices such as these recognize the fact that the public enjoys

works of art because they represent the highest achievements of our

civilization. They are proud of their museums and public collections.

They do not want this pride to be clouded by unresolved claims of the

Holocaust.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 419

As the desire to do justice grows stronger, we hope that

collectors of art will use the Internet to look at their holdings and then

look into their own hearts and decide what to do. They may follow the

example of two families in Brazil. One owned a Picasso, the other a

Monet. Knowing these works had passed through a wartime dealer

notorious for his dealings with the Nazis, they voluntarily put them at the

disposal of the Jewish community of Sao Paulo pending discovery of the

rightful owners.

To illustrate the 8th principle, that solutions should be flexible

and just, I commend to you the recent settlement of the disputed

ownership of a painting by Degas, "Landscape With Smokestack." The

claimant family produced a fairly clear record of ownership. The owner

had paid full value with no knowledge of the wartime provenance. Both

were in a position to wage a legal battle that could have gone on for

years. Instead, they settled on partial payment for the family and

donation of the work to the Art Institute of Chicago, where the public

could enjoy it and a label accompanying the work acknowledged both

parties. Art claims do not have to be winner-take-all propositions, which

produce prolonged struggles in the courts, and drain the resources of both

parties. In an atmosphere of good will, a wide range of solutions is there

to be found.

There are additional opportunities when the original owner is

found to have died without heirs, the subject of the ninth principle. The

art could be sold with the proceeds going to victims of the Holocaust and

Jewish communities around the world. Or it could be displayed in

museums and identified in ways that educate the public about the cultural

losses of the Holocaust.

The 10th principle states that to ensure objectivity and to

enhance public confidence in their work, commissions in this field

should have members from outside the government, such as art experts,

historians and representatives of communities which were victims of the

Holocaust and, where appropriate, distinguished persons from other

countries.

The final principle - which I suggest today for the first time -

speaks to the need to give the other principles vitality. Nations should

take specific measures to apply these principles so they can more quickly

accomplish our mutual goals. For example, they should strive to develop

internal processes, making use of alternative dispute resolution

mechanisms, to restitute looted property.

While the proceedings of the Conference will be published

shortly, they will remain open until the end of the millennium so that
420 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

nations may submit reports on the progress they have made to put these

principles into effect.

In conclusion, the most important test for any country today is

not only what it did or failed to do in the past, but what it is doing and

will do to face the past honestly and make amends for what was done.

The U.S. Government supports these principles as an action plan to

resolve a difficult, longstanding, embarrassing problem. I urge the

delegates to this Conference to form a consensus around them so that the

enthusiasm we have generated can result in real action.

The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,

"Every genuine work of art has as much reason for being as the earth and

the sea." It is to cap the glory of art with the crown of justice that we try

to finish our work today.
Art Databases and Archives

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during Break-out Session: Identification of Art,

Archives and Databases

Mr. Chairman and delegates to the Conference:

On behalf of the host delegation, I want to thank our presenters:

Connie Lowenthal of the Commission for Art Recovery, who is

using her skills to help so many individuals press their claims for return

of their property;

Ron Tauber of the Art Loss Register, who has assembled the

largest registry of stolen art in the world and has offered to make the

resources and experience of his company available to survivors and their

families without cost;

Gil Edelson, who speaks for American art dealers, who will be

so important to implementing whatever recommendations come out of

this Conference;

Konstantin Akinsha, whose patient work in Russian archives

opened a new chapter in this story and whose new Project of

Documentation of Wartime Losses is another important part of the

solution; and

Ori Soltes, whose work in the past with the Klutznick National

Jewish Museum helped to move this issue forward.

It is obvious from these presentations that technology and history

are coming together to create an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

After World War II, most of the survivors of the Holocaust were

too concerned with putting their lives back together to undertake the

difficult task of locating their stolen artworks. Much of the art displaced

during the War was presumed lost. The vast majority of the claims that

were made were not for restitution, but for monetary compensation.

Decades later, when the Cold War finally ended and archives

previously closed were opened up, we learned that some of what was

presumed to be destroyed had actually survived. The discovery of
422 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

missing art in Eastern Europe, along with the aging of the survivors

themselves, gives both new hope and new urgency to the search.

The search itself did not grow easier. It still involved going

through tens of thousands of feet of records, in many different archives,

in several different languages, in countries stretched over half the earth.

Very few survivors could afford this. Even those who could, found that

many doors were still closed and many paths led nowhere.

All that is beginning to change. What has been achieved on

gold, and the equally important progress on insurance, show that nations

want to heal the remaining wounds of World War II with speed and with

justice. You should know that the five governments comprising the

International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and

Research will present their own recommendation to the Conference that

all nations commit themselves to opening up, by the end of next year, all

public and private archives on the Holocaust in general, and Holocaust

assets in particular. I hope the Conference will make a similar

commitment to the principle of open archives and fully accessible

records on art.

I hope you will explore ways to speed up archival research on

art. An excellent example is the finding aid that has been developed by

the National Archives here in the United States. The Archives' holdings

of Nazi records, war crimes trials transcripts, and Allied Occupation

documents is vast. In it are records of the Nazi organizations engaged in

art looting; also the records of postwar restitution, including efforts to

locate looted assets. The finding aid, available on the Internet, helps

researchers who are searching for missing art and provenance

information determine what records exist, what they contain, and where

they are located. It leads them down to the right stack area, the row and

even the shelf. Archival personnel are available to offer additional

assistance.

It is possible, through the power of the new technology, to give

all survivors and their families the research capability that up to now has

been available to just a few. France has already used the Internet to

publicize the collection of unclaimed art recovered after the War that it

holds in custody. Many of you have expressed an interest in linkups, so

that someone with a documentation claim can put their information on a

website and match it against the inventories of works which were

confiscated but are still unclaimed. Or will allow those who deal in art to

check the wartime provenance of works they are interested in to see if a

documented claim exists.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 423

The web site of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum provides

listings of information on Nazi-confiscated art (www.ushmm.gov)

including the National Archives finding aid. A number of countries and

institutions are making details of their archival holdings and access

information available on their dedicated web sites, linked to this central

web site managed by the Holocaust Museum. We encourage all

governments, museums, art dealers and other institutions to join in this

effort to link information on Nazi-confiscated art and to help the long

overdue resolution of outstanding ownership issues.

All of this will require cooperation, a willingness to share data,

and careful monitoring. None of us wants this information to be used in

ways that impede the free flow of commerce or restrict cultural exchange

between nations. Nor need it. Private organizations and police

authorities look for stolen art all the time. Their efforts actually help to

stabilize the market. A speedy resolution of claims arising from Naziconfiscation will free the world of art from the uncertainty and threats of

litigation that have troubled its workings and eliminated impediments to

international cultural exchange, which benefits all out citizens.

We have the means and we have the will to bring justice after so

many years. I know your discussions, conducted in that spirit, will make

a significant contribution to that goal.

U.S. Support for the International Commission

on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during the Break-out Session: Solutions – Addressing

Claims and Providing Humanitarian Relief

The International Commission (or the IC) has the strong support

of the U.S. Government because: the IC brings together many of the

interested parties in a cooperative, non-confrontational process; the IC

includes the important survivor organizations; the IC will foster a

fact-based effort to resolve Holocaust insurance claims promptly and

fairly, and without resorting to lengthy litigation; and the IC seeks

practical solutions to resolve the issue of heirless insurance assets.

The IC is already functioning. It has had two meetings during

which much has been accomplished. The IC selected former Secretary

of State Lawrence Eagleburger as its chairman. At the November 11

meeting chaired by Mr. Eagleburger, the IC established five Working

Groups to resolve specific issues.

The insurance companies on the IC pledged $90 million as an act

of good faith. Disbursement of the $90 million will be decided either on

the basis of the claims adjudication procedures or for humanitarian relief

projects approved by the Commission.

The IC is committed to resolving all claims on the basis of

expedited claims requirements over the next two years, or less. This

timetable is far superior to lengthy litigation. The IC also has the support

of the major companies and key governments. I believe we can achieve

far more through cooperation rather than confrontation.

The International Commission has the strong support of the U.S.

Government. I hope other companies and other insurance regulators will

also join this effort. I hope this Conference can agree to express strong

support for the International Commission and urge other companies and

governments to join this process.

The Need for Others to Join the International

Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance

Claims

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during the Break-out Session: Solutions – Addressing

Claims and Providing Humanitarian Relief

We commend the six insurers that have voluntarily agreed to join

the International Commission: Allianz, Generali, AXA, Zurich,

Winterthur, and Basler.

These companies are fully committed to the IC process and are

also supporting our goals here at the Washington Conference. These

companies recognize the importance of our work here today, particularly

with respect to assuring prompt justice for Holocaust survivors. The

companies are also committed to open archives.

However, these six companies together are not the only

companies that sold policies during the Holocaust era. Indeed, these

companies estimate their market share from that era to be about 30

percent of the total.

The Washington Conference should encourage other insurers to

join the IC process. In this regard, we welcome the informal expressions

of interest by some Central and East European governments in IC. The

interest of these governments is further evidence of their commitment to

modernize and adapt their laws and markets to Western norms.

In addition, we hope that Austrian insurance companies, which

are not represented on the International Commission at this time, will

also join this process.

In this regard, Lawrence Eagleburger, the Chairman of the

International Commission, has indicated that he will be traveling to

Vienna and to Central and East European capitals to encourage others to

join this process.
428 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

The U.S. Government strongly supports this effort by Chairman

Eagleburger. I hope delegations here today will assure that former

Secretary Eagleburger is received at the highest level in your capitals.
Archival Openness

Stuart E. Eizenstat

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC, BUSINESS AND

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS

Intervention during the Break-out Session: Archives and Books

I want to thank all of my colleagues here on the panel with me

today: Thank you to Ambassador Amigues for his remarks here and I

wish to commend him for the leadership role of France in winding down

the Tripartite Gold Commission and establishing in Paris at the Foreign

Ministry the complete archives of the Commission for all to see and

examine. And, as I have gladly acknowledged in other places, I want to

thank Gill Bennett for taking the first steps more than two years ago in

beginning the reporting on Nazi gold. I also want to thank Dr. Büttner

for showing such outstanding leadership not only in seeing that the

German archives were opened but in encouraging and assisting

researchers in their use. We have also heard from Dr. Bergier, author of

the remarkably penetrating and courageous study of the role of

Switzerland and Swiss banks in the financing of the Nazi war effort; I

thank him for appearing here with us today.

I must also thank Michael Kurtz of the U.S. National Archives

and Records Administration, whose team spearheaded the massive

declassification effort that has proved so invaluable not only to the U.S.

interagency project but to all the researchers from the historical

commissions represented here. NARA archivists continue to provide

extraordinary assistance and information to the many governmental and

private researchers who have traveled to the Archives to consult

documents available nowhere else in the world.

The world has seen an amazing outpouring of scholarship on

Holocaust-era assets over the past several years. The examination of

long sequestered or neglected historical records on the tragic events of a

half century ago, taken together with greater national will in many

countries to face the often disturbing contents of these records, are

making such important research possible.
430 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

National commissions in more than 16 nations have given

structure and impetus to this research and, above all, an urgency to

complete the review soon enough to give assistance to remaining

survivors of the Nazi depredations. Working within the framework of

these commissions and their diverse mandates or more directly under the

aegis of governments and organizations, historians and other experts

have sifted through 50-year old records in central government archives,

local government records, and the private papers of individuals and

commercial organizations. The research has reached beyond national

boundaries, and it has allowed the comparison of the recollections of the

occupied and the oppressed with those of their Nazi conquerors and

oppressors. And the published results of this research has had its

national and even international audiences, and has fostered the

expectation and need for a full, unflinching account of the decisions and

events of the past as they affected both governments and individuals.

I think we all must acknowledge, with astonishment and pride,

just how much important research has been done and how many new

archival sources have been opened by the governments of the nations

committed to our common task as a result of the work of the various

national commissions. I cannot fail to mention the truly remarkable

measures taken by my own government: making available and fully

accessible to researchers by May of 1997 at the National Archives more

than 15 million pages of documents-nearly a million pages of which

were declassified almost on the spot to facilitate their public availability.

And the work has gone forward without pause at the National Archives

with new and important files being found, described, and made available

for research.

Despite the rising tide of research in archives and collections

around the world on monetary gold and financial assets of various sorts,

some subjects remain to be examined with the same authority and

thoroughness. Some of these subjects-like looted art and other cultural

objects and insurance policies-are uniquely difficult to subject to clear

and unambiguous accounting. We are trying at this Conference to

advance our international understanding of the dimensions of these

matters. The full disclosure of the historical record on these complex

issues and others, such as communal property, requires a further,

continuous effort to open and make broadly accessible to researchers the

wide range of historical sources from which judgments can be made and

justice can arise.

Much has been done to at last open the record of the past, but

much remains to be done by governments and institutions that retain
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 431

some portion of the shared recollection of the events of 50 years ago.

There are files and collections still to be found and identified; there are

files and archives to which access must be made more responsive to the

reasonable needs of researchers, and there are files and collections that

must be declassified and exposed to the light of scholarly scrutiny.

The International Task Force on Holocaust Education,

Remembrance and Research is presenting a declaration that calls on all

nations participating in the conference to join in taking steps to ensure

the fullest possible openness and accessibility of archives bearing on the

fate of Nazi looted assets. The opening of these archives by the end of

next year should be the target of all of us participating here. As we enter

the new millennium, we must reaffirm and reinforce the commitment of

humanity to learn from its history.

WORLD JEWISH RESTITUTION

ORGANIZATION

Report of the W.J.R.O.

Jerusalem, November 1, 1998

Submitted by

Ambassador Naphtali Lavie

VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE

The World Jewish Restitution Organization which was

established at the end of 1992 by nine major world Jewish organizations,

in coordination with the Government of Israel, engaged eight

governments of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe in negotiations for

the restitution of Jewish communal and public properties which were

confiscated and/or nationalized by the Nazi occupation regime and by

the Communist authorities. Unfortunately, most of the respective

governments demonstrated a negative attitude toward the claims WJRO

presented.

POLAND:

In May 1993, WJRO started its operations in Warsaw, at

meetings with representatives of the Government of Poland, in

coordination with the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in this

country. Since then WJRO negotiated with five consecutive governments

in Poland. WJRO requested the Polish government to enact a law in

favor of restitution of the communal and public properties which

belonged to over 1500 Jewish communities in Poland prior to September

1, 1939, similar to the laws enacted in favor of the various Christian

denominations.
434 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

In February 1997, the Polish Parliament enacted a law regulating

the relations of the State and the Jewish Communities, which includes a

chapter dealing with the restitution of Jewish properties. However this

chapter is far from satisfying the basic claims of the Jewish

Communities. Moreover, the attempts to settle the restitution issue within

the abovementioned law negates all the possibilities to claim and receive

the vast number of properties, which for many years served the 3.5

million Jews of Poland, about 10% of the total population of Poland. In

March 1946, the Polish Government appropriated these properties

according to a Government decree, which transferred to the Government

the ownership of all properties defined as enemy property, which is

Jewish property the Government inherited from the Nazi occupants of

Poland, who confiscated it from the legitimate Jewish owners.

Two memorandums protesting the negative attitude of this law

were submitted to the Government of Poland in 1997, and in 1998, by

WJRO and the World Federation of Polish Jews. Until this date no

response has been received.

WJRO compiled a list of approximately 6000 communal

properties such as synagogues, schools, hospitals, senior citizens’ homes,

orphanages and other institutions of religious, cultural and social services

which belonged to the Jewish Community but the Polish Government

ignores this claim. Instead, the government recognizes the rights of the

existing nine remnant communities and the Union of these communities

to file claims to regulatory committees which have been established for

the purpose of restitution. Until the end of October 1998, less than one

hundred claims have been dealt with and only a few of them have been

finalized and returned to Jewish ownership.

THE CZECH REPUBLIC:

In the Czech Republic (Bohemia and Moravia) there existed

before W.W.II a vibrant Jewish Community of approximately 100,000

people. Today there are less than 3000 Jews in the whole Czech

Republic.

Taking a slightly different approach of the one demonstrated by

Poland, the Government of the Czech Republic was more flexible in

accepting a small number of claims submitted by the local Jewish

Community. The Community claimed approximately 200 properties

hoping that by minimizing its claim the Government will be willing to

restitute this number of properties in spite of the fact that WJRO has
WORLD JEWISH RESTITUTION ORGANIZATION 435

prepared a list of over 1000 communal and public properties which

belonged to the Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic in 1939. So

far only a small number of communal properties have been restituted.

SLOVAKIA:

The Jewish population in Slovakia numbered about 120,000

before W.W.II. Today there are 14 Jewish Communities in Slovakia with

a population of approximately 2000 Jews.

The Slovak Government was more forthcoming than its previous

partner in the Czechoslovak Federation, the Czech Republic. The

Government of Slovakia enacted in November 1993, a law for the

restitution of Jewish communal properties which is almost identical to

the law enacted in favor of the various Christian denominations in

Slovakia.

WJRO in coordination with the local Jewish Communities

prepared a list of nearly 1000 communal and public properties belonging

to the Jewish Community in Slovakia. The Federation of Jewish

Communities in Bratislava submitted claims of over 800 properties

including cemeteries, but only 360 have been restituted, most of them

cemeteries. Some 250 cases are pending ruling of the local courts.

HUNGARY:

WJRO together with the Federation of the Jewish Communities

submitted a list which constituted about 3000 communal properties in the

country which served the Jewish Communities of a population of nearly

700,000 Jews before the Holocaust. Today the estimates of the existing

Jewish Community in Hungary are between 70,000 and 110,000 Jews.

After many attempts by WJRO, made in coordination with the

Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary, with previous

governments in Hungary, the last government in Budapest agreed to

regulate the issue of restitution of communal and public Jewish

properties within a law enacted in parliament which called for the

establishment of a joint Foundation for restitution. The Foundation, with

the participation of representatives of the Hungarian Government, the

local Jewish Communities and Organizations and WJRO, began its

operations some months ago but at this stage less than ten properties

have been restituted to this Foundation.
436 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Recently, on October 1, 1998, the Hungarian Government signed

an agreement with the Jewish Community to settle the claim of the

community for communal real estate. According to the settlement the

Jewish Community will waive its claim of 152 properties, value of

HUF13,511 billion ($60,000,000) and in return will receive a

government annual allocation of about $3 million, for religious,

educational and charitable activities of the community.

The agreement does not refer to the list of 3000 communal

properties WJRO together with the Jewish Community submitted to the

Government already in 1995.

ROMANIA:

An agreement had been reached between WJRO and the

Government of Romania in September 1997 to establish a joint

Foundation by WJRO and the Federation of Jewish Communities in

Romania. This Foundation is entitled to claim and to receive the

properties that belonged to the Jewish Communities. According to the

list WJRO prepared, there are approximately 3000 communal properties

in Romania which belonged to the Communities and served their needs

at the time where there were over 800,000 Jews in Romania. Some

400,000 Jews of Romania survived the Holocaust and most of them

immigrated to Israel. Only about 12,000 Jews live today in Romania. The

Foundation which was established by WJRO and the Federation of

Jewish Communities in Romania has been registered in the Court in

Bucharest according to the Romanian law, and at present, October 1998,

over 20 properties are in the process of being transferred to the

ownership to the Foundation.

THE UKRAINE:

Several attempts were made in the last five years to convince the

Government of the Ukraine to restitute the Jewish communal properties

which were left in the Ukraine. The President of WJRO, Mr. Edgar M.

Bronfman, and the Chairman of the Executive, Dr. Israel Singer, met

with the former President and the current President of the Ukraine and

discussed at length the moral and legal claim to the communal properties

in the Ukraine, but no positive results have been reached.
WORLD JEWISH RESTITUTION ORGANIZATION 437

In January 1995, Vice Chairman of WJRO Naphtali Lavie, and

Chairman of the Jewish Community in Ukraine, Joseph Zissel, submitted

a memorandum to Deputy Prime Minister, Prof. Ivan Kuras, claiming the

restitution of Jewish communal property, but no response has been

received.

Since there are today in the Ukraine approximately 300,000

compared to about 2 million Jews who lived in that area (including

Eastern Poland and parts of Romania that were annexed by the Ukraine),

the government gave back a small number of synagogues to the existing

Jewish Communities, but there is no positive attitude of this government

to restitute the Jewish properties that served the local communities.

CROATIA:

Several attempts made by WJRO to the government of Croatia

have not produced any results. The Government of Croatia holds on to

Jewish communal properties and is not willing to negotiate any possible

solution to this problem.

ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA:

The Government of Estonia is forthcoming on its own initiative

towards the claims of the Jewish Community, which numbers

approximately 2,500 Jews, for its few properties.

The Latvian Government, as well, is positive in its attitude

toward individual claims for restitution. According to the existing law,

which passed legislation in the Latvian Government in 1989, every

person who possessed private property in Latvia can claim and receive

the property without any limitations, unlike the procedures practiced in

Poland and the Czech Republic where individuals can claim their

property only if they prove their citizenship and residency in the country.

As for communal and public properties the Latvian Government

expressed its willingness to restitute such properties by a joint

Foundation to be established by WJRO and the local Jewish

Communities, which number about 15,000 Jews out of about 100,000

who lived there before W.W.II.

The situation in Lithuania is rather negative compared to the one

in Latvia. Of a population of about 250,000 Jews who lived in Lithuania

before the war, there are today between 5,000 to 7,000 Jews living in
438 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST-ERA ASSETS

Lithuania. The Lithuanian Government did not respond positively to

attempts being made by representatives of WJRO who negotiated with

the Government, in Vilnius and in Jerusalem.

NORWAY:

Unlike other countries in Europe, which were and still are

reluctant to deal positively with restitution claims, the Government of

Norway demonstrated a constructive attitude toward the claims presented

by the Jewish Community and WJRO.

Last month the Norwegian government submitted to the

Parliament a bill concerning a restitution package which will allocate $60

million to Holocaust survivors, for the Jewish Community, for projects

of Jewish heritage and for the establishment of a center for tolerance, to

fight racism and anti-Semitism. This government decision was made

following appeals by the local Jewish community and WJRO and

ongoing negotiations during the last two years.