I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4237 

To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial 

forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against 

any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration camps 

on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs and 

survivors of such persons. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2009 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. NADLER of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide 

an impartial forum for claims brought by United States 

citizens and others against any railroad organized as 

a separate legal entity, arising from the deportation of 

United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration 

camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, 

and by the heirs and survivors of such persons. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) During World War II, more than 75,000 

2 Jews and thousands of other persons were deported 

3 from France to Nazi concentration camps, on trains 

4 operated for profit by the Socie ́te ́ Nationale des Che5 mins de fer Franc ̧ais (in this Act referred to as 

6 ‘‘SNCF’’), including deportations to Auschwitz and 

7 Buchenwald. Numerous citizens and residents of the 

8 United States were among those who were on the 

9 trains or had relatives on the trains. United States 

10 servicemen who were pilots shot down over France 

11 were also among the persons deported on the SNCF 

12 trains to Nazi concentration camps. 

13 (2) United States citizens and others have 

14 sought redress against SNCF by filing a class action 

15 suit in the United States District Court for the 

16 Eastern District of New York. The named plaintiffs 

17 and class members include United States Army Air 

18 Force pilots and United States citizens. 

19 (3) The complaint filed alleges that SNCF, a 

20 separate corporate entity that remained independent 

21 during World War II, operated the deportation 

22 trains for a profit, as ordinary commercial trans23 actions. SNCF remained under French civilian con24 trol throughout World War II and is alleged to have 

25 collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime. 


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1 (4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided 

2 the necessary rolling stock, scheduled the depar3 tures, and supplied the employees to operate the 

4 trains bound for the concentration camps. SNCF al5 legedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare for 

6 the deportations, calculated per person and per kilo7 meter, and considered these trains as ordinary com8 mercial activities. The plaintiffs further contend that 

9 SNCF herded as many people as possible into each 

10 car, requiring passengers of all ages and sexes, in11 cluding the elderly and young children, to stand 

12 throughout the trip of several days’ duration, with 

13 no provision for food or water and no sanitary facili14 ties. The complaint further alleges that SNCF 

15 cleaned the trains after each trip, removing the 

16 corpses of persons who perished during transit due 

17 to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The 

18 destination was in each case a camp in which the de19 portees were to be exterminated, worked to death, or 

20 made to suffer terrible and inhuman conditions. 

21 (5) The complaint contends that SNCF’s ac22 tions violated the Principles of the Nuremberg Tri23 bunal, 1950, relating to crimes under international 

24 law (earlier recognized by the Martens Clause of the 

25 Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and abetVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:11 Dec 09, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4237.IH H4237

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1 ted the commission of war crimes and crimes against 

2 humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has 

3 never disgorged the money that it was paid for the 

4 deportations or otherwise compensated the deportees 

5 or their heirs. 

6 (6) SNCF’s records concerning the deportation 

7 trains have not been made available to the plaintiffs, 

8 and SNCF archives concerning its wartime activities 

9 remain closed to the general public. 

10 (7) SNCF moved to dismiss the lawsuit on a 

11 claim of sovereign immunity under the foreign sov12 ereign immunities provisions of title 28, United 

13 States Code (28 U.S.C. 1330 and 1602 et seq.), 

14 even though it is one of the 500 largest corporations 

15 in the world, earns hundreds of millions of dollars 

16 from its commercial activities in the United States, 

17 and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the 

18 laws of France. SNCF’s motion to dismiss the law19 suit was granted by the United States District Court 

20 for the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiffs ap21 pealed the decision, their appeal was granted, and 

22 the case was remanded for further proceedings. Sub23 sequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. 

24 Altmann, 541 U.S. 677 (2004), in November 2004, 

25 on remand, the Court of Appeals for the Second CirVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:11 Dec 09, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4237.IH H4237

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1 cuit recalled its prior mandate and determined that 

2 SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the 

3 dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stat4 ed that ‘‘the railroad’s conduct at the time lives on 

5 in infamy’’ but concluded that ‘‘the evil actions of 

6 the French national railroad’s former private mas7 ters in knowingly transporting thousands to death 

8 camps during World War II are not susceptible to 

9 legal redress in Federal court today.’’. 

10 (8) This lawsuit, which arises from the unique 

11 historical facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi 

12 concentration camps, presents issues of substantial 

13 importance to citizens and veterans of the United 

14 States. Many of those who have sought redress 

15 against SNCF are elderly and would have difficulty 

16 traveling outside the United States in order to pur17 sue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United 

18 States are and should be a proper forum for this 

19 lawsuit. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 

20 1976, which had not been enacted at the time of 

21 SNCF’s actions during World War II, was not in22 tended to bar suit against the SNCF. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO UNITED STATES COURTS FOR HOLO2 CAUST DEPORTEES. 

3 (a) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.—The 

4 United States district courts shall have original jurisdic5 tion, without regard to the amount in controversy, of any 

6 civil action for damages for personal injury or death 

7 that— 

8 (1) arose from the deportation of persons to 

9 Nazi concentration camps during the period begin10 ning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 

11 31, 1944; and 

12 (2) is brought by any such person, or any heir 

13 or survivor of such person, against a railroad that— 

14 (A) owned or operated the trains on which 

15 the persons were so deported; and 

16 (B) was organized as a separate legal enti17 ty at the time of the deportation, whether or 

18 not any of the equity interest in the railroad 

19 was owned by a foreign state. 

20 (b) OTHER LAWS NOT APPLICABLE.—Sections 1330 

21 and 1601 through 1611 of title 28, United States Code, 

22 or any other law limiting the jurisdiction of the United 

23 States courts, whether by statute or under common law, 

24 shall not preclude any action under subsection (a). 

25 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF STATUTES OF LIMITA26 TION.—An action described in subsection (a) shall not be 


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1 barred by a defense that the time for bringing such action 

2 has expired under a statute of limitations. 

3 (d) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to any 

4 action pending on January 1, 2002, and to any action 

5 commenced on or after that date. 

Æ 


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