III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 153 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of or compensation 

for property seized during the Nazi and Communist eras. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2009 

Mr. NELSON of Florida (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. 

KAUFMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 16, 2009 

Ordered reported by Mr. KERRY without amendment 

JUNE 18, 2009 

Considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of 

or compensation for property seized during the Nazi 

and Communist eras. 

Whereas many Eastern European countries were dominated 

for parts of the last century by Nazi or Communist regimes, without the consent of their people; 

Whereas victims under the Nazi regime included individuals 

persecuted or targeted for persecution by the Nazi or 

Nazi-allied governments based on their religious, ethnic, 

or cultural identity, as well as their political beliefs, sexual orientation, or disability; 


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Whereas the Nazi regime and the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that emerged in Eastern Europe after 

World War II perpetuated the wrongful and unjust confiscation of property belonging to the victims of Nazi persecution, including real property, personal property, and 

financial assets; 

Whereas communal and religious property was an early target of the Nazi regime and, by expropriating churches, 

synagogues and other community-controlled property, the 

Nazis denied religious communities the temporal facilities 

that held those communities together; 

Whereas after World War II, Communist regimes expanded 

the systematic expropriation of communal and religious 

property in an effort to eliminate the influence of religion; 

Whereas many insurance companies that issued policies in 

pre-World War II Eastern Europe were nationalized or 

had their subsidiary assets nationalized by Communist 

regimes; 

Whereas such nationalized companies and those with nationalized subsidiaries have generally not paid the proceeds 

or compensation due on pre-war policies, because control 

of those companies or their Eastern European subsidiaries had passed to their respective governments; 

Whereas Eastern European countries involved in these nationalizations have not participated in a compensation 

process for Holocaust-era insurance policies for victims of 

Nazi persecution; 

Whereas the protection of and respect for private property 

rights is a basic principle for all democratic governments 

that operate according to the rule of law; 


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Whereas the rule of law and democratic norms require that 

the activity of governments and their administrative 

agencies be exercised in accordance with the laws passed 

by their parliaments or legislatures, and such laws themselves must be consistent with international human rights 

standards; 

Whereas in July 2001, the Paris Declaration of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 

Parliamentary Assembly noted that the process of restitution, compensation, and material reparation of victims 

of Nazi persecution has not been pursued with the same 

degree of comprehensiveness by all of the OSCE participating states; 

Whereas the OSCE participating states have agreed to 

achieve or maintain full recognition and protection of all 

types of property, including private property and the 

right to prompt, just, and effective compensation for private property that is taken for public use; 

Whereas the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has called on 

the participating states to ensure that they implement 

appropriate legislation to secure the restitution of or 

compensation for property losses of victims of Nazi persecution, including communal organizations and institutions, irrespective of the current citizenship or place of 

residence of the victims, their heirs, or the relevant successors to communal property; 

Whereas Congress passed resolutions in the 104th and 105th 

Congresses that emphasized the longstanding support of 

the United States for the restitution of or compensation 

for property wrongly confiscated during the Nazi and 

Communist eras; 


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Whereas certain post-Communist countries in Europe have 

taken steps toward compensating victims of Nazi persecution whose property was confiscated by the Nazis or 

their allies and collaborators during World War II or 

subsequently seized by Communist governments; 

Whereas at the 1998 Washington Conference on HolocaustEra Assets, 44 countries adopted the Principles on NaziConfiscated Art to guide the restitution of looted artwork 

and cultural property; 

Whereas the Government of Lithuania has promised to adopt 

an effective legal framework to provide for the restitution 

of or compensation for wrongly confiscated communal 

property, but so far has not done so; 

Whereas successive governments in Poland have promised to 

adopt an effective general property compensation law, but 

the current government has yet to adopt one; 

Whereas the legislation providing for the restitution of or 

compensation for wrongly confiscated property in Europe 

has, in various instances, not always been implemented in 

an effective, transparent, and timely manner; 

Whereas such legislation is of the utmost importance in returning or compensating property wrongfully seized by 

totalitarian or authoritarian governments to its rightful 

owners; 

Whereas compensation and restitution programs can never 

bring back to Holocaust survivors what was taken from 

them, or in any way make up for their suffering; and 

Whereas there are Holocaust survivors, now in the twilight of 

their lives, who are impoverished and in urgent need of 

assistance, lacking the resources to support basic needs, 


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including adequate shelter, food, or medical care: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) appreciates the efforts of those European 

3 countries that have enacted legislation for the res4 titution of or compensation for private, communal, 

5 and religious property wrongly confiscated during 

6 the Nazi or Communist eras, and urges each of 

7 those countries to ensure that the legislation is effec8 tively and justly implemented; 

9 (2) welcomes the efforts of many post-Com10 munist countries to address the complex and dif11 ficult question of the status of confiscated prop12 erties, and urges those countries to ensure that their 

13 restitution or compensation programs are imple14 mented in a timely, non-discriminatory manner; 

15 (3) urges the Government of Poland and the 

16 governments of other countries in Europe that have 

17 not already done so to immediately enact fair, com18 prehensive, non-discriminatory, and just legislation 

19 so that victims of Nazi persecution (or the heirs or 

20 successors of such persons) who had their private 

21 property looted and wrongly confiscated by the 

22 Nazis during World War II and subsequently seized 

23 by a Communist government are able to obtain eiVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:40 Jun 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR153.ATS SR153

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1 ther restitution of their property or, where restitu2 tion is not possible, fair compensation; 

3 (4) urges the Government of Lithuania and the 

4 governments of other countries in Europe that have 

5 not already done so to immediately enact fair, com6 prehensive, non-discriminatory, and just legislation 

7 so that communities that had communal and reli8 gious property looted and wrongly confiscated by the 

9 Nazis during World War II and subsequently seized 

10 by a Communist government (or the relevant succes11 sors to such property or the relevant foundations) 

12 are able to obtain either restitution of their property 

13 or, where restitution is not possible, fair compensa14 tion; 

15 (5) urges the countries of Europe which have 

16 not already done so to ensure that all such restitu17 tion and compensation legislation is established in 

18 accordance with principles of justice and provides a 

19 simple, transparent, and prompt process, so that it 

20 results in a tangible benefit to those surviving vic21 tims of Nazi persecution who suffered from the un22 just confiscation of their property, many of whom 

23 are well into their senior years; 

24 (6) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

25 State to engage in an open dialogue with leaders of 


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1 those countries that have not already enacted such 

2 legislation to support the adoption of legislation re3 quiring the fair, comprehensive, and nondiscrim4 inatory restitution of or compensation for private, 

5 communal, and religious property that was seized 

6 and confiscated during the Nazi and Communist 

7 eras; and 

8 (7) welcomes the decision by the Government of 

9 the Czech Republic to host in June 2009 an inter10 national conference for governments and non-govern11 mental organizations to continue the work done at 

12 the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era 

13 Assets, which will— 

14 (A) address the issues of restitution of or 

15 compensation for real property, personal prop16 erty (including art and cultural property), and 

17 financial assets wrongfully confiscated by the 

18 Nazis or their allies and collaborators and sub19 sequently wrongfully confiscated by Communist 

20 regimes; 

21 (B) review issues related to the opening of 

22 archives and the work of historical commissions, 

23 review progress made, and focus on the next 

24 steps required on these issues; and 


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1 (C) examine social welfare issues related to 

2 the needs of Holocaust survivors, and identify 

3 methods and resources to meet to such needs. 

Æ 


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