I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1193 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. WEST, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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, and 

for other purposes. 


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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Holocaust Rail Justice 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

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

9 Jews and thousands of other persons were deported 

10 from France to Nazi concentration camps, on trains 

11 operated for profit by the Socie ́te ́ Nationale des Che12 mins de fer Franc ̧ais (in this Act referred to as 

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

14 Buchenwald. Numerous citizens and residents of the 

15 United States were among those who were on the 

16 trains or had relatives on the trains. United States 

17 servicemen who were pilots shot down over France 

18 were also among the persons deported on the SNCF 

19 trains to Nazi concentration camps. 

20 (2) United States citizens and others have 

21 sought redress against SNCF by filing a class action 

22 suit in the United States District Court for the 

23 Eastern District of New York. The named plaintiffs 

24 and class members include United States Army Air 

25 Force pilots and United States citizens. 


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

2 separate corporate entity that remained independent 

3 during World War II, operated the deportation 

4 trains for a profit, as ordinary commercial trans5 actions. SNCF remained under French civilian con6 trol throughout World War II and is alleged to have 

7 collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime. 

8 (4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided 

9 the necessary rolling stock, scheduled the depar10 tures, and supplied the employees to operate the 

11 trains bound for the concentration camps. SNCF al12 legedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare for 

13 the deportations, calculated per person and per kilo14 meter, and considered these trains as ordinary com15 mercial activities. The plaintiffs further contend that 

16 SNCF herded as many people as possible into each 

17 car, requiring passengers of all ages and sexes, in18 cluding the elderly and young children, to stand 

19 throughout the trip of several days’ duration, with 

20 no provision for food or water and no sanitary facili21 ties. The complaint further alleges that SNCF 

22 cleaned the trains after each trip, removing the 

23 corpses of persons who perished during transit due 

24 to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The 

25 destination was in each case a camp in which the deVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:05 Mar 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1193.IH H1193

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1 portees were to be exterminated, worked to death, or 

2 made to suffer terrible and inhuman conditions. 

3 (5) The complaint contends that SNCF’s ac4 tions violated the Principles of the Nuremberg Tri5 bunal, 1950, relating to crimes under international 

6 law (earlier recognized by the Martens Clause of the 

7 Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and abet8 ted the commission of war crimes and crimes against 

9 humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has 

10 never disgorged the money that it was paid for the 

11 deportations or otherwise compensated the deportees 

12 or their heirs. 

13 (6) SNCF’s records concerning the deportation 

14 trains have not been made available to the plaintiffs, 

15 and SNCF archives concerning its wartime activities 

16 are not accessible to the general public. 

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

18 claim of sovereign immunity under the foreign sov19 ereign immunities provisions of title 28, United 

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

21 even though it is one of the 500 largest corporations 

22 in the world, earns hundreds of millions of dollars 

23 from its commercial activities in the United States, 

24 and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the 

25 laws of France. SNCF’s motion to dismiss the lawVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:05 Mar 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1193.IH H1193

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1 suit was granted by the United States District Court 

2 for the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiffs ap3 pealed the decision, their appeal was granted, and 

4 the case was remanded for further proceedings. Sub5 sequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. 

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

7 on remand, the Court of Appeals for the Second Cir8 cuit recalled its prior mandate and determined that 

9 SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the 

10 dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stat11 ed that ‘‘the railroad’s conduct at the time lives on 

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

13 the French national railroad’s former private mas14 ters in knowingly transporting thousands to death 

15 camps during World War II are not susceptible to 

16 legal redress in Federal court today.’’. 

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

18 historical facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi 

19 concentration camps, presents issues of substantial 

20 importance to citizens and veterans of the United 

21 States. Many of those who have sought redress 

22 against SNCF are elderly and would have difficulty 

23 traveling outside the United States in order to pur24 sue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United 

25 States are and should be a proper forum for this 


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1 lawsuit. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 

2 1976, which had not been enacted at the time of 

3 SNCF’s actions during World War II, was not in4 tended to bar suit against the SNCF. 

5 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO UNITED STATES COURTS FOR HOLO6 CAUST DEPORTEES. 

7 (a) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.—The 

8 United States district courts shall have original jurisdic9 tion, without regard to the amount in controversy, of any 

10 civil action for damages for personal injury or death 

11 that— 

12 (1) arose from the deportation of persons to 

13 Nazi concentration camps during the period begin14 ning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 

15 31, 1944; and 

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

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

18 (A) owned or operated the trains on which 

19 the persons were so deported; and 

20 (B) was organized as a separate legal enti21 ty at the time of the deportation, whether or 

22 not any of the equity interest in the railroad 

23 was owned by a foreign state. 

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

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


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1 or any other law limiting the jurisdiction of the United 

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

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

4 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF STATUTES OF LIMITA5 TION.—An action described in subsection (a) shall not be 

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

7 has expired under a statute of limitations. 

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

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

10 commenced on or after that date. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 In furtherance of international education relating to 

13 the Holocaust and in light of historic and continuing Anti14 Semitism in Europe and throughout the world, the Sec15 retary of State shall submit to the Congress, not later than 

16 the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act, a report describing the extent to which the 

18 public has access to records, including archived informa19 tion, of any railroad described in section 2(a)(2) with re20 spect to the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration 

21 camps during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, 

22 and ending on December 31, 1944, on trains owned or 

23 operated by that railroad. 

Æ 


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