I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1564

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 13, 1997

Referred to the Committee on International Relations

AN ACT

To provide redress for inadequate restitution of assets seized

by the United States Government during World War

II which belonged to victims of the Holocaust, and for

other purposes.

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 Victims Re5 dress Act’’.
2

S 1564 RFH

1 TITLE I—HEIRLESS ASSETS

2 SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

4 (1) Among the $198,000,000 in German assets

5 located in the United States and seized by the Unit6 ed States Government in World War II were believed

7 to be bank accounts, trusts, securities, or other as8 sets belonging to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

9 (2) Among an estimated $1,200,000,000 in as10 sets of Swiss nationals and institutions which were

11 frozen by the United States Government during

12 World War II (including over $400,000,000 in bank

13 deposits) were assets whose beneficial owners were

14 believed to include victims of the Holocaust.

15 (3) In the aftermath of the war, the Congress

16 recognized that some of the victims of the Holocaust

17 whose assets were among those seized or frozen dur18 ing the war might not have any legal heirs, and leg19 islation was enacted to authorize the transfer of up

20 to $3,000,000 of such assets to organizations dedi21 cated to providing relief and rehabilitation for survi22 vors of the Holocaust.

23 (4) Although the Congress and the Administra24 tion authorized the transfer of such amount to the

25 relief organizations referred to in paragraph (3), the
3

S 1564 RFH

1 enormous administrative difficulties and cost in2 volved in proving legal ownership of such assets, di3 rectly or beneficially, by victims of the Holocaust,

4 and proving the existence or absence of heirs of such

5 victims, led the Congress in 1962 to agree to a

6 lump-sum settlement and to provide $500,000 for

7 the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization of

New York, such sum amounting to 1 8 ⁄6th of the au9 thorized maximum level of ‘‘heirless’’ assets to be

10 transferred.

11 (5) In June of 1997, a representative of the

12 Secretary of State, in testimony before the Congress,

13 urged the reconsideration of the limited $500,000

14 settlement.

15 (6) While a precisely accurate accounting of

16 ‘‘heirless’’ assets may be impossible, good conscience

17 warrants the recognition that the victims of the Hol18 ocaust have a compelling moral claim to the

19 unrestituted portion of assets referred to in para20 graph (3).

21 (7) Furthermore, leadership by the United

22 States in meeting obligations to Holocaust victims

23 would strengthen—

24 (A) the efforts of the United States to

25 press for the speedy distribution of the remain-
4

S 1564 RFH

1 ing nearly 6 metric tons of gold still held by the

2 Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of

3 Monetary Gold (the body established by France,

4 Great Britain, and the United States at the end

5 of World War II to return gold looted by Nazi

6 Germany to the central banks of countries occu7 pied by Germany during the war); and

8 (B) the appeals by the United States to

9 the 15 nations claiming a portion of such gold

10 to contribute a substantial portion of any such

11 distribution to Holocaust survivors in recogni12 tion of the recently documented fact that the

13 gold held by the Commission includes gold sto14 len from individual victims of the Holocaust.

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol16 lows:

17 (1) To provide a measure of justice to survivors

18 of the Holocaust all around the world while they are

19 still alive.

20 (2) To authorize the appropriation of an

21 amount which is at least equal to the present value

22 of the difference between the amount which was au23 thorized to be transferred to successor organizations

24 to compensate for assets in the United States of

25 heirless victims of the Holocaust and the amount ac-
5

S 1564 RFH

1 tually paid in 1962 to the Jewish Restitution Suc2 cessor Organization of New York for that purpose.

3 (3) To facilitate efforts by the United States to

4 seek an agreement whereby nations with claims

5 against gold held by the Tripartite Commission for

6 the Restitution of Monetary Gold would contribute

7 all, or a substantial portion, of that gold to chari8 table organizations to assist survivors of the Holo9 caust.

10 SEC. 102. DISTRIBUTIONS BY THE TRIPARTITE GOLD COM11 MISSION.

12 (a) DIRECTIONS TO THE PRESIDENT.—The Presi13 dent shall direct the commissioner representing the United

14 States on the Tripartite Commission for the Restitution

15 of Monetary Gold, established pursuant to Part III of the

16 Paris Agreement on Reparation, to seek and vote for a

17 timely agreement under which all signatories to the Paris

18 Agreement on Reparation, with claims against the mone19 tary gold pool in the jurisdiction of such Commission, con20 tribute all, or a substantial portion, of such gold to chari21 table organizations to assist survivors of the Holocaust.

22 (b) AUTHORITY TO OBLIGATE THE UNITED

23 STATES.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds otherwise unob25 ligated in the Treasury of the United States, the
6

S 1564 RFH

1 President is authorized to obligate subject to para2 graph (2) an amount not to exceed $30,000,000 for

3 distribution in accordance with subsections (a) and

4 (b).

5 (2) CONFORMANCE WITH BUDGET ACT RE6 QUIREMENT.—Any budget authority contained in

7 paragraph (1) shall be effective only to such extent

8 and in such amounts as are provided in advance in

9 appropriation Acts.

10 SEC. 103. FULFILLMENT OF OBLIGATION OF THE UNITED

11 STATES.

12 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the President such

14 sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1998, 1999,

15 and 2000, not to exceed a total of $25,000,000 for all

16 such fiscal years, for distribution to organizations as may

17 be specified in any agreement concluded pursuant to sec18 tion 102.

19 (b) ARCHIVAL RESEARCH.—There are authorized to

20 be appropriated to the President $5,000,000 for archival

21 research and translation services to assist in the restitu22 tion of assets looted or extorted from victims of the Holo23 caust and such other activities that would further Holo24 caust remembrance and education.
7

S 1564 RFH

1 TITLE II—WORKS OF ART

2 SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

3 Congress finds as follows:

4 (1) Established pre-World War II principles of

5 international law, as enunciated in Articles 47 and

6 56 of the Regulations annexed to the 1907 Hague

7 Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs

8 of War on Land, prohibited pillage and the seizure

9 of works of art.

10 (2) In the years since World War II, inter11 national sanctions against confiscation of works of

12 art have been amplified through such conventions as

13 the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting

14 and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Trans15 fer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which forbids

16 the illegal export of art work and calls for its earliest

17 possible restitution to its rightful owner.

18 (3) In defiance of the 1907 Hague Convention,

19 the Nazis extorted and looted art from individuals

20 and institutions in countries it occupied during

21 World War II and used such booty to help finance

22 their war of aggression.

23 (4) The Nazis’ policy of looting art was a criti24 cal element and incentive in their campaign of geno25 cide against individuals of Jewish and other religious
8

S 1564 RFH

1 and cultural heritage and, in this context, the Holo2 caust, while standing as a civil war against defined

3 individuals and civilized values, must be considered

4 a fundamental aspect of the world war unleashed on

5 the continent.

6 (5) Hence, the same international legal prin7 ciples applied among states should be applied to art

8 and other assets stolen from victims of the Holo9 caust.

10 (6) In the aftermath of the war, art and other

11 assets were transferred from territory previously

12 controlled by the Nazis to the Union of Soviet So13 cialist Republics, much of which has not been re14 turned to rightful owners.

15 SEC. 202. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING RESTITU16 TION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY, SUCH AS

17 WORKS OF ART.

18 It is the sense of the Congress that consistent with

19 the 1907 Hague Convention, all governments should un20 dertake good faith efforts to facilitate the return of private

21 and public property, such as works of art, to the rightful

22 owners in cases where assets were confiscated from the
9

S 1564 RFH

1 claimant during the period of Nazi rule and there is rea2 sonable proof that the claimant is the rightful owner.

Passed the Senate November 13, 1997.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.