I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1505 

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 

APRIL 11, 2013 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, 

Ms. BASS, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, and Mr. 

WEBER of Texas) 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, 


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and by the heirs and survivors of such persons, 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 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 


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1 and class members include United States Army Air 

2 Force pilots and United States citizens. 

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

4 separate corporate entity that remained independent 

5 during World War II, operated the deportation 

6 trains for a profit, as ordinary commercial trans7 actions. SNCF remained under French civilian con8 trol throughout World War II and is alleged to have 

9 collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime. 

10 (4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided 

11 the necessary rolling stock, scheduled the depar12 tures, and supplied the employees to operate the 

13 trains bound for the concentration camps. SNCF al14 legedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare for 

15 the deportations, calculated per person and per kilo16 meter, and considered these trains as ordinary com17 mercial activities. The plaintiffs further contend that 

18 SNCF herded as many people as possible into each 

19 car, requiring passengers of all ages and sexes, in20 cluding the elderly and young children, to stand 

21 throughout the trip of several days’ duration, with 

22 no provision for food or water and no sanitary facili23 ties. The complaint further alleges that SNCF 

24 cleaned the trains after each trip, removing the 

25 corpses of persons who perished during transit due 


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1 to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The 

2 destination was in each case a camp in which the de3 portees were to be exterminated, worked to death, or 

4 made to suffer terrible and inhuman conditions. 

5 (5) The complaint contends that SNCF’s ac6 tions violated the Principles of the Nuremberg Tri7 bunal, 1950, relating to crimes under international 

8 law (earlier recognized by the Martens Clause of the 

9 Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and abet10 ted the commission of war crimes and crimes against 

11 humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has 

12 never disgorged the money that it was paid for the 

13 deportations or otherwise compensated the deportees 

14 or their heirs. 

15 (6) SNCF’s records concerning the deportation 

16 trains have not been made available to the plaintiffs, 

17 and SNCF archives concerning its wartime activities 

18 are not accessible to the general public. 

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

20 claim of sovereign immunity under the foreign sov21 ereign immunities provisions of title 28, United 

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

23 even though it is one of the 500 largest corporations 

24 in the world, earns hundreds of millions of dollars 

25 from its commercial activities in the United States, 


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1 and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the 

2 laws of France. SNCF’s motion to dismiss the law3 suit was granted by the United States District Court 

4 for the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiffs ap5 pealed the decision, their appeal was granted, and 

6 the case was remanded for further proceedings. Sub7 sequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. 

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

9 on remand, the Court of Appeals for the Second Cir10 cuit recalled its prior mandate and determined that 

11 SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the 

12 dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stat13 ed that ‘‘the railroad’s conduct at the time lives on 

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

15 the French national railroad’s former private mas16 ters in knowingly transporting thousands to death 

17 camps during World War II are not susceptible to 

18 legal redress in Federal court today.’’. 

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

20 historical facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi 

21 concentration camps, presents issues of substantial 

22 importance to citizens and veterans of the United 

23 States. Many of those who have sought redress 

24 against SNCF are elderly and would have difficulty 

25 traveling outside the United States in order to purVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:39 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1505.IH H1505

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1 sue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United 

2 States are and should be a proper forum for this 

3 lawsuit. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 

4 1976, which had not been enacted at the time of 

5 SNCF’s actions during World War II, was not in6 tended to bar suit against the SNCF. 

7 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO UNITED STATES COURTS FOR HOLO8 CAUST DEPORTEES. 

9 (a) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.—The 

10 United States district courts shall have original jurisdic11 tion, without regard to the amount in controversy, of any 

12 civil action for damages for personal injury or death 

13 that— 

14 (1) arose from the deportation of persons to 

15 Nazi concentration camps during the period begin16 ning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 

17 31, 1944; and 

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

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

20 (A) owned or operated the trains on which 

21 the persons were so deported; and 

22 (B) was organized as a separate legal enti23 ty at the time of the deportation, whether or 

24 not any of the equity interest in the railroad 

25 was owned by a foreign state. 


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

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

3 or any other law limiting the jurisdiction of the United 

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

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

6 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF STATUTES OF LIMITA7 TION.—An action described in subsection (a) shall not be 

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

9 has expired under a statute of limitations. 

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

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

12 commenced on or after that date. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

14 In furtherance of international education relating to 

15 the Holocaust and in light of historic and continuing Anti16 Semitism in Europe and throughout the world, the Sec17 retary of State shall submit to the Congress, not later than 

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

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

20 public has access to records, including archived informa21 tion, of any railroad described in section 3(a)(2) with re22 spect to the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration 

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


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

2 operated by that railroad. 

Æ 


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