IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 557

Expressing support for U.S. government efforts to identify Holocaust-era

assets, urging the restitution of individual and communal property, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. SMITH of New

Jersey, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FRANKS of New

Jersey, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. BURTON

of Indiana, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.

FOLEY, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, Mr. FROST, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HORN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SHERMAN,

Mr. SISISKY, Mr. WAXMAN, and Mr. WEXLER) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for U.S. government efforts to identify

Holocaust-era assets, urging the restitution of individual

and communal property, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Holocaust was one of the most tragic and complex horrors in this century, and survivors of that catastrophe are now reaching the end of their lives;

Whereas among the many atrocities committed by the Nazis

was their systematic effort to confiscate property illegally
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and wrongfully from individuals, institutions, and communities solely because of religion or ethnicity;

Whereas the Nazi regime used foreign financial institutions

to launder and hold property illegally confiscated from

Holocaust victims, and some foreign financial institutions

violated their fiduciary duty to their customers by converting to their own use financial assets belonging to

Holocaust victims and denying heirs of these victims access to these assets through restrictive regulations and

unreasonable interpretation of those regulations;

Whereas in the post-Communist period of transition many of

the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have begun

to enact legal procedures for the restitution of property

confiscated or stolen from victims of the holocaust to

communities and to individual survivors of the Holocaust

and their heirs;

Whereas, despite the enactment of legislation and the establishment of institutions to restore confiscated property in

a number of countries, progress has been slow, difficult,

and painful, and some countries have established restrictions which require those whose properties have been

wrongfully plundered to reside in or be a current citizen

of the country from which they now seek restitution or

compensation;

Whereas the Tripartite Gold Commission has now concluded

its activities, and under the leadership of the United

States established an international Nazi Persecutees’ Relief Fund, reached agreement with most of the countries

which had gold on deposit with the Tripartite Gold Commission to donate their shares to this Persecutees’ Fund,

and the United States has pledged to contribute $25 million to this fund;
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Whereas two significant agreements have recently been

reached, the first between Holocaust survivors and private Swiss banks and the second between Holocaust survivors and European insurance companies, which represent significant first steps in the international effort to

provide belated justice to survivors and victims of the

Holocaust and their heirs;

Whereas the Department of State and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will co-host the Washington

Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets later this year in

order to review current efforts, share research across national borders, renew efforts to open Nazi-era archives,

and spur greater progress on the restitution of Holocaust-era assets; and

Whereas there is a growing international consensus and sense

of urgency that, after a half century of indifference and

inaction, justice must be obtained for victims and survivors of the holocaust and their heirs; Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) recognizes the great responsibility which the

3 United States has to Holocaust survivors and their

4 families, many of whom are American citizens, to

5 continue to treat the issue of Holocaust-era assets as

6 a high priority and to encourage other governments

7 to do the same;

8 (2) commends the agencies of the United States

9 government for their untiring efforts and for the ex10 ample they have set, including the publication of the
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1 May 1997 and June 1998 reports on U.S. and Al2 lied Efforts to Recover or Restore Gold and Other

3 Assets Stolen or Hidden by Germany in World War

4 II and the efforts to return such assets to their

5 rightful owners;

6 (3) commends those organizations which have

7 played a critical role in the effort to assure com8 pensation and/or restitution for survivors of the Hol9 ocaust, and in particular to the World Jewish Con10 gress and the World Jewish Restitution Organiza11 tion;

12 (4) welcomes the convening of the Washington

13 Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets later this year

14 by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

15 and the Department of State and expresses the hope

16 that this conference will contribute to the sharing of

17 information and will spur greater progress on the

18 restitution of Holocaust-era assets;

19 (5) commends those countries which have insti20 tuted procedures for the restitution of individual and

21 communal property confiscated from Holocaust vic22 tims, and urges those governments which have not

23 established such procedures to adopt fair and trans24 parent legislation and regulations necessary for such

25 restitution;
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1 (6) calls upon countries in transition in Central

2 and Eastern Europe to remove certain citizenship or

3 residency prerequisites for individual survivors of the

4 Holocaust seeking restitution of confiscated prop5 erty;

6 (7) notes that former Communist countries

7 which seek to become members of the North Atlantic

8 Alliance and other international organizations must

9 recognize that a part of the process of international

10 integration involves the enactment of laws which

11 safeguard and protect property rights that are simi12 lar to those in democratic countries which do not re13 quire artificial citizenship and residency require14 ments for restitution or compensation;

15 (8) commends those countries which have estab16 lished significant commissions, such as the Presi17 dential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in

18 the United States, to conduct research into matters

19 relating to Holocaust-era assets, to assure that in20 formation developed by these commissions is publicly

21 available, to complete their major historical research

22 efforts, and to contribute to the major funds estab23 lished to benefit needy Holocaust survivors no later

24 than December 31, 1999;
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1 (9) commends those countries and organiza2 tions which have opened their archives and made

3 public records and documents relating to the Nazi

4 era, and urges all countries and organizations, in5 cluding the United Nations, the Holy See, the Inter6 national Committee of the Red Cross and national

7 Red Cross organizations, to assure that all materials

8 relating to that era are fully accessible to the public;

9 (10) urges all countries to develop and include

10 as a part of their educational curriculum material on

11 the Holocaust, the history of the Second World War,

12 the evils of discrimination and persecution of racial,

13 ethnic or religious minorities, and the consequences

14 of the failure to respect human rights;

15 (11) appreciates the efforts of the government

16 of Germany for successfully concluding an agree17 ment with the Conference on Material Claims

18 Against Germany on matters concerning restitution

19 for Holocaust survivors from Central and Eastern

20 Europe who have not yet received restitution, and

21 urges the government of Germany to continue to ne22 gotiate with the Claims Conference to expand the

23 eligibility criteria to ensure that all needy Holocaust

24 survivors receive restitution;
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1 (12) urges all countries to continue aggressive

2 investigation and prosecution of individuals who may

3 have been involved in Nazi-era war crimes, such as

4 the Government of Germany which should inves5 tigate Dr. Hans Joachim Sewering for war crimes of

6 active euthanasia and crimes against humanity com7 mitted during World War II;

8 (13) urges countries, especial Israel, Russia,

9 Poland, and other Central and East European na10 tions, and organizations such as the International

11 Committee of the Red Cross and Israel’s Jewish

12 Agency to coordinate efforts to help reunite family

13 members separated during the Holocaust; and

14 (14) directs the Clerk of the House to transmit

15 a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of State

16 and requests that the Secretary transmit copies to

17 all relevant parties.

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