Holocaust Rail Justice Act

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. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Holocaust Rail Justice Act 2. Congressional findings Congress finds as follows: (1) During World War II, more than 75,000 Jews and thousands of other persons were deported from France to Nazi concentration camps, on trains operated for profit by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (in this Act referred to as SNCF (2) United States citizens and others have sought redress against SNCF by filing a class action suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The named plaintiffs and class members include United States Army Air Force pilots and United States citizens. (3) The complaint filed alleges that SNCF, a separate corporate entity that remained independent during World War II, operated the deportation trains for a profit, as ordinary commercial transactions. SNCF remained under French civilian control throughout World War II and is alleged to have collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime. (4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided the necessary rolling stock, scheduled the departures, and supplied the employees to operate the trains bound for the concentration camps. SNCF allegedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare for the deportations, calculated per person and per kilometer, and considered these trains as ordinary commercial activities. The plaintiffs further contend that SNCF herded as many people as possible into each car, requiring passengers of all ages and sexes, including the elderly and young children, to stand throughout the trip of several days’ duration, with no provision for food or water and no sanitary facilities. The complaint further alleges that SNCF cleaned the trains after each trip, removing the corpses of persons who perished during transit due to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The destination was in each case a camp in which the deportees were to be exterminated, worked to death, or made to suffer terrible and inhuman conditions. (5) The complaint contends that SNCF’s actions violated the Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950, relating to crimes under international law (earlier recognized by the Martens Clause of the Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and abetted the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has never disgorged the money that it was paid for the deportations or otherwise compensated the deportees or their heirs. (6) SNCF’s records concerning the deportation trains have not been made available to the plaintiffs, and SNCF archives concerning its wartime activities are not accessible to the general public. (7) SNCF moved to dismiss the lawsuit on a claim of sovereign immunity under the foreign sovereign immunities provisions of title 28, United States Code (28 U.S.C. 1330 and 1602 et seq.), even though it is one of the 500 largest corporations in the world, earns hundreds of millions of dollars from its commercial activities in the United States, and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the laws of France. SNCF’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiffs appealed the decision, their appeal was granted, and the case was remanded for further proceedings. Subsequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677 (2004), in November 2004, on remand, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recalled its prior mandate and determined that SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stated that the railroad’s conduct at the time lives on in infamy the evil actions of the French national railroad’s former private masters in knowingly transporting thousands to death camps during World War II are not susceptible to legal redress in Federal court today. (8) This lawsuit, which arises from the unique historical facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps, presents issues of substantial importance to citizens and veterans of the United States. Many of those who have sought redress against SNCF are elderly and would have difficulty traveling outside the United States in order to pursue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United States are and should be a proper forum for this lawsuit. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, which had not been enacted at the time of SNCF’s actions during World War II, was not intended to bar suit against the SNCF. 3. Access to United States courts for holocaust deportees (a) Jurisdiction of district courts The United States district courts shall have original jurisdiction, without regard to the amount in controversy, of any civil action for damages for personal injury or death that— (1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1944; and (2) is brought by any such person, or any heir or survivor of such person, against a railroad that— (A) owned or operated the trains on which the persons were so deported; and (B) was organized as a separate legal entity at the time of the deportation, whether or not any of the equity interest in the railroad was owned by a foreign state. (b) Other laws not applicable Sections 1330 and 1601 through 1611 of title 28, United States Code, or any other law limiting the jurisdiction of the United States courts, whether by statute or under common law, shall not preclude any action under subsection (a). (c) Inapplicability of statutes of limitation An action described in subsection (a) shall not be barred by a defense that the time for bringing such action has expired under a statute of limitations. (d) Applicability This section shall apply to any action pending on January 1, 2002, and to any action commenced on or after that date. 4. Report to Congress In furtherance of international education relating to the Holocaust and in light of historic and continuing Anti-Semitism in Europe and throughout the world, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Congress, not later than the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, a report describing the extent to which the public has access to records, including archived information, of any railroad described in section 3(a)(2) with respect to the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1944, on trains owned or operated by that railroad.

Summary: Holocaust Rail Justice Act - Grants U.S. district courts original jurisdiction over any civil action for damages for personal injury or death that: (1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps between January 1, 1942, and December 31, 1944; and (2) is brought by or on behalf of such person against a railroad that owned or operated the trains on which the persons were deported and that was organized as a separate legal entity. Declares that: (1) no law limiting the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts shall preclude any such action, and (2) no such action shall be barred because a statute of limitations has expired. Makes this Act applicable to any action pending on or commenced after January 1, 2002. Directs the Secretary of State to report to Congress on the extent to which the public has access to records, including archived information, with respect to the deportation of such persons to Nazi concentration camps on such trains.