IV
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 59
Concerning the return of or compensation for wrongly confiscated foreign
properties in formerly Communist countries and by certain foreign finan-
cial institutions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 1997
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PORTER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. SALMON,
Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. HOYER, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. CARDIN) submit-
ted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Concerning the return of or compensation for wrongly con-
fiscated foreign properties in formerly Communist coun-
tries and by certain foreign financial institutions.
Whereas Fascist and Communist dictatorships have caused
immeasurable human suffering and loss, degrading not
only every conceivable human right, but the human spirit
itself;
Whereas the villainy of communism was dedicated, in particu-
lar, to the organized and systematic destruction of pri-
vate property ownership;
Whereas the wrongful and illegal confiscation of property per-
petrated by Fascist and Communist regimes was often
specifically designed to victimize people because of their
HCON 59 IH
religion, national or social origin, or expressed opposition
to the regimes which repressed them;
Whereas Fascists and Communists often obtained possession
of properties confiscated from the victims of the systems
they actively supported;
Whereas Jewish individuals and communities were often twice
victimized, first by the Nazis and their collaborators and
then by the subsequent Communist regimes;
Whereas churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious
properties were also destroyed or confiscated as a means
of breaking the spiritual devotion and allegiance of reli-
gious adherents;
Whereas Fascists, Nazis, and Communists have used foreign
financial institutions to launder and hold wrongfully and
illegally confiscated property and convert it to their own
personal use;
Whereas some foreign financial institutions violated their fi-
duciary duty to their customers by converting to their
own use financial assets belonging to Holocaust victims
while denying heirs access to these assets;
Whereas refugees from communism, in addition to being
wrongly stripped of their private property, were often
forced to relinquish their citizenship in order to protect
themselves and their families from reprisals by the Com-
munists who ruled their countries;
Whereas the participating states of the Organization for Se-
curity and Cooperation in Europe have agreed to give full
recognition and protection to all types of property, in-
cluding private property, as well as the right to prompt,
just, and effective compensation in the event private
property is taken for public use;
HCON 59 IH
Whereas the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as
well as the Caucasus and Central Asia, have entered a
post-Communist period of transition and democratic de-
velopment, and many countries have begun the difficult
and wrenching process of trying to right the past wrongs
of previous totalitarian regimes;
Whereas restrictions which require those whose properties
have been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist re-
gimes to reside in or have the citizenship of the country
from which they now seek restitution or compensation are
arbitrary and discriminatory in violation of international
law; and
Whereas the rule of law and democratic norms require that
the activity of governments and their administrative
agencies be exercised in accordance with the laws passed
by their parliaments or legislatures and such laws them-
selves must be consistent with international human rights
standards: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) welcomes the efforts of many post-Com-
munist countries to address the complex and dif-
ficult question of the status of plundered properties;
(2) urges countries which have not already done
so to return plundered properties to their rightful
owners or, as an alternative, pay compensation, in
accordance with principles of justice and in a man-
ner that is just, transparent, and fair;
HCON 59 IH
(3) calls for the urgent return of property for-
merly belonging to Jewish communities as a means
of redressing the particularly compelling problems of
aging and destitute survivors of the Holocaust;
(4) calls on the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithua-
nia, Romania, Slovakia and any other country with
restrictions which require those whose properties
have been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist
regimes to reside in or have the citizenship of the
country from which they now seek restitution or
compensation to remove such restrictions from their
restitution or compensation laws;
(5) calls upon foreign financial institutions, and
the states having legal authority over their oper-
ation, that possess wrongfully and illegally property
confiscated from Holocaust victims, from residents
of former Warsaw Pact states who were forbidden
by Communist law from obtaining restitution of such
property, and from states that were occupied by
Nazi, Fascist, or Communist forces, to assist and to
cooperate fully with efforts to restore this property
to its rightful owners; and
HCON 59 IH
(6) urges post-Communist countries to pass and
effectively implement laws that provide for restitu-
tion of, or compensation for, plundered property.
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