IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 766 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on the restitution 
of or compensation for property seized during the Nazi and Communist 
eras. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2012 
Mr. DEUTCH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on 
the restitution of or compensation for property seized 
during the Nazi and Communist eras. 
Whereas protecting and respecting private property rights is 
a basic principle for all democratic governments that op-
erate according to the rule of law; 
Whereas Nazi or Communist regimes dominated many East-
ern European countries without the consent of their peo-
ple for parts of the 20th century; 
Whereas the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that 
emerged in Eastern Europe after World War II perpet-
uated the wrongful and unjust confiscation of property, 
including immovable property, personal property, and fi-
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nancial assets, that belonged to victims of Nazi persecu-
tion; 
Whereas the Nazi regime considered religious property an 
early target and denied religious communities the tem-
poral facilities that held them together by expropriating 
churches, synagogues, religious seminaries, cemeteries, 
and other communal property; 
Whereas, after World War II, Communist regimes expanded 
the systematic expropriation of private, communal, and 
religious property in an effort to eliminate the influence 
of religion; 
Whereas, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, only part of the 
immovable property confiscated during and after the Hol-
ocaust has been recovered or compensated; 
Whereas, in July 2001, the Paris Declaration of the Organi-
zation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Par-
liamentary Assembly noted that the process of restitu-
tion, compensation, and material reparation of victims of 
Nazi persecution has not been pursued with the same de-
gree of comprehensiveness by all of the participating 
states of that Organization; 
Whereas the Organization for Security and Co-operation in 
Europe Parliamentary Assembly has called on each par-
ticipating state to adopt and implement appropriate legis-
lation to ensure that victims of Nazi persecution, includ-
ing communal organizations and institutions, receive res-
titution of or compensation for lost property, without re-
gard to the current citizenship or place of residence of 
the victims or their heirs or the relevant successors to 
communal property; 
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Whereas the United States Congress has, unanimously and 
on numerous occasions, urged countries in Europe that 
have not yet done so to immediately enact fair, com-
prehensive, nondiscriminatory, and just legislation to pro-
vide restitution, or fair compensation in cases in which 
restitution is not possible, to victims of persecution who 
had private property looted or wrongfully confiscated by 
Nazis during World War II or subsequently seized by a 
Communist government and the heirs of those victims; 
Whereas the representatives of 44 countries that participated 
in the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era 
Assets agreed on principles intended to guide just and 
equitable solutions to confiscated art, insurance, and 
communal property, but did not address the complex 
issue of private property; 
Whereas, 11 years later, representatives of more than 45 
countries participated in the Prague Holocaust-Era As-
sets Conference in June 2009, and agreed to the Terezin 
Declaration of June 30, 2009, which— 
(1) recognized that Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and 
other victims of Nazi persecution have reached an ad-
vanced age and that respecting their personal dignity and 
addressing their social welfare needs is an issue of ut-
most urgency; 
(2) recognized that wrongful property seizures, such 
as confiscation, forced sales, and sales under duress of 
property, were part of the persecution by the Nazis of in-
nocent people, many of whom died without heirs; 
(3) recognized the importance of restituting com-
munal and individual property that belonged to victims of 
the Holocaust (Shoah) and other victims of Nazi persecu-
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tion and urged that every effort be made to rectify the 
consequences of wrongful property seizure; 
(4) urged that every effort be made to provide for 
the restitution of former Jewish communal and religious 
property through in rem restitution or compensation in 
cases in which restitution has not yet been effectively 
achieved; and 
(5) recognized that in some countries heirless prop-
erty could serve as a basis to address the material neces-
sities of Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and to ensure ongo-
ing education about the Holocaust (Shoah) and its causes 
and consequences; 
Whereas 3 years have passed since the adoption of the 
Terezin Declaration and the governments of some coun-
tries have still not fulfilled or made progress toward ful-
filling the moral obligations expressed in that document, 
including— 
(1) the Government of Poland, which is virtually 
alone among post-Communist countries in not having 
adopted any legislation providing a process for restitution 
of or compensation for private property that Nazi or 
Communist regimes confiscated despite numerous public 
promises from various administrations; 
(2) the Government of Romania, which has halted 
implementation of legislation to return former communal 
property or pay compensation to claimants; 
(3) the Government of Latvia, which has failed to 
press forward with legislation to return Jewish communal 
and religious properties or provide financial compensation 
for the loss of those properties despite numerous prom-
ises to domestic and international claimants; 
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(4) the Government of Slovenia, which has refused 
to pay compensation for officially recognized former Jew-
ish property; and 
(5) the Government of Croatia, which has still not 
adopted appropriate legislation to provide compensation 
for property that the Nazis and their allies confiscated 
during the Holocaust; 
Whereas the governments of Serbia and Lithuania have re-
cently enacted restitution and compensation programs for 
private and Jewish communal property, respectively, serv-
ing as a potential model for other governments to follow; 
Whereas some Holocaust survivors, now in the twilight of 
their lives, are impoverished and in urgent need of assist-
ance, lacking the resources to support basic needs, in-
cluding adequate shelter, food, or medical care; 
Whereas the Washington and Prague conferences on Holo-
caust-era assets should not be the last opportunity for 
the international community to address property restitu-
tion at the highest level; 
Whereas the European Shoah Legacy Institute will hold an 
Immoveable Property Review Conference in late Novem-
ber 2012 in Prague to review compliance with the 
Terezin Declaration as well as the document entitled 
‘‘Guidelines and Best Practices for the Restitution and 
Compensation of Immovable (Real) Property Confiscated 
or Otherwise Wrongfully Seized by the Nazis, Fascists 
and Their Collaborators during the Holocaust (Shoah) 
Era between 1933–1945, Including the Period of World 
War II’’, which 43 countries adopted following the 
Prague Conference; and 
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