H. Res. 557
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
October 9, 1998.
Whereas the Holocaust was one of the most tragic and com-
plex horrors in this century, and survivors of that catas-
trophe 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
and wrongfully from individuals, institutions, and com-
munities 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 con-
verting to their own use financial assets belonging to
Holocaust victims and denying heirs of these victims ac-
cess 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;
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Whereas, despite the enactment of legislation and the estab-
lishment of institutions to restore confiscated property in
a number of countries, progress has been slow, difficult,
and painful, and some countries have established restric-
tions 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’ Re-
lief Fund, reached agreement with most of the countries
which had gold on deposit with the Tripartite Gold Com-
mission to donate their shares to this Persecutees’ Fund,
and the United States has pledged to contribute $25 mil-
lion to this fund;
Whereas two significant agreements have recently been
reached, the first between Holocaust survivors and pri-
vate Swiss banks and the second between Holocaust sur-
vivors and European insurance companies, which rep-
resent 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 Hol-
ocaust Memorial Museum will co-host the Washington
Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets later this year in
order to review current efforts, share research across na-
tional borders, renew efforts to open Nazi-era archives,
and spur greater progress on the restitution of Holo-
caust-era assets; and
Whereas there is a growing international consensus and sense
of urgency that, after a half century of indifference and
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inaction, justice must be obtained for victims and sur-
vivors of the holocaust and their heirs; Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes the great responsibility which the
United States has to Holocaust survivors and their fami-
lies, many of whom are American citizens, to continue to
treat the issue of Holocaust-era assets as a high priority
and to encourage other governments to do the same;
(2) commends the agencies of the United States
government for their untiring efforts and for the exam-
ple they have set, including the publication of the May
1997 and June 1998 reports on U.S. and Allied Efforts
to Recover or Restore Gold and Other Assets Stolen or
Hidden by Germany in World War II and the efforts to
return such assets to their rightful owners;
(3) commends those organizations which have
played a critical role in the effort to assure compensation
and/or restitution for survivors of the Holocaust, and in
particular to the World Jewish Congress and the World
Jewish Restitution Organization;
(4) welcomes the convening of the Washington Con-
ference on Holocaust-Era Assets later this year by the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the De-
partment of State and expresses the hope that this con-
ference will contribute to the sharing of information and
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will spur greater progress on the restitution of Holo-
caust-era assets;
(5) commends those countries which have instituted
procedures for the restitution of individual and com-
munal property confiscated from Holocaust victims, and
urges those governments which have not established such
procedures to adopt fair and transparent legislation and
regulations necessary for such restitution;
(6) calls upon countries in transition in Central and
Eastern Europe to remove certain citizenship or resi-
dency prerequisites for individual survivors of the Holo-
caust seeking restitution of confiscated property;
(7) notes that former Communist countries which
seek to become members of the North Atlantic Alliance
and other international organizations must recognize
that a part of the process of international integration in-
volves the enactment of laws which safeguard and pro-
tect property rights that are similar to those in demo-
cratic countries which do not require artificial citizenship
and residency requirements for restitution or compensa-
tion;
(8) commends those countries which have estab-
lished significant commissions, such as the Presidential
Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United
States, to conduct research into matters relating to Hol-