[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 766 Introduced in House (IH)]
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 operate according to the rule of
law;
Whereas Nazi or Communist regimes dominated many Eastern European countries
without the consent of their people for parts of the 20th century;
Whereas the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that emerged in Eastern
Europe after World War II perpetuated the wrongful and unjust
confiscation of property, including immovable property, personal
property, and financial assets, that belonged to victims of Nazi
persecution;
Whereas the Nazi regime considered religious property an early target and denied
religious communities the temporal 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 Holocaust has been recovered or
compensated;
Whereas, in July 2001, the Paris Declaration of the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly noted that the process
of restitution, compensation, and material reparation of victims of Nazi
persecution has not been pursued with the same degree 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 participating state to adopt and implement
appropriate legislation to ensure that victims of Nazi persecution,
including communal organizations and institutions, receive restitution
of or compensation for lost property, without regard to the current
citizenship or place of residence of the victims or their heirs or the
relevant successors to communal property;
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, comprehensive, nondiscriminatory, and just legislation to provide
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 Assets 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 advanced age and that respecting their
personal dignity and addressing their social welfare needs is an issue of
utmost 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 innocent people, many of whom died without
heirs;
(3) recognized the importance of restituting communal and individual
property that belonged to victims of the Holocaust (Shoah) and other
victims of Nazi persecution 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 property could serve as
a basis to address the material necessities of Holocaust (Shoah) survivors
and to ensure ongoing 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 countries have still not fulfilled or made
progress toward fulfilling 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
promises to domestic and international claimants;
(4) the Government of Slovenia, which has refused to pay compensation
for officially recognized former Jewish 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 recently enacted
restitution and compensation programs for private and Jewish communal
property, respectively, serving 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 assistance, lacking the resources to
support basic needs, including adequate shelter, food, or medical care;
Whereas the Washington and Prague conferences on Holocaust-era assets should not
be the last opportunity for the international community to address
property restitution at the highest level;
Whereas the European Shoah Legacy Institute will hold an Immoveable Property
Review Conference in late November 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
Whereas, although those documents are not legally binding, the governments of
all countries bear a moral responsibility to uphold and defend the
plight and dignity of Holocaust survivors, ensure their well-being, and
respond to their social needs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the unmet needs of many Holocaust survivors
and the urgency of addressing those needs;
(2) appreciates the efforts of the governments of countries
in Europe that have enacted and implemented legislation for the
restitution of or compensation for private, communal, and
religious property wrongly confiscated during the Nazi or
Communist eras;
(3) welcomes the efforts of the governments of many post-
Communist countries to address complex and difficult questions
relating to the status of wrongly confiscated property;
(4) urges each government that has not already done so to
complete the process of adopting and implementing necessary and
proper legislation to effect the in rem return of or the
payment of compensation for wrongly confiscated property;
(5) calls on each government to establish restitution and
compensation schemes in a simple, transparent, and timely
manner to provide a real benefit to those who suffered from the
unjust confiscation of their property; and
(6) calls on the Secretary of State to issue an updated
report on property restitution in Central and Eastern Europe
that evaluates whether the governments of those countries have
met the basic standards and best practices of the international
community.
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