[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 516

      Expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of or 
  compensation for property seized during the Nazi and Communist eras.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 29, 2012

Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself and Mr. Brown of Ohio) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Expressing the sense of the Senate 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 nearly 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 Senate--
            (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.
                                 <all>