[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8321-H8322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REGARDING HOLOCAUST VICTIMS REDRESS ACT

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues legislation I introduced last week with the gentleman from 
New York [Mr. Gilman] in support of international efforts to provide 
redress to victims of the Holocaust.
  In the Judaic tradition, Rosh Hashanah, which commenced at sundown 
last Wednesday, initiated 10 days of spiritual introspection that 
concludes on Friday of this week with the Day of Atonement, a time of 
reconciliation of man with God. The bill I have introduced, H.R. 2591, 
the Holocaust Victims Redress Act, represents national recognition of 
an aspect of the Holocaust for which the concept of reconciliation and 
introspection, in this case at the societal level, is profoundly 
appropriate.
  The purpose of the legislation is to provide a measure of relief for 
the remaining victims of the greatest crime in man's memory, the 
Holocaust.
  The bill would authorize up to $25 million for a U.S. contribution to 
organizations serving survivors of the Holocaust who live in the United 
States. The genesis for this proposal dates back to hearings which the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services held over the past year, 
chronicling how the Nazis looted gold from the central banks of Europe 
as well as from individual Holocaust victims.
  As some of my colleagues may know, following World War II the 
Tripartite Gold Commission, consisting of the United States, United 
Kingdom, and France, was created to oversee the recovery and return of 
Nazi-looted gold. Most of the gold recovered during that period was 
long ago returned to claimant countries. However, a portion of that 
gold remains to be distributed. The gold in the custody of the 
Tripartite Gold Commission, amounting to 6 metric tons, is worth 
anywhere from $50 to $70 million. Fifteen nations hold claim to some 
portion of that gold.
  The case for speedy final distribution of remaining gold to Holocaust 
survivors, which involves a donation by 15 claimant nations of their 
share, is compelling. The moral case for such a distribution has been 
increased by the horrific revelation in the recently released Eizenstat 
report that Nazi Germany commingled victim gold, taken from the 
personal property of Holocaust victims, including their dental 
fillings, with monetary gold, resmelting it into gold bars and ingots 
which the Nazis then traded for hard currency to help finance their war 
efforts.
  This legislation would put Congress on record in strong support of 
the State Department's appeal to claimant nations to contribute their 
share of Tripartite gold to Holocaust survivors. It would also 
strengthen the department's hand in seeking further recompense from 
other nations by authorizing the President to commit the United States 
to a voluntary donation of up to $25 million.
  A voluntary contribution on our part could go a long way in 
facilitating a similar gesture of generosity from others who may be 
claimants of the gold pool or who may have reason to provide redress 
for actions taken during the dark night of the human soul we call the 
Holocaust. A contribution of this nature by the United States would 
also serve as an act of conscience on the part of this Nation.
  A second aspect of the bill deals with the Nazi-looted art. Under 
international legal principles dating back to the Hague Convention of 
1907, pillaging during war is forbidden, as is the seizure of works of 
art. In defiance of then extant international standards, the Nazis 
looted valuable works of art from their own citizens and institutions 
as well as from people and institutions in France and Holland and other 
occupied countries. This grand theft of art helped the Nazis finance 
their war efforts. Avarice served as an incentive to genocide with the 
ultimate in government censorship being reflected in the Aryan 
supremacist notion that certain modern art was degenerate and thus 
disposable.
  Last Thursday in synagogues throughout the world, the shofar was 
sounded three times. The shrill blast of the ram's horn reminds us of 
many things, perhaps most importantly that God remembers the deeds of 
all. It is thus appropriate that as we begin the

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Jewish New Year of 5758, we also move forward with reconciliation with 
people and with their descendants whose lives were destroyed during 
World War II in a way we can never truly understand.
  During all days, but particularly during this period of remembrance 
and atonement, we cannot forget what occurred and those issues which 
remain to be resolved and the people who deserve justice.

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