[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12695-S12696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATIVE TO GERMAN REPARATIONS TO 
                          HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 138, S. Con. 
Res. 39.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 39) expressing the 
     sense of the Congress that the German government should 
     expand and simplify its reparations system, provide 
     reparations to Holocaust survivors in Eastern and Central 
     Europe, and set up a fund to help cover the medical expenses 
     of Holocaust survivors.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the concurrent resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the German Government has long 
recognized its moral obligation to assist the survivors of the 
Holocaust. The landmark reparations agreements of the early 1950's 
between the West German Government and Jewish groups were predicated on 
this simple premise. Yet, as years go by, it has become increasingly 
apparent that a large number of survivors, particularly those living in 
Eastern and Central Europe, were excluded from these agreements and are 
now being denied assistance on the flimsiest of technical grounds. As a 
result, in July Senators Graham, Hatch, and Dodd joined me in 
introducing Senate Concurrent Resolution 39. I am pleased that the 
Senate will take up this important issue today.
  The need for such legislation was reinforced only last week. On 
November 5, Judge Heinz Sonnenberger in Germany upheld just 1 of 22 
claims made by a group of Jewish women seeking payment for their work 
as slave laborers at Auschwitz. The other claims were dismissed by the 
judge on the grounds that the women had already received compensation 
under Germany's Federal Compensation Law. This decision represents the 
German Government's intractable attitude toward survivors of Nazi slave 
labor, however, it also presents a small window of hope for the 
survivors of slave labor who until now have been denied compensation by 
the German Government.
  The German Government has continually dealt with the survivors of 
Nazi persecution in a heartless, bureaucratic manner, basing its 
decisions on technical questions and eschewing a moral obligation to 
aid all survivors regardless of past compensation, current financial 
status, or amount of pain suffered. This practice stands in sharp 
contrast to the generous disability pensions paid by the German 
Government to former members of the Waffen-SS and their families. Until

[[Page S12696]]

last year, when the German Supreme Court ruled that cases of 
compensation for slave labor could be taken up by the German courts, 
survivors of slave labor had been told that they should address their 
claims to the companies that used slave labor and not the German 
Government. Often companies had already paid a lump sum toward 
compensation and refused to hear further claims, while other companies, 
which had never paid claims, refused to pay them altogether. After 50 
years of avoidance, it is time for the German Government to take the 
opportunity this ruling provides and address the issue of compensation 
to slave laborers head on.
  Judge Sonnenberger's ruling is the first time that a German court has 
awarded compensation to a survivor of slave labor to be paid by the 
German Government. The possibility that this ruling is a precedent may 
be a bright spot in this otherwise regrettable decision. Perhaps other 
survivors of slave labor, who have never received compensation from the 
German Government, will be emboldened by this ruling and bring their 
own cases forward. This progress is tempered by the rejection of the 
other 21 claims. In this regard, Judge Sonnenberger's decision carries 
on the German Government's practice of overlooking humanitarian 
considerations when judging compensation claims made by the survivors 
of Nazi persecution.
  In order to encourage a change in the German Government's position, 
Senate Concurrent Resolution 39 urges the German Government to expand 
and simplify its reparations system, to provide reparations to 
survivors in Eastern and Central Europe, and to set up a fund to help 
cover the medical expenses of Holocaust survivors. Although half a 
century has passed since the end of World War II, it is important to 
remember how many chapters opened by the devastating war remain 
unfinished. I hope this action will help bring the issue of reparations 
for survivors of Nazi persecution the fore, and encourage the German 
Government to make appropriate changes so that the elderly survivors of 
the Holocaust receive appropriate reparations.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 
resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be placed at the 
appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 39) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 39

       Whereas the annihilation of 6,000,000 European Jews during 
     the Holocaust and the murder of millions of others by the 
     Nazi German state constitutes one of the most tragic episodes 
     in the history of man's inhumanity to man;
       Whereas there are more than 125,000 Holocaust survivors 
     living in the United States and approximately 500,000 living 
     around the world;
       Whereas aging Holocaust survivors throughout the world are 
     still suffering from permanent injuries suffered at the hands 
     of the Nazis, and many are unable to afford critically needed 
     medical care;
       Whereas, while the German Government has attempted to 
     address the needs of Holocaust survivors, many are excluded 
     from reparations because of onerous eligibility requirements 
     imposed by the German Government;
       Whereas the German Government often rejects Holocaust 
     survivors' claims on the grounds that the survivor did not 
     present the claim correctly or in a timely manner, that the 
     survivor cannot demonstrate to the Government's satisfaction 
     that a particular illness or medical condition is the direct 
     consequence of persecution in a Nazi-created ghetto or 
     concentration camp, or that the survivor is not considered 
     sufficiently destitute;
       Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors in the 
     former Soviet Union and other formerly Communist countries in 
     Eastern and Central Europe have never received reparations 
     from Germany and a smaller number has received a token 
     amount;
       Whereas, after more than 50 years, hundreds of thousands of 
     Holocaust survivors continue to be denied justice and 
     compensation from the German Government;
       Whereas the German Government pays generous disability 
     pensions to veterans of the Nazi armed forces, including non-
     German veterans of the Waffen-SS;
       Whereas in 1996 the German Government paid $7,700,000,000 
     in such pensions to 1,100,000 veterans, including 3,000 
     veterans and their dependents now living in the United 
     States;
       Whereas such pensions are a veteran's benefit provided over 
     and above the full health coverage that all German citizens, 
     including veterans of the Waffen-SS, receive from their 
     government; and
       Whereas it is abhorrent that Holocaust survivors should 
     live out their remaining years in conditions worse than those 
     enjoyed by the surviving former Nazis who persecuted them: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the German Government should expand and simplify its 
     system of reparations so that all Holocaust survivors can 
     receive reparations, regardless of their nationality, length 
     or place of internment, or current financial situation;
       (2) the German Government should provide reparations to 
     Holocaust survivors in the former Soviet Union and other 
     former Communist countries in Eastern and Central Europe;
       (3) the German Government should fulfill its 
     responsibilities to victims of the Holocaust and immediately 
     set up a comprehensive medical fund to cover the medical 
     expenses of all Holocaust survivors worldwide; and
       (4) the German Government should help restore the dignity 
     of Holocaust survivors by paying them sufficient reparations 
     to ensure that no Holocaust survivor be forced by poverty to 
     live in conditions worse than those generally enjoyed by the 
     surviving former Nazis who persecuted them.

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