[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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