[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 156 (Sunday, September 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING RESTITUTION FOR PROPERTY CONFISCATED BY NAZI AND COMMUNIST 
                                REGIMES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 23, 2008

  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 371 which 
strongly supports and immediate and just restitution of, or 
compensation for, property illegally confiscated during the last 
century by Nazi and Communist regimes. As a cosponsor of this important 
resolution, I believe that while we must recognize steps forward, 
countries in central and eastern Europe that have not already done so 
must return confiscated properties to their rightful owners or, where 
restitution is not possible, pay equitable compensation.
  In that vein, I would like to draw the attention of the House to one 
particular situation in Hungary. Since the end of the Cold War, Hungary 
has developed into a vibrant democracy, a member of the European Union, 
an important NATO ally, and a key friend of the United States.
  Yet, even with this great progress, Hungary's record on restitution 
for Holocaust victims is mixed, at best. Take the case of Martha 
Nierenberg, an 84-year-old U.S. citizen who lives in New York State. 
Her grandfather amassed one of the preeminent art collections in 
Hungary, consisting of some 2,500 paintings. After the Nazis occupied 
Hungary, some of those paintings were personally seized by Adolf 
Eichmann, the infamous implementer of the Final Solution, for shipment 
to Nazi Germany. Others were taken by the Hungarian government in 
collaboration with the Nazis and wound up after World War II in state 
owned museums in Budapest.
  Mrs. Nierenberg's mother began asking Hungary for the return of some 
of the paintings in 1996 and upon her mother's death, Mrs. Nierenberg 
began to request their return, as well. Hungary refused to return the 
paintings, even though there has been no question that the paintings 
belonged to Mrs. Nierenberg's grandfather and to her mother after his 
death. As a result, Mrs. Nierenberg was forced to sue in Hungary for 
the return of 12 paintings. She won initially in the lower court (which 
returned one painting to her), but the Hungarian government challenged 
the ruling, requiring her to endure 7 years of appeals. She finally 
lost the final court case earlier this year, on technical grounds.
  The Washington Principles adopted in 1998, and supported by the 
Hungarian government, require governments holding Holocaust property, 
such as Hungary, to arrive at a fair and equitable resolution of claims 
to the property. But, Hungary has not followed those principles and has 
not tried to reach a fair and equitable resolution of Mrs. Nierenberg's 
claims.
  The appearance, sadly, is that the Hungarian government wants to 
``run the clock'' on Mrs. Nierenberg, hoping that she will give up or 
die. But she will not give up, and Mrs. Nierenberg's children are as 
determined as she is to recover what is rightfully theirs.
  What is most shocking to me about this case is how quickly countries 
are able to disassociate their war-time complicity in the Nazi 
Holocaust from their holding of the war-time booty. During World War 
II, Hungary expelled 440,000 Jews, most of whom perished in Auschwitz. 
Ironically, Adolph Eichmann, who stole some of the Nierenberg 
paintings, was chief of the team of ``deportation experts'' that helped 
the Hungarian authorities send their country's Jewish population to its 
demise.
  Madam Speaker, Hungary has no moral claim to Mrs. Nierenberg's 
paintings and, should, at long last, do what is right. Therefore, as a 
cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 371, I urge the Hungarian government to 
return the paintings, at once, or work out a just resolution of this 
case with Mrs. Nierenberg in accordance with the Washington Principles.

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