[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 77 (Tuesday, May 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5622-S5623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   SENATE RESOLUTION 153--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE 
RESTITUTION OF OR COMPENSATION FOR PROPERTY SEIZED DURING THE NAZI AND 
                             COMMUNIST ERAS

  Mr. NELSON of Florida (for himself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 153

       Whereas many Eastern European countries were dominated for 
     parts of the last century by Nazi or Communist regimes, 
     without the consent of their people;
       Whereas victims under the Nazi regime included individuals 
     persecuted or targeted for persecution by the Nazi or Nazi-
     allied governments based on their religious, ethnic, or 
     cultural identity, as well as their political beliefs, sexual 
     orientation, or disability;
       Whereas the Nazi regime and the authoritarian and 
     totalitarian regimes that emerged in Eastern Europe after 
     World War II perpetuated the wrongful and unjust confiscation 
     of property belonging to the victims of Nazi persecution, 
     including real property, personal property, and financial 
     assets;
       Whereas communal and religious property was an early target 
     of the Nazi regime and, by expropriating churches, synagogues 
     and other community-controlled property, the Nazis denied 
     religious communities the temporal facilities that held those 
     communities together;
       Whereas after World War II, Communist regimes expanded the 
     systematic expropriation of communal and religious property 
     in an effort to eliminate the influence of religion;
       Whereas many insurance companies that issued policies in 
     pre-World War II Eastern Europe were nationalized or had 
     their subsidiary assets nationalized by Communist regimes;
       Whereas such nationalized companies and those with 
     nationalized subsidiaries have generally not paid the 
     proceeds or compensation due on pre-war policies, because 
     control of those companies or their Eastern European 
     subsidiaries had passed to their respective governments;
       Whereas Eastern European countries involved in these 
     nationalizations have not participated in a compensation 
     process for Holocaust-era insurance policies for victims of 
     Nazi persecution;
       Whereas the protection of and respect for private property 
     rights is a basic principle for all democratic governments 
     that operate according to the rule of law;
       Whereas the rule of law and democratic norms require that 
     the activity of governments and their administrative agencies 
     be exercised in accordance with the laws passed by their 
     parliaments or legislatures, and such laws themselves must be 
     consistent with international human rights standards;
       Whereas in July 2001, the Paris Declaration of the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 
     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 OSCE participating states;
       Whereas the OSCE participating states have agreed to 
     achieve or maintain full recognition and protection of all 
     types of property, including private property and the right 
     to prompt, just, and effective compensation for private 
     property that is taken for public use;
       Whereas the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has called on the 
     participating states to ensure that they implement 
     appropriate legislation to secure the restitution of or 
     compensation for property losses of victims of Nazi 
     persecution, including communal organizations and 
     institutions, irrespective of the current citizenship or 
     place of residence of the victims, their heirs, or the 
     relevant successors to communal property;
       Whereas Congress passed resolutions in the 104th and 105th 
     Congresses that emphasized the longstanding support of the 
     United States for the restitution of or compensation for 
     property wrongly confiscated during the Nazi and Communist 
     eras;
       Whereas certain post-Communist countries in Europe have 
     taken steps toward compensating victims of Nazi persecution 
     whose property was confiscated by the Nazis or their allies 
     and collaborators during World War II or subsequently seized 
     by Communist governments;
       Whereas at the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era 
     Assets, 44 countries adopted the Principles on Nazi-
     Confiscated Art to guide the restitution of looted artwork 
     and cultural property;
       Whereas the Government of Lithuania has promised to adopt 
     an effective legal framework to provide for the restitution 
     of or compensation for wrongly confiscated communal property, 
     but so far has not done so;
       Whereas successive governments in Poland have promised to 
     adopt an effective general property compensation law, but the 
     current government has yet to adopt one;
       Whereas the legislation providing for the restitution of or 
     compensation for wrongly confiscated property in Europe has, 
     in various instances, not always been implemented in an 
     effective, transparent, and timely manner;
       Whereas such legislation is of the utmost importance in 
     returning or compensating property wrongfully seized by 
     totalitarian or authoritarian governments to its rightful 
     owners;
       Whereas compensation and restitution programs can never 
     bring back to Holocaust survivors what was taken from them, 
     or in any way make up for their suffering; and
       Whereas there are Holocaust survivors, now in the twilight 
     of their lives, who are impoverished and in urgent need of 
     assistance, lacking the resources to support basic needs, 
     including adequate shelter, food, or medical care: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) appreciates the efforts of those European countries 
     that have enacted legislation for the restitution of or 
     compensation for private, communal, and religious property 
     wrongly confiscated during the Nazi or Communist eras, and 
     urges each of those countries to ensure that the legislation 
     is effectively and justly implemented;
       (2) welcomes the efforts of many post-Communist countries 
     to address the complex and difficult question of the status 
     of confiscated properties, and urges those countries to 
     ensure that their restitution or compensation programs are 
     implemented in a timely, non-discriminatory manner;
       (3) urges the Government of Poland and the governments of 
     other countries in Europe that have not already done so to 
     immediately enact fair, comprehensive, non-discriminatory, 
     and just legislation so that victims of Nazi persecution (or 
     the heirs or successors of such persons) who had their 
     private property looted and wrongly confiscated by the Nazis 
     during World War II and subsequently seized by a Communist 
     government are able to obtain either restitution of their 
     property or, where restitution is not possible, fair 
     compensation;
       (4) urges the Government of Lithuania and the governments 
     of other countries in Europe that have not already done so to 
     immediately enact fair, comprehensive, non-discriminatory, 
     and just legislation so that communities that had communal 
     and religious property looted and wrongly confiscated by the 
     Nazis during World War II and subsequently seized by a 
     Communist government (or the relevant successors to such 
     property or the relevant foundations) are able to obtain 
     either restitution of their property or, where restitution is 
     not possible, fair compensation;
       (5) urges the countries of Europe which have not already 
     done so to ensure that all such restitution and compensation 
     legislation is established in accordance with principles of 
     justice and provides a simple, transparent, and prompt 
     process, so that it results in a tangible benefit to those 
     surviving victims of Nazi persecution who suffered from the 
     unjust confiscation of their property, many of whom are well 
     into their senior years;
       (6) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to 
     engage in an open dialogue with leaders of those countries 
     that have not already enacted such legislation to support the 
     adoption of legislation requiring the fair, comprehensive, 
     and nondiscriminatory restitution of or compensation for 
     private, communal, and religious property that was seized and 
     confiscated during the Nazi and Communist eras; and
       (7) welcomes the decision by the Government of the Czech 
     Republic to host in June 2009 an international conference for 
     governments and non-governmental organizations to continue 
     the work done at the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-
     Era Assets, which will--
       (A) address the issues of restitution of or compensation 
     for real property, personal property (including art and 
     cultural property), and financial assets wrongfully 
     confiscated by the Nazis or their allies and collaborators 
     and subsequently wrongfully confiscated by Communist regimes;
       (B) review issues related to the opening of archives and 
     the work of historical commissions, review progress made, and 
     focus on the next steps required on these issues; and
       (C) examine social welfare issues related to the needs of 
     Holocaust survivors, and identify methods and resources to 
     meet to such needs.

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, next month, to mark the 
conclusion of its term in the presidency of the European Union, the 
Czech Republic will host what will be an historic gathering in Prague: 
the International Conference on Holocaust Era Assets. The Prague 
Conference will build on the important work done more than 10 years ago 
at the Conference on Holocaust Era Assets held here in Washington. The 
Washington Conference laid the foundation for important agreements 
entered into by countries and private companies that resulted in a 
number of restitution and compensation programs throughout Western 
Europe that have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to Holocaust 
victims and their heirs.
  The Prague Conference hopefully will serve as a catalyst for the 
next, and probably final, phase of restitution and compensation 
programs for Holocaust survivors and their heirs. One of the Prague 
Conference's main focuses will be how to advance restitution for real

[[Page S5623]]

and personal property, including art and cultural property. This is 
especially true in Eastern Europe, where there are numerous countries 
that have yet to enact meaningful restitution programs, including 
countries in Eastern Europe.
  Two resolutions introduced today will address this topic. I have 
introduced a resolution, which Senator Cardin has cosponsored, calling 
on Eastern European countries to implement restitution or compensation 
programs for those Holocaust victims and their heirs whose property and 
financial assets were confiscated by the Nazis, and in many cases 
seized by the communist governments that later came to power. Senator 
Cardin has introduced a second resolution, which I have co-sponsored, 
supporting the goals of the Prague Conference.
  I first introduced my resolution calling for restitution or 
compensation by Eastern European countries during the 110th Congress, 
following a hearing I chaired in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
to examine Holocaust-era insurance compensation issues. While this 
hearing was the first time a Senate committee had met specifically to 
consider this subject, I have been involved in the issue for more than 
a decade. As Florida's insurance commissioner in the late 1990s, I 
helped lead an international effort by regulators and Jewish groups 
that ultimately forced many European insurers to come to the table and 
for the first time begin paying restitution to survivors.
  Florida is a State with a large population of Holocaust survivors--
one of the largest concentrations of Holocaust survivors in the world. 
Most are in their 80s or 90s--the very youngest are in their 70s. They 
are valued constituents, and while I recognize that no amount of 
financial compensation or property restitution can ever make up from 
the indescribable wrong of the Holocaust, I have been and remain 
committed to doing what I can to assist survivors to obtain without 
delay meaningful compensation for assets that they lost during the war.

  The primary purpose of that hearing was to examine what remains to be 
done to compensate Holocaust survivors and their heirs for the 
insurance policies, now that the decade-long compensation process 
undertaken by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance 
Claim, ICHEIC, has ceased operations and paid out some $306 million to 
48,000 Holocaust victims and their heirs for Holocaust-era insurance 
policies that belonged to them and never were paid.
  While Western European countries and insurance companies participated 
in and contributed to ICHEIC, there was undisputed testimony at the 
hearing that Eastern European countries and companies did not and 
should be called upon to compensate Holocaust survivors for the unpaid 
value of their insurance policies.
  Millions of Jews lived in Eastern European countries before the war. 
While many of them lived in rural areas and were too poor to afford 
insurance, there were certainly Jews who purchased insurance policies 
from subsidiaries of Western European companies whose assets were taken 
by the communist governments that came into power, or by Eastern 
European companies that were nationalized. Unfortunately, the Eastern 
European countries neither participated in ICHEIC nor contributed to 
any of the insurance compensation efforts that have taken place. ICHEIC 
nonetheless paid claims on those Eastern European policies from out of 
the humanitarian funds that were contributed by the ICHEIC companies, 
ultimately distributing $31 million on more than 2,800 such claims.
  Unfortunately, Eastern European countries have not taken nearly 
enough action on restitution for insurance and other private and 
communal property taken from Jews and other victims of Nazi 
persecution, and then seized by the communist governments that ruled 
Eastern Europe after the war. Poland, for example, is the sole member 
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe not to have 
enacted property restitution legislation. And Lithuania has yet to 
enact promised legislation to compensate communities that had communal 
and religious property seized. This is unacceptable.
  The resolution I am introducing today urges countries in Eastern 
Europe to enact fair and comprehensive private and communal property 
restitution legislation addressing the unjust taking of property by 
Nazi, communist, and socialist regimes, and to do so as quickly as 
possible. Given that the youngest Holocaust survivors are in their 70s, 
time is of the essence.
  Our resolution calls for the Secretary of State to engage in dialogue 
to achieve the aims of the resolution as well as for the convening of 
an international intergovernmental conference to focus on the remaining 
steps necessary to secure restitution and compensation of Holocaust-era 
assets.
  The resolution received overwhelming support from the survivor 
community when it was introduced last year. Following the hearing, 
Holocaust survivors were notified of our intent to file this resolution 
and asked to provide input via e-mail. Over the space of 6 weeks, we 
received more than 200 messages from Holocaust survivors and their 
children and relatives now living in nations around the world, 
supporting restitution. Many e-mails addressed specific claims to 
property in Eastern European countries including Croatia, Czech 
Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, 
Slovakia, and Ukraine.

  The following message of support from one Holocaust survivor 
exemplifies the many heart-rending and compelling e-mails I received, 
recounting what was lost by survivors who had lived in Eastern Europe 
and their inability thus far to obtain restitution or compensation:

       I support your efforts to secure property restitution in 
     Eastern Europe for Holocaust Survivors.
       With my family, I was expelled from our apartment in Lodz, 
     Poland on December 11, 1939. We were allowed to take with us 
     only 3 rucksacks and all our material belongings had to be 
     left behind. These included a newly built apartment block 
     with 10 luxury flats, a textile factory employing over 100 
     people and magazines full of finished fabrics.
       My mother and I survived the Warsaw ghetto, my father was 
     killed by the Germans in December 1944 and we returned to 
     Lodz after liberation by the Russians in early 1945. Our 
     factory and our apartment belonged now to the Polish 
     authorities. We left Poland soon afterwards.
       After the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the communist 
     regime, I tried [to] get our possessions back without 
     success, my appeal having been dismissed by the Polish High 
     Court. No compensation was offered.

  We hope the resolution we are introducing today will spur our own 
government and governments in Eastern Europe into action and call 
attention to this important unfinished business. The Prague Conference 
offers what may be the last time that a foundation can be laid for 
significant progress. Justice and memory demand nothing less.

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