[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 603 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 603
Expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of or
compensation for property seized during the Nazi and Communist eras.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 26, 2008
Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Coleman,
and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of or
compensation for property seized during the Nazi and Communist eras.
Whereas many East European countries were dominated for parts of the last
century by Nazi or Communist regimes, without the consent of their
people;
Whereas victims of Nazi persecution included individuals persecuted or targeted
for persecution by the Nazi or Nazi-allied governments based on their
religious, ethnic, or cultural identity, 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 East European
subsidiaries had passed to the government;
Whereas East 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 the Paris Declaration of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly in July 2001 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
the private property that is taken for public use;
Whereas the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has called on the OSCE participating
States to ensure that they implement appropriate legislation to secure
the restitution of or compensation for property losses of victims of
Nazi persecution and property losses of communal organizations and
institutions during the Nazi era, irrespective of the current
citizenship or place of residence of victims or their heirs or the
relevant successor 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 or 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 or collaborators during World War II or
subsequently seized by Communist governments after World War II;
Whereas, at the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, 44 countries
adopted 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 so far the current Government of
Poland has not adopted 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 countries in Europe
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, and just legislation so
that victims of Nazi persecution (or the heirs of such persons)
who had their private property looted and wrongly confiscated
by the Nazis during World War II and in turn 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, and just legislation so
that communities that had communal and religious property
looted and wrongly confiscated by the Nazis during World War II
and in turn seized by a Communist government (or the relevant
successors to the communal and religious 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
which 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 a country in Europe to host in 2009 a follow-
up international conference a decade after the Washington
Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, for governments and non-
governmental organizations, which would--
(A) address the issues of restitution of or
compensation for real property, personal property
(including art and cultural property), and financial
assets wrongly confiscated by the Nazis and their
allies or collaborators and the subsequent wrongful
confiscations by Communist regimes; and
(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.
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