US agrees to Nazi 'Gold Train' settlement
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-21 16:14

The U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit with tens of thousands of Hungarian Holocaust survivors over a trainload of gold, jewelry and other property seized by the U.S. Army at the end of World War II, lawyers said on Monday.

Fred Fielding, seen during September 11 hearings in New York, May 18, 2004, will mediate a lawsuit by Hungarian Jews who claim the U.S. Army stole their family treasures and heirlooms from a seized Nazi train. [AP/file]

The agreement over 24 boxcars filled with $50 million to $200 million worth of art and household goods stolen by the Nazis and then confiscated by the United States still has to be worked out in detail, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Sam Dubbin, told a court.

Government documents cited by the lawsuit said some of the property was requisitioned by U.S. military officers to furnish homes and offices, sold in army commissaries or kept by military personnel as trinkets.

"This money won't bring back my parents, my loved ones and my sister. I don't care if I get one dollar or $100,000, I just want closure," said Holocaust survivor Jack Rubin from Boynton Beach, Florida.

Rubin, 76, was 15 when the Nazis took him to Auschwitz concentration camp.

He was forced to help load what became known as the "Gold Train" with gold, jewelry, art, clothing, Oriental rugs and other household goods and religious articles.

The train was seized by the U.S. Army in Austria in 1945 and the suit said the army falsely classified it as unidentifiable and enemy property, thus avoiding having to return the goods to their rightful owners.

The suit was brought by Hungarian Jews in Miami, where many of them live.

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

But any agreement will also apply to Holocaust survivors in Australia, Israel and elsewhere, Dubbin said. While many owners of the goods died in Nazi concentration camps during the war, he estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 people could benefit from the deal.

Financial details of what is believed to be the first suit against the United States over property stolen by the Nazis were not made public.

The original class-action suit sought $10,000 in compensation per plaintiff while estimates of the 1945 value of the goods range from $50 million to $200 million. In modern day terms, the treasures could be worth 10 times as much.

Gideon Taylor, executive vice president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, said that for Holocaust survivors, the case was not about money. "It's about restituting history. This is a moral step by the U.S. to acknowledge the past," Taylor said.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami in 2001 on the 56th anniversary of Germany's surrender. It alleged the United States made no effort to return the goods and lied to Hungarian Jews who sought information after the war.

The Justice Department sought to have the case thrown out.

Daniel Meron, principal deputy assistant attorney-general, declined to clarify why the government decided to stop fighting the case except to say the two sides "managed to narrow our differences."

The Justice Department had faced calls from members of Congress from both parties, and newspaper opinion pieces, urging it to settle.

"While nothing can heal the wounds suffered by many of these survivors, I am grateful and relieved that our government is providing long overdue redress to these men and women," said New York Democratic senator Hillary Clinton (news - web sites), one of the lawmakers who pressured the government to settle.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz set a deadline of Feb. 18 for a detailed agreement to be submitted and a follow-up hearing on Feb. 25.

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