March 11



USA/HUNGARY:

U..S. to pay $25.5 million in Holocaust train looting case


The federal government on Friday reached a $25.5 million settlement with
the families of Hungarian Holocaust victims and will acknowledge the U.S.
Army's role in commandeering a trainload of the families' treasures
during World War II.

Under the terms of the settlement, the money will be distributed to needy
Hungarian Holocaust survivors rather than individual claimants who lost
family possessions.

About $21 million in funding for humanitarian services will be distributed
to social service agencies worldwide based on the percentage of survivors,
including 40% in Israel, 22% in Hungary, 21% in the United States and 7%
in Canada.

Up to $3.85 million is proposed for legal fees and costs. A total of
$500,000 would fund an archive on the so-called Nazi "Gold Train" for
scholarly and educational uses.

A commission appointed by then-President Clinton concluded in 1999 that
high-ranking U.S. Army officers and troops plundered the train after it
was intercepted on its way to Germany in May 1945.

The train carried gold, jewels, 1,200 paintings, silver, china, porcelain,
3,000 Oriental carpets and other heirlooms seized from Jewish families by
the Nazis. The cargo was worth an estimated $50 million to $120 million.

The lawsuit sought up to $10,000 each for as many as 30,000 Hungarian Jews
and their survivors.

Terms of the deal were leaked to an Israeli newspaper in December, but
United States acknowledgment of its soldiers' role in looting the train
was not resolved until recently.

"The case never really was about money. It was about having a reckoning
with history," said Sam Dubbin, one of the families' lawyers. He called
the agreement "a great outcome."

The Justice Department, which negotiated on behalf of the government,
issued a statement saying it was "very pleased to announce" the settlement
but said it would be inappropriate to add comment on a pending legal
matter.

Some of those who lost their family possessions on the train, however, had
mixed views on the settlement because it does not satisfy individual
claims.

"I can't say that I'm happy with the settlement, but I am happy that we
have a closure," said David Mermelstein of Miami, one of the plaintiffs.
"I expect (the United States) to acknowledge that it was a mistake not to
return the property to the rightful owners."

The agreement concluded it "would be impractical" to divide money among an
estimated 60,000 Hungarian survivors because of the difficulty determining
who had what on the train and the costs of determining eligibility for
compensation.

"This case has little precedent," the two sides wrote the judge. "Many of
the participants are dead. There are evidentiary gaps. The actions of the
United States that the plaintiffs challenge followed in the wake of the
worst crime in modern history."

Events were complicated by migrating populations, border shifts and
foreign policy realignments as the Soviet Union solidified its hold on
Eastern Europe.

A hearing on preliminary approval of the settlement is set for Thursday.
Final approval is expected by October.

(source: Associated Press)