U.S. Still ignoring Holocaust survivors’ right to restitution
Edgar Bronfman Sr. chimes in on the case of Hungarian Gold Train.
Unfortunately, since taking office, the Bush administration has ardently worked to block the Gold Train survivors from achieving restitution. Justice Department attorneys have deployed an array of technical devices — asserting the same arguments of statute of limitations, sovereign immunity and proof of property that the United States so adamantly deplored and successfully urged other nations to forswear.
[…]It is not too late for the Bush administration to right this wrong. Officials should work in the current mediation with survivors to achieve a fair and immediate settlement, paying reasonable compensation. These Holocaust survivors are elderly, many frail and ailing, some dying. Continued delay is the enemy of justice. In this greatest of moral issues, courtroom antics, legal tricks and political posturing have no place.
