Jews suffered $230-320b material damage in Holocaust

A government commitee has called for the establishment of a central database of looted property.

A government committee yesterday submitted a report about material damage suffered by the Jewish people in the Holocaust to Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Natan Sharansky. The report estimated the damage at $230-320 billion.

A steering committee on restitution of Jewish rights and property, headed by Aharon Mor, prepared a global report on the state of restitution of the property of Holocaust victims in 1952-2004. The committee includes representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, and Housing and Construction, as well as from the Jewish Agency. Elyakim Rubinstein initiated the report six years ago, when he was Attorney General. The report is based on the finding that nine million European Jews lost their property: real estate, the contents of their homes, bank accounts, investments, trademarks, insurance policies, articles of value, gold, jewelry, art works, etc., in addition to communal property, which is estimated at 5% of total looted property.

The sum calculated by the committee includes looted property, loss of income, and salaries not paid to Jewish forced laborers. The committee estimates that at most 20% of looted property was returned, and adds, “Restitution of private property is the weakest link. There is much more to be done on this issue.”

The agreements signed in 1998-2001, especially the arrangement with the Swiss banks, promised payments totaling $8 billion. The committee says, however, that some of the parties to the agreements “have lost the lesson and moral vision in this matter. They continue to do only the essential minimum, and nothing more.”

The committee stresses that it is essential to determine a realistic value for property, and proposes using the valuation of the policies of Holocaust victims as a basis for future calculations.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on April 20, 2005

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018