This is an essential timeline of the events related to the international dispute on the handling and recovering of the Holocaust assets, with a special focus on Switzerland. It is constantly updated.
Click here for more recent events
26.2.99 -- More than 62'000 check of $500 each have been sent out by the WJRO to American Holocaust survivors. This is the largest payment made out so far by the
Special Swiss Fund in favour of Holocaust victims. 130'000 requests were presented in the USA.
24.2.99 -- Jean Ziegler, the member of the Swiss parliament who had been accused of anti-Swiss behavior by a group of citizens after his book "La Suisse, l'or et les morts", will not be prosecuted. The Swiss government has not given their permission to prosecute the politician and sociologist. The Federal Council decided that this was a freedom of speech issue and that there is a real need for a public debate on Switzerland's past, and that it was not to the courts of justice to intervene.
16.2.99 -- The WJC said it will extend its battle for Holocaust reparations to France banks and the French governnment, while welcoming a decision by leading German companies to set up a new fund for victims of nazi concentration camps and forced and slave labourers. The German government helped broker the agreement. The leaders of several German companies, all of which have been charged in US-based lawsuits, signed on to the plan: Deutsche Bank, BASF, Dresdner Bank, Krupp, Hoechst, Siemens, Volkswagen, Allianz, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Degussa-Huels. How much will be paid into the fund has not been disclosed yet.
15.2.99 -- The organization in charge of distributing to gypsies in Poland the money of the Special Fund in favor of Holocaust victims has denied the accusations of wrongdoings brought against them last week. The organization has filed a complaint against Roma National Congress which accused them and whom they claim has delayed the distribution of the money.
12.2.99 -- Dr Josef Mengele, the head doctor at Auschwitz travelled to Switzerland after WW2 thanks to a travel document delivered in 1949 by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC "deeply regrets" and "shares the feelings of the survivors". Mengele received the document after presenting a false Italian certificate.
12.2.99 -- The indemnisation procedure instigated by Charles Sonabend against the Confederation has been suspended by the Federal Tribunal (the Swiss Supreme Court). This received a request from the Federal Finance Department asking for the plaintiff to clarify in writing his position with regard to the global agreement signed by the Swiss banks. Sonabend had already indicated last year that in his opinion this agreement was not satisfactory.
10.2.99 -- The final contract describing the details and the implementation of the agreement between UBS and CS, the Holocaust survivors and the World Jewish Restitution Organization has been signed by all the parties. The agreement will now be submitted to US Judge Ed Korman for approval.
9.2.99 -- In a press conference in Bern, members of the Roma National Congress (RNC), representing gypsies, have accused another Roma organization of having misdirected funds intended for the Holocaust Victims in Poland and other Eastern European countries and allocated by the Swiss Special Fund for Holocaust victims. RNC accuses the Fund's managers of having failed to oversee the distribution of the money, which the Fund's spokesman denied, saying that attempts to contact the alleged victims of the fraud directly have remained unsuccessful.
8.2.99 -- Linus von Castelmur, the secretary general of the Swiss historian's commission (also known as Bergier Commission) has announced he will resign before the end of the year to pursue a career in the Swiss foreign affairs department. The news was revealed by NZZ and confirmed by Castelmur.
4.2.99 -- A French government-appointed panel examining the seizure of assets from Jews during WW2 has reported finding $2.9 million taken from deportees to Nazi death camps that was never claimed and remained in a government bank. In its second report since it was set up in 1997, the panel, headed by banker and Resistance veteran Jean Matteoli, recommented that if the money remains unclaimed it should go to a government fund to expand the Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr In Paris. The panel also recommended that thousands of seized paintings and artworks in museums and French government buildings should be assembled and publicly exhibited so that owners or heirs get another chance to make claims.
3.2.99 -- The Federal Department of Finances has asked the Federal Tribunal (the Swiss' Supreme Court) to suspend the procedure opened by Charles Sonabend over a year ago requesting a compensation from the State, claiming that his share was due out of the global settlement sum paid by the banks. Sonabend had requested 100 000 Francs for damages to the Swiss government for its responsibility in turning back refugees in 1942, amongst which were members of his family who died in Auschwity. Accoording to the government, this request is covered in the global agreement.
3.2.99 -- In an attempt to settle Holocaust-related US lawsuits, Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, published documents that showed it had financed the building of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The admission will probably be followed next week by a meeting involving the bank, the WJC, and the US and German governments, in an attempt to negotiate a process for resolving the claims and avoid the threatened blocking of Deutsche's acquisition of Bankers Trust. This is likely to involve contributions into an "umbrella fund" including other German industries. The documents originated at the Deutsche Bank branch office in Katowice, in occupied Poland. "Many employees in Katowice knew what was going on in the camp", a bank's spokesman said. Deutsche maintains that Holocaust victims "won't be able to derive any concrete demands from today's discoveries".
30.1.99 -- During a meeting in Davos Switzerland, the president of the Swiss Confederation, Ruth Dreifuss and US Vice President Al Gore put an end to the Holocaust assets controverse and committed to working together for peace and stability in the world. Switzerland and the US are even going beyond amenities with projects involving student exchanges, annual ministerial meetings, bilateral economic commissions. Flavio Cotti, Minister of Foreign affairs and Thomas Borer, the taskforce head, the US ambassador Madeleine Kunin and Undersecretary of State Stuart Einzenstat also participated in the meeting. The latter reiterated America's desire to see the realization of the Swiss Solidarity Foundation, which should be up for popular vote next year.
27.1.99 -- The US and German governments are seeking ways to stem the rising tide of class-action lawsuits from Holocaust survivors over slave labour and stolen properties in Nazi Germany. The aim is to promote an overall negotiated settlement. US undersecretary of State Eizenstat and the German chancellor's chief of staff Bodo Hombach met in Bonn to discuss a solution. German banks and industrial companies are keen for the talks to succeed, to avoid negotiating directly with US lawyers and Jewish groups. Their proposal is to establish a large umbrella compensation fund which would be overseen by the German government. This has been rejected by US lawyers for Holocaust victims, who seem determined to prove the responsibility of the individual companies.
27.1.99 -- The Volcker commission plans to finish its research by end March and hopes to finalize the report on heirless assets and Swiss banks by the end of June 1999.
25.1.99 -- The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs will open a historical office which will be responsible for making historical research with regard to Switzerland's attitude and policies not only during WW2, but since then, with for example South Africa, Argentina, Chili or Rwanda.
22.1.99 -- Swiss banks and Jewish plaintiffs have finalized the details of the August 12 agreement, signed by all the Jewish organizations and lawyers involved. The text of the agreement, in which UBS and Credit Suisse are to pay out $1.25 billions, will soon be published in the press and on the Internet so as to allow anyone who opposes it to speak up and be heard by Judge Korman. The details with regard to the distribution of the money has not yet been settled: lawyer Judah Gribetz has been named "special master" to gather all propositions on how to distribute the funds. The WJC suggested that once the rightful beneficiaires are paid back, 80 percent of the remaining amount should be paid out to victims of the Shoah and 20 percent should be used to fund educational projects. The lawyers are defending the extended rights of their clients. The issue of their legal fee is also still open. One of the lawyers, Bob Swift, suggested the fee should represent 1.5 to 2 percent of the total amount, ie. between $18 and 25 millions to be split amongst the 10 to 15 lawyers. The WJC is hostile to any fee. Judge Korman will decide.
14.1.99 -- Funds allocated to gypsies by the Special fund for Holocaust victims allegedly have not reached their beneficiaires. The weekly "Die Weltwoche" describes cases discovered in Poland where after the Fund paid out funds to the Rom organisations, they were not distributed to the Holocaust survivors, or only partially.
14.1.99 -- Former security guard Christoph Meili intends to file a lawsuit against Swiss daily newspaper "Blick" for libel and privacy infringement following an article published in January 1998 which described him as "crazy" and "lazy". Per his lawyer Ed Faga, Meili is claiming $10.3 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed in New York.
13.1.99 -- Swiss Minister Flavio Cotti, in charge of Foreign affairs and who played a major role in settling the Holocaust Assets dispute, has resigned after 12 years in the job.
13.1.99 -- The President of the ICEP, Paul Volcker, discreetly met with the leaders of the Swiss banking community and minister Kaspar Villiger in Zurich on January 8. The objective of the meeting was to try and settle the quarrels with the regard to the Volcker commissions' methods in investigating the banks. No details of the meeting were communicated to the public.
7.1.99 -- Swiss banks announced they are putting $4 million towards the creation of a computerized list of Holocaust victims' names in a bid to match dormant accounts with their rightful owners.
3.1.99 -- Three Swiss cantonal banks (Schaffhausen, Basle and Vaud) have suspended payments to controllers from Arthur Andersen, KPMG, DT and PWC, auditing on behalf of the International Committee of Eminent Persons, better known as the Volcker Commission to research heirless funds, in protest against what they consider "nonsense". Approximately 100 million francs in heirless funds are to be found in the 30 banks being audited but the costs for auditing could amount to 1 billion francs. The Cantonal Bank of Zurich for instance, had to unblock a budget of 27.5 million francs for auditing, whilst the heirless funds in that bank are estimated to be 2.7 million.
28.12.98 -- Scheduled for release last Fall, then for Spring 1999, the Bergier Report on Swiss politics towards refugees during WW2 has now been rescheduled to be published in the Fall of 1999.
28.12.98 -- Speculations began in Swiss political circles with regard to the possible resignation of Flavio Cotti, President of the Confederation after he mentioned in an interview that "12 years in government was a long time". The interview was published in the Aargauer Zeitung daily.
27.12.98 -- According to the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, the Swiss Holocaust taskforce will soon be dismantled, even though a procedure will be set forth in the
event it needs to be reassembled again quickly. Its head Thomas Borer may be a candidate for the job of Swiss Ambassador in Berlin.
17.12.98 -- By 94 votes against 45, the Swiss National Council has lifted parliamentary immunity for nationalist representative Rudolf Keller, who called for a boycott of "American and Jewish products and stores" in past months in relation to the controversy on the Holocaust assets, and can now be judged for this.
17.12.98 -- The Swiss National Council has completed the new constitutional framework directing the SNB's monetary policy, which includes the suppression of the gold-franc parity. This measure is necessary in order to free up part of the SNB's gold reserves for the financing of the Foundation "Suisse Solidaire". The creation of the Foundation will probably not take place before the year 2000, as each amendment to the Constitution must be submitted to the population for voting in Switzerland. In addition, during the discussion at the Parliament several other possible affectation of the SNB's gold were brought up: financing of social security, retirement, training programs, paying back the public debt, etc. The press commented that "the Foundation has lost part of its reason to exist since the global agreement was signed between the banks and the Jewish organizations".
14.12.98 -- Between 50'000 and 55'000 Holocaust survivors in the US will receive a first installment paid out by the Special Swiss Fund in the second half of January 1999, said the WJC. The amount available adds up to 31.4 million dollars.
12.12.98 -- The Paul Grüninger Prize for the defense of human rights (named after the Swiss police officer who let refugees into Switzerland during WW2) was attributed to Anita Khadka, of the Maiti Nepal organization, for her fight in favour of young Nepalese women forced into prostitution. The ceremony took place in Geneva and Swiss president-elect Ruth Dreifuss was in the attendance.
11.12.98 -- The special Fund in favor of the Holocaust victims has modified its criteria for distribution to beneficiairies in two categories: political prisoners and gypsies. The criteria have been extended for the first group and restricted for the second.
11.12.98 -- According to a book by Swiss historian Thomas Buomberger, artworks stolen by the nazis came into Switzerland by the hundreds, before and after WW2, until 1955. Some gallery owners and collectors, amongst which are well-known Emil Burhle and Theodor Fischer, were aware of the dubious origins of their acquisitions, Buomberger states in his book. Buomberger's research was financed by the Federal Office of Culture.
7.12.98 -- After much bickering the World Jewish Restitution has submitted to the direction of the Special Fund for Holocaust victims, a request for payments for Jewish victims living in Israel. The amount allocated is of 59 million francs and 60'000 people are concerned. To date, 38 million francs from the Fund (out of 273) has been distributed, mostly to East Europeans. The paying out of 50 other million in the US should be begin shortly.
3.12.98 -- The Washington conference ended with the adoption of 11 principles for restitution of looted art. The delegates of the 44 participating countries committed to continue the search for artwork stolen by the nazis, in order to give them back to their rightful owners or heirs. The procedure for restitution however is still vague. This time, Switzerland was not the center of the debate. The declaration requests the opening up of all the archives and the creation of a shared electronic database.
2.12.98 -- Based on the Swiss experience, where the country was confronted with many different representives and various demands, different methods and diverging
objectives, an international commission has been created on the initiative of the
President of the Austrian Jewish community with regard to discussions on restitution related to Austria and the Holocaust. The commission includes a representative of each large Jewish organization (including the WJC) and does not include american lawyers.
1.12.98 -- Contrary to a widely held belief that the "J" stamp on jewish refugee documents was used for the first time in 1938, a document presented in Washington claimed that "it occured as early as 1910, on naturalization requests filed in Switzerland by East European Jews. At the end of WW1, a red stamp with the Star of David in a circle as well as the letter "J" were sometimes found on such documents". The final report of the Bergier commission is expected next year.
1.12.98 -- Tense feelings arose amongst the Swiss delegates at the Washington conference. The president of the historian commission, Jean-François Bergier, handed out 3 documents to the participants (partial reports, notably the new information with regard to the letter "J" stamp) following which a member of the official Swiss delegation took back all the copies. The government's delegate felt the publication of such a document was ill advised, and feared that Switzerland would once again be placed at the heart of the controversy, whereas its objective is to "internationalise" the debate. Thomas Borer, the head of the Swiss taskforce, admitted that he would have preferred that the documents be submitted to the government first.
Previous events
