Sen. Schumer: U.S. to help compensate French rail’s Holocaust deportees
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JNS.org)– The U.S. State Department will accept applications for restitution from Holocaust victims (and their family members) who were transported to concentration camps by the French rail company Societé Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (SNCF), according to an announcement made last week by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
SNCF transported tens of thousands of Holocaust victims to concentration camps. Sen. Schumer sponsored the Holocaust Rail Justice Act, which makes SNCF liable for its actions in U.S. courts. The French government is now granting the U.S. government $60 million to be used to compensate claimants worldwide.
According to the State Department, the funds will be used to compensate those who survived deportation from France but are currently nationals of other countries, spouses of similar individuals, and estates representing such survivors and their spouses who have died since World War II. Each of these types of claimants, if approved, could receive more than $100,000.
“For decades, survivors and family members of those who perished have attempted to hold SNCF accountable for its active role during the Holocaust, however, it has continued to dodge responsibility for its collaboration with the Nazi regime. Next week, the State Department will begin accepting restitution applications from eligible survivors and their family members, which means that the French rail company will finally be held accountable for transporting thousands to their death during World War II,” said Sen. Schumer.
The agreement came into force Nov. 1 and applications are being accepted via a new online State Department portal beginning this month. (Articles from JNS.org appear on WA through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman)
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Anti-Defamation League welcomes agreement
NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday, Nov. 3, welcomed a new U.S.-France compensation program for Holocaust victims deported from Nazi-occupied France during World War II.
The program was established by a U.S.-France agreement to provide up to $60 million to compensate deportees from the U.S. and around the world who were not eligible to access the French pension program established in 1946 until now. Today is the opening of the claims process being led by the State Department, which will receive claims and distribute funds.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, who is currently in Paris for a series of meetings with government officials and Jewish community leaders, issued the following statement:
“We commend the governments of the United States and France, which worked in good faith to close gaps that were found in the compensation program, and the French Parliament for approving the agreement. The timely implementation of this agreement reflects a commitment to urgently help victims who were excluded for decades from the French Holocaust victims’ compensation program.
“No amount of money could ever make up for the horrific injustice done to these victims and their families. But agreements like this provide some modest redress, an acknowledgement of their pain. Governments and institutions have a responsibility to leave no stone unturned – even 70 years after the Holocaust – in seeking every possible measure of justice for Holocaust victims.
“While this agreement may represent closure on the cases of these deportees, the collective responsibility of all governments, related institutions and individuals to confront the past and to promote its lessons going forward never ends.” (Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League)