German railway fears flood of lawsuits over Holocaust trains, as Hungarian state railways MAV pay $1 billion 240 million.

The German railway company Deutsche Bahn has engaged a New York law firm to fight off compensation claims that it might face under proposed legislation enabling Holocaust victims and their relatives to sue for damages in US courts.

The state-owned network is the main successor to the Nazi-run Deutsche Reichsbahn which, along with other railways in German-occupied Europe, deported millions of Jews to death camps during the Second World War.

Deutsche Bahn has in the past compensated Holocaust victims under extensive German government reparations to survivors. The German Foundation Agreement reached with the US in 2000 was considered to have conclusively resolved all outstanding claims against Germany. But under the laws proposed by the US Holocaust Rail Justice Act, which is now before Congress, Deutsche Bahn fears it could face fresh compensation claims in US courts.

H.R. 1193: Holocaust Rail Justice Act

To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs and survivors of such persons, and for other purposes.  We think this bill has a 8%chance of passing Congress.

Sponsor:

Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY14]

Letter United States Senate Holocaust Rail Justice Act

S. 634: Holocaust Rail Justice Act 112th Congress, 2011–2012

A bill to ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs and survivors of such persons.  We think this bill has a 8% chance of passing Congress. 

Sponsor:Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]

Efraim Zuroff, of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem, said: “To the best of my knowledge, no railroad company has ever been forced to compensate deportees. ”

The US law is specifically designed to gain compensation from the French rail group SNCF, but legal experts say it could also apply to other European networks including Deutsche Bahn.

Holocaust Survivors Families’ Sue

Hungary’s MÁV

“Families of Hungary’s Holocaust victims are suing the Hungarian state railways MÁV at a court in Chicago for $240 million damages and $1 billion non-asset compensation for its part in the deportation of Jews in World War II.

Charles Schumer, a US Senator who is sponsoring the Bill, said that of the 76,000 Jews, resistance fighters and US prisoners deported to Nazi camps by SNCF, only 3 per cent survived.MORE 

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Immigration The Jew-Latino Tie

Hispanics and Jews are moving to the forefront in a burgeoning political alliance.

The next three months are seen as critical in the fight for immigration reform, but the weakening of the Democrats’ grip on Congress with the recent loss of a key Massachusetts Senate seat does not bode well for the passage of reform legislation.

The Jewish-Latino alliance on immigration issues builds on the heritage and experience of the Jewish community and on the enthusiasm and urgent needs of the Hispanic community, which has a strong interest in issues of family unification and the status of the some 12 million illegal immigrants, most of them from Latin America.

But Jewish activists also see the joint work as an opening for cooperation with the Hispanic community on other issues, such as Israel.

“If we want to engage with the Latino community on issues that are of concern for us, including Israel, we need to engage on issues that bother their community,” said Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. “We want to create growing bonds with the Latino community, and we cannot create these bonds if we are indifferent to the issues that are of concern to them.”

The Gutierrez bill has been praised by advocates for immigrants as providing answers to most of the concerns of the Hispanic community, but so far it has failed to gain any Republican support.

Schumer’s bill, now in the making, is expected to have more bipartisan appeal, by taking a nuanced approach to the thorny issue of providing a path to legalization for millions of illegal immigrants.More FORWARD