Hungarian Jews Receive $25.5M In Settlement
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MIAMI – Amid objections from some Holocaust survivors, a federal judge yesterday approved a $25.5 million settlement between the American government and Hungarian Jews who lost jewelry, artwork, and other treasures when a Nazi “Gold Train” was commandeered by the American Army during World War II.
Despite the objections, Judge Patricia Seitz said the agreement represented a “historic” chance to right a 60-year-old wrong committed by some American troops and never adequately addressed by the federal government.
The settlement came in a lawsuit filed by Hungarian Holocaust survivors over the American capture and pilfering in 1945 of a train loaded with gold, jewels, silver, china, 3,000 Oriental rugs, and 1,200 paintings that had been stolen from Hungarian Jews by the Nazis. There are about 62,000 Hungarian Holocaust survivors worldwide.
Rather than trying to directly compensate people whose items were stolen, the agreement will distribute money through Jewish social service agencies over the next five years to needy Hungarian survivors around the world.
More than 40% of the money will go to those in Israel, 22% to Hungary, 21% to America and 7% to Canada. Lesser percentages will go elsewhere.
Terms of the settlement also call for the American government to issue a public apology for the military’s actions.