The first book to tell the complete story of the American attempt at restitution for victims of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was not only the greatest murder in history; it was also the greatest theft. Historians estimate that the Nazis stole roughly $230 billion to $320 billion in assets (figured in today's dollars), from the Jews of Europe. Since the revelations concerning the wartime activities of the Swiss banks first broke in the late 1990s, an ever-widening circle of complicity and wrongdoing against Jews and other victims has emerged in the course of lawsuits waged by American lawyers. These suits involved German corporations, French and Austrian banks, European insurance companies, and double thefts of art-first by the Nazis, and then by museums and private collectors refusing to give them up. All of these injustices have come to light thanks to the American legal system.
Holocaust Justice is the first book to tell the complete story of the legal campaign, conducted mainly on American soil, to address these injustices. Michael Bazyler, a legal scholar specializing in human rights and international law, takes an in-depth look at the series of lawsuits that gave rise to a coherent campaign to right historical wrongs. Diplomacy, individual pleas for justice by Holocaust survivors and various Jewish organizations for the last fifty years, and even suits in foreign courts, had not worked. It was only with the intervention of the American courts that elderly Holocaust survivors and millions of other wartime victims throughout the world were awarded compensation, and equally important, acknowledgment of the crimes committed against them.
The unique features of the American system of justice-which allowed it to handle claims that originated over fifty years ago and in another part of the world-made it the only forum in the world where Holocaust claims could be heard. Without the lawsuits brought by American lawyers, Bazyler asserts, the claims of the elderly survivors and their heirs would continue to be ignored.
For the first time in history, European and even American corporations are now being forced to pay restitution for war crimes totaling billions of dollars to Holocaust survivors and other victims. Bazyler deftly tells the unfolding stories: the Swiss banks' attempt to hide dormant bank accounts belonging to Holocaust survivors or heirs of those who perished in the war; German private companies that used slave laborers during World War II-including American subsidiaries in Germany; Italian, Swiss and German insurance companies that refused to pay on prewar policies; and the legal wrangle going on today in American courts over art looted by the Nazis in wartime Europe. He describes both the human and legal dramas involved in the struggle for restitution, bringing the often-forgotten voices of Holocaust survivors to the forefront. He also addresses the controversial legal and moral issues over Holocaust restitution and the ethical debates over the distribution of funds.
With an eye to the future, Bazyler discusses the enduring legacy of Holocaust restitution litigation, which is already being used as a model for obtaining justice for historical wrongs on both the domestic and international stage.
Industry Reviews
"The author has a good command of the facts in all these cases and tell the story well." --The Historian "Bazyler has written an indispensable history of Holocaust restitution as litigated in US courts... Essential." --CHOICE "Any activist or scholar interested in any restitution movement should read this book." --Journal of Genocide Research "Bazyler rightly attacks the commission as an unmitigated disaster and ... correctly describes the situation as a disgrace." --Financial Times Magazine "Holocaust Justice tells the complete story of the legal campaign to win restitution for Hitler's victims and thus deserves a large reading audience... The Book should remain the standard work on the subject for some time to come." --New Jersey Jewish News "Bazyler ... gives details of nationwide litigation in which courts rejected the legal basis for such claims. His book is enlightening and provocative." --Los Angeles Times "Michael Bazyler has written an incisive and compelling history of the effort to use law to gain a measure of justice for victims of the Holocaust. Not only is the book an indispensable chronicle of the Holocaust litigation; it is a probing inquiry into the wisdom and morality of the effort." --Burt Neuborne, John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, NYU Law School, Lead Settlement Counsel, in Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation "By patiently walking us through the vast and complex labyrinth of litigation and legislation that focused on securing reparations and restitution, Bazyler shows us that the loss of property caused by the bureaucratic workings of banks, corporations, and insurance companies was even more difficult to prove in court than the loss of life caused by no less bureaucratic workings of the concentration camps." --Washington Post "In this lucid and compelling book, Bazyler documents the fight for restitution, its successes, and its failures." --Booklist "...A definitive analytical study of how the American courts and system of justice were used to address the mass-scale theft initiated by the Holocaust." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch "Bazyler has produced a masterful study of the tragedy and triumphs of the Holocaust, and a look at the American legal system as its most effective and redemptive. The book is a "must read." --International Journal of Legal Information "A masterly study of the search for justice against long odds. Its analysis is compelling, its importance immense. It is also a fascinating read." --Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Hitler's Willing Executioners and A Moral Reckoning "An indispensable guide to the complex and controversial struggle for justice in the aftermath of the Holocaust, traversing the history of the battle for restitution in America's courts. Bazyler's understanding is authoritative and his learning deep. I thought I knew all the intricacies of the litigation, all the ins and outs of the controversy until I read this book and learned that there was so much more to know. He has done a masterful job of clarifying and elucidating. This work must be studied by anyone interested in the issue. It is a model of fairness." --Michael Berenbaum, Sigi Ziering Institute, The University of Judaism "This book should be read by everyone interested in how some measure of justice was obtained for victims of the Holocaust and about how issues of historical injustice should be addressed by the international community." --Paul Hoffman, Chair, Amnesty International "An incisive work of legal history and an invaluable guide to the litigation involving Holocaust-era assets. Bazyler offers an elegant and up-to-date study that will prove indispensable for those interested in restitution law, the Holocaust, and the issue of historical injustice." --Jonathan Petropoulos former Research Director, Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. "Michael Bazyler brings the passion of a child of Holocaust survivors and the tenacious investigative skills of a lawyer in addressing the complexities of Holocaust restitution. The result is courageous, provocative, and sobering." --Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Simon Wiesenthal Center "... is valuable as a play-by-play of litigation on the Swiss banks cases, slave labor, Nazi-looted art and Holocaust-era insurance policies." --Jewish Journal "The restitution cases he cites in support of his thesis are thoroughly researched and Professor Bazyler's argument is provocative." --The Art Newspaper "Bazyler writes intelligently and often bends over backward to give the other side fair representation. But there is no doubt where he stands." -- Hadassah Magazine "A book born of passion."--Simon Reich, University of Pittsburgh
