| Press Statement Richard Boucher, Spokesman Washington, DC May 18, 2001 U.S. Court of Appeals Decision on Holocaust-Era Claims Against German BanksOn May 17, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted a writ of mandamus ordering unconditional dismissal of the cases against German banks for wrongs committed during the Nazi era. We welcome this decision, which will result in the dismissal of the last of the consolidated Nazi-era class action lawsuits against German companies. We hope that the decision paves the way for Chancellor Schroeder to recommend and the German Bundestag to determine that adequate legal peace has been achieved. As soon as the Bundestag is able to consider and adopt such a determination, the process of making payments can commence. Since the Schroeder Government came to office in October 1998, the U.S. Departments of State, Justice, and, for a time, Treasury have engaged with German government partners to gain a measure of justice for victims of certain Nazi-era wrongs. Together we worked with survivor groups, German business, plaintiffs' attorneys, five Central and Eastern European governments and the State of Israel, and others. It is in the interest of the United States that Nazi-era victims receive this gesture and recognition of the suffering they endured. It is further in our foreign policy interest that the effort contribute to greater harmony among member states of the transatlantic community, and that German businesses active in the United States benefit from enduring and all-embracing legal peace with respect to claims arising from the National Socialist era. The May 17 Appeals Court decision moves us forward toward those goals. |
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