The
agreement, a bilateral accord with the U.S. government to be signed
Monday, includes a $60 million lump-sum payment to be distributed among
eligible survivors, their spouses and, if applicable, their heirs.
Stuart
Eizenstat, who is the State Department’s special adviser for Holocaust
issues and negotiated the agreement, said that it was uncertain how many
would apply for the compensation. But on the basis of estimates and
amounts paid in existing French government programs, survivors “could
receive payment well over $100,000,” with “tens of thousands of dollars”
for spouses of those who died in the camps or since World War II.
Amounts
for heirs of camp survivors who have since died are to be determined on
the basis of the number of years those survivors lived after their
liberation. Eligible claimants can choose annuities rather than lump
sums.
The agreement closes a loophole that has prevented some
citizens of the United States and a number of other countries from
receiving French compensation.
The agreement also is
intended to close the door on pending state and federal legislation that
would ban France’s state-owned SNCF railway or its foreign subsidiaries
from winning contracts in the United States.
A Maryland-based
subsidiary of SNCF is part of a consortium of private companies bidding
to build and operate the $2.45 billion light-rail Purple Line between
Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The 35-year contract, which
eventually could total $6 billion, is scheduled to be awarded by the
Maryland Transit Administration in the spring, unless it is canceled by
Maryland Gov.-elect Larry Hogan (R).
The SNCF subsidiary, Keolis North America, also operates Virginia Railway Express commuter trains.
The
French government recognized “the pressing nature” of the issue and
“indicated a desire to reach an agreement this year,” Eizenstat said in
an interview, but he declined to tie the urgency to the awarding of a
Purple Line contract.
“I don’t know their motives,” he said of the French government.
The
French Embassy said in a statement that the agreement was made possible
by “the spirit of friendship and cooperation between our two countries”
and that “both sides will do everything possible to ensure that
compensation is paid as quickly as possible and with as few formalities
as possible.”
SNCF officials have formally expressed regret on a
number of occasions for the company’s role in carrying as many as 76,000
people from France to the Nazi camps elsewhere in conquered Europe. But
SNCF has consistently denied cooperating voluntarily with the Nazis,
noting that it was placed under German command in 1940 after the fall of
France.
Holocaust survivors in this country had
pursued compensation via class-action lawsuits for more than a decade.
After those cases were dismissed on the basis of sovereign immunity for
government-owned companies, survivors and their backers pressed for
legislation banning SNCF and its subsidiaries from receiving contracts
in the United States.
In an indirect reference to any future
lawsuits and legislation, the French Embassy statement said that “the
two governments consider this agreement to be the comprehensive and
exclusive mechanism for responding to requests relating to Holocaust-era
deportations from France, or any actions initiated in this regard,
notably in the United States.”
Eizenstat said that members of
Congress and Holocaust groups have been briefed on the terms of the
agreement and that “we have reason to believe they’re all supportive.”
Rep.
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who authored legislation that would allow
Holocaust victims in the United States to sue SNCF and led opposition to
public rail contracts with the company, called the agreement “a
breakthrough in a decades-long struggle for justice waged by Holocaust
survivors who were brought to death camps on SNCF trains hired by the
Nazis. This settlement will deliver fair compensation to these victims
and to the loved ones of those who did not live to see this deal
finalized.”
Abraham H. Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation
League, welcomed the agreement, which needs ratification by the French
Parliament. In a statement, he called it “an important recognition by
the Government of France of the suffering of those who have been
excluded for decades from the French Holocaust victims compensation
program.”
Anyone who applies for the compensation program will
have to sign a waiver agreeing not to pursue any lawsuit, Eizenstat
said. As part of the accord, he said, the United States agrees to
support French sovereign immunity in any future lawsuit.
Under
the terms of the agreement, the U.S. government will administer the
program and distribute awards. Those eligible, Eizenstat said, will be
able to apply online and at U.S. consulates in Israel, Canada and other
countries. The United States will waive a 1.5 percent administrative fee
for processing the benefit.
source
Although SNCF is not a party to the
government-to-government agreement, Eizenstat said, the state-owned
company has said it will voluntarily make a $4 million contribution over
the next five years to Holocaust museums, memorials and education
programs. One-quarter of that money, he said, is to be distributed to
groups in the United States in 2015.
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