A Claim for Restitution of Assets seized by the Hungarian National Railroad and Banks from Jews.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit hear arguments regarding the restitution suit brought by Holocaust survivors and heirs against the Hungarian national railway and banks. The case, in reality a number of related actions, centers on the assets seized by the Hungarian national railroad and banks from Jews sent to Nazi death camps in 1944. The three judge panel considered an appeal sought by the defendants in the action already underway for trial. The appellate ruling, not subject to time constraints, will decide if the trial being held in the U.S. District Court proceeds. The suit was instituted in February 2010 in a federal court in Chicago by Northwestern University law professor Anthony D’Amato on behalf of Hungarian Holocaust survivors and heirs. Mr. D’Amato, whose area of expertise is international law, was aware of the restrictions placed on actions against foreign countries or state controlled entities involving claims of suffering or death. Knowing that no such limitations extend to the loss of assets, his suit turned on the stealing of possessions of the victims rather than their suffering or deaths. Requested were compensatory damages totaling 240 million dollars, or 5 percent of the approximate value of everything confiscated, along with punitive damages in the amount of 1 billion dollars.

Arguments as to sovereign immunity and personal jurisdiction have figured prominently during the proceedings. Since the current case entails American citizens suing in American courts for losses inflicted in Hungary, Judge David Hamilton then inquired of the plaintiffs if it followed that American Indians could sue in European courts with respect to the lands taken from them. Other questions posed dealt with whether restitution
cases constituted an obstacle to U.S. diplomacy, and what was the original American aim of sovereign immunity. According to Peter Black, U.S. Holocaust Memorial senior historian, other restitution suits of late have met with success. Swiss banks finally admitted to deposits made by Holocaust victims, and European insurance companies have at last acknowledged policies purchased by persons who perished at the hands of the Nazis. Also, the Germans have set up a fund as a means to make reparations to forced laborers. A spokesman for the Hungarian delegation in America declared no official response to the current action would be forthcoming.