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July 13, 2001/Tamuz 22, 5761, Vol. 53, No.40
Bush continues quieter push toward Holocaust restitution
SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - There are no more agreements to be forged, no last-minute deals to wrap up, but in a quiet fashion the Bush administration is continuing Holocaust restitution and education efforts.
At the end of last year, the Clinton White House's point man on the issue, Stuart Eizenstat, was negotiating major settlements with the German and Austrian governments and charging that the incoming U.S. administration was not paying enough attention to restitution matters.
But as special envoy for Holocaust issues, Ambassador James D. Bindenagel says the initiatives Eizenstat began have come to fruition, and the State Department office now is focusing on implementing agreements and promoting Holocaust education and research projects in many European countries.
Bindenagel, 52, was a member of Eizenstat's team that helped negotiate the $5.2 billion German settlement for former World War II slave and forced laborers.
Bindenagel is quick to say that restitution is just part of his office's duties. While the insurance compensation plans and slave labor agreements grab the headlines, Bindenagel - like Eizenstat - places special importance on the education and research projects.
The issue of financial restitution remains a thorny one, partly because of the need to balance compensation for survivors and heirs with the need for countries to accept moral responsibility for their roles in the Holocaust.
Getting money to survivors is important so they have a sense of justice, Bindenagel said, but getting countries to accept responsibility and ask for forgiveness is also important.
"We want memory to have the priority, not money," he told JTA.
The insurance claims and art restitution command much of Bindenagel's attention, as do survivors and their heirs and Jewish groups. Beside the German agreement, Austria agreed to establish a $310 million compensation fund for victims of the Holocaust and France has established a $350 million foundation and an uncapped claims fund. Other countries have set up restitution plans as well.
Bindenagel continues pushing the insurance claims process via the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, which is dealing with charges that European insurers refused payments on policies taken out by Jews who later perished in the Holocaust.
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