PUBLIC LAW 105-158—FEB. 13, 1998 112 STAT. 15 Public Law 105-158 105th Congress An Act To provide redress for inadequate restitution of assets seized by the United States i? u 10 IQQO Government during World War II which belonged to victims of the Holocaust,
and for other purposes. [S. 1564] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. Holocaust Victims Redress SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. Act. This Act may be cited as the "Holocaust Victims Redress Act". TITLE I—HEIRLESS ASSETS SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds as follows: (1) Among the $198,000,000 in German assets located in the United States and seized by the United States Government in World War II were believed to be bank accounts, trusts, securities, or other assets belonging to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. (2) Among an estimated $1,200,000,000 in assets of Swiss nationals and institutions which were frozen by the United States Government during World War II (including over $400,000,000 in bank deposits) were assets whose beneficial owners were believed to include victims of the Holocaust. (3) In the aftermath of the war, the Congress recognized that some of the victims of the Holocaust whose assets were among those seized or frozen during the war might not have any legal heirs, and legislation was enacted to authorize the transfer of up to $3,000,000 of such assets to organizations dedicated to providing relief and rehabilitation for survivors of the Holocaust. (4) Although the Congress and the Administration authorized the transfer of such amount to the relief organizations referred to in paragraph (3), the enormous administrative dif- ficulties and cost involved in proving legal ownership of such assets, directly or beneficially, by victims of the Holocaust, and proving the existence or absence of heirs of such victims, led the Congress in 1962 to agree to a lump-sum settlement and to provide $500,000 for the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization of New York, such sum amounting to Veth of the authorized maximum level of "heirless" assets to be treuisferred.
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