Sample Literature Review On Aftermath Of The Holocaust: Were There Reparations Paid To The Survivors Of The Holocaust?

Introduction

In this paper, the analysis of the information, related to the process and underlying issues of paying the reparations to the survivors of the Holocaust would be conducted as well as the comparison analysis of the Holocaust reparations with the reparations in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be done in order to understand the major trends in paying reparations to the victims of different tragic events, which have taken their places in history.

Reparations to the victims of Holocaust

Financial compensation was issued for those Jews, who were considered as the victims of Holocaust alongside with the reimbursement for that property of Jews, which was stolen by the Nazis. In the timeframe from 1956 to 1965, significant amounts of money were paid to the Jewish survivors, State of Israel, as well as refugees from Germany, for compensating the loses, which were experienced by these people because of the crimes, committed by the Nazis in the timeframe of the Holocaust
As soon as several months have passed after the end of the World War II, the first formal claim was issued by the Jewish Agency for the property reimbursement and reparations to the four countries, which have controlled Germany - Soviet Union; United States; France and Great Britain. The offer, represented by the agency, has implied that the particular quantity of monetary funds of Germany should be allocated for settling the disputes with Jews as well as for Holocaust survivors’ resettlement in Palestine. After establishing the state of Israel (in 1948), the clarity has emerged to some extent - there was a need of authorizing the Jewish country for further representation of the Jewish people in the process of restitution claims submitting.
That is why, in 1951, the claim was made by the Israeli authorities to the four occupying powers (USSR, USA, UK and France). This claim was related to reimbursement and compensation. The major reason for such claim was the fact that more than half million of the Holocaust survivors was absorbed and resettled in Israel. It was calculated by the Agency, that the absorption has cost 3.000 USD for each individual and thus, the total sum to be compensated by Germany was estimated at the rate of 1.5 billion dollars.
In addition, it was revealed by the representatives of the agency that the worth of the Jewish property, which was pillaged by the German Nazis, has cost 6 million USD.
Significant rate of willingness for compensating the reparations to the Jewish people was represented by the government of Western Germany. The guilt of Nazis as well as of the German country in general was admitted by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and some other politicians. That is why, the monetary compensation was considered by them as the chance for atoning for it. In addition, it was realized by the current government, that the fact of paying reparations may be used as an effective tool for acceleration of the acceptance of the West Germany by other Western Powers. Additional emphasis should be put on the fact of meeting of 22 Jewish organizations in 1951 in New York for setting up the Conference, dedicated to the Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
Within the Israel, the heated debates have emerged in terms of the reparations issues. Significant quantity of the supervisors has strenuously opposed the possibility of accepting any monetary compensation from Germany. The major claim for supporting this position was the fact that there is no option of compensating the sufferings, experienced by Jewish people from Nazi. At the same time, significant quantity of Jews has still supported the portion of accepting the monetary compensation from Germany because significant monetary funds were needed for proper rehabilitation of the survivors – the immigrants to Israel. That is why, the option of accepting monetary compensation from German was considered by them as the only fair way for managing the situation and for practical implementation of the further goals.
That is why, the beginning of the negotiation process has taken its place in March 1952. Afterwards the parliament of Germany has approved the set of agreements, which were made between Germany and Israel - commitment of Germany for paying 845 million dollars to Israel in the form of provision and goods, as well as passing 110 million dollars to the Claims Conference. At this stage, the commitment was carried out by Germany to full extent. Those monetary funds, which were issued to the Claims Conference, were allocated for assisting the Jewish institutions and communities, located in 39 countries for their reestablishing.
After 1956, rapid expansion of the original Reparations Agreement was done and as the time passed, billions of dollars were paid by Germany to the victims of the Holocaust. In 1990s, the set of the claims regarding the property, which was stolen in the Eastern Europe, was done by Jews. More than that, the investigation of the events, which have taken their places with the monetary funds, deposited in Swiss banks by those Jews, who were living outside of Switzerland and afterwards were murdered in the Holocaust, was conducted. In addition, some investigations, regarding the money, deposited by the Nazis in Swiss banks, were done.
The property investigation, conducted by Jews, has also covered the individual business entities (significant share of which was located in Germany). The survivor groups have made a pressure on these organizations (BMW, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Ford, Opel and Volkswagen), while claiming the need of compensating the sufferings of the former forced laborers. As a response, in 1999, the establishment of the funds, which were created by the monies of these companies, for assisting the needy survivors of Holocaust, has taken its place. The similar funds were established in Switzerland and in Hungary – for issuing the compensation for both victims of Holocaust and their heirs.
Additional emphasis should be put on the fact of forcing the set of the insurance companies (such as Axa, Alliance, Generali, Winterhur, Zurich Financial Services Group and the set of others) to issue the compensation to the specially-established funds. This compensation was claimed for insuring of those Jews before the war, who were later murdered by the Nazis.
After conducting the analysis of the literature, it is possible to make the general statement that the compensation for the crimes, committed within the Holocaust, was issued to the full extent and covered the set of various dimensions – personal, corporate, insurance, governmental etc.

CRPC in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The next issue to be discussed the scope of this paper, is the CRPC (Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees) – further ‘the Commission’ in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the impact, made by its activity. This information would be outlined for supporting the thesis that not all the victims get the same treatment.
This Commission was established on 14 December 1995 as one year has passed after the end of the war in Yugoslavia. The major purpose for establishment of the commission was provision of the support to the victims of this tragic event. The need for such establishment was the fact that 30% of dwellings within the country were destroyed. Because of the systematic practice of cleansing the population on the basis of ethnicity, 4.5 million people were seeking for the refuge in the foreign countries or look for the shelter in areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was claimed in the article (Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement, signed by newly established commission), that all displaced individuals and refugees are to be provided with the right of getting back home as well as being provided with the restored houses there. In addition, the compensation for the property of any type, which cannot be resorted, should have been provided to them.

Conclusion

While, referring to the practice in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there was a lack of funding for operating the scheme of the compensation in a complete and fair manner and that is why, the compensation payments have never been provided to all claimants. As a result, this aspect of the commission mandate has never been implemented into the practice. This fact supports the claim that not all the victims of disasters, crimes and wars, are provided with the same rate of compensation both within one program and in the scopes the programs, elaborated for managing the outcomes of different events.

Primary sources

IOM. Property restitution and compensation: Practices and Experiences of Claims Programmes. 2008 Online http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/tools_and_guidance/housing_land_property/By%20Themes/HLP%20Restitution/Property_Restitution_Compensation_2008_EN.pdf
SHOAH. Reparations and Restitutions. 2013 Online. http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205817.pdf

Secondary Sources

CHW. “Germany to Pay 772 Million Euros in Reparations to Holocaust Survivors.” Spiegel Online, May 29, 2013. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-to-pay-772-million-euros-in-reparations-to-holocaust-survivors-a-902528.html.
Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold, 1946-1998 [microform]. Bethesda, Md.: University Publications of America, 2001.
Dresser, Michael. “France, U.S. Reach Accord on Holocaust Reparations.” Baltimore Sun, 2015. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-france-holocaust-20141205-story.html.
Elsass, Peter. Treating Victims of Torture and Violence: Theoretical, Cross-Cultural, and Clinical Implications. New York University Press, 1997.
O’Donnell, Thérèse. “The Restitution of Holocaust Looted Art and Transitional Justice: The Perfect Storm or the Raft of the Medusa?” European Journal of International Law 22, no. 1 February 1, 2011: 49–80. doi:10.1093/ejil/chr004.