Posted on 03/11/2005 6:26:47 PM PST by nypokerface
The US is to pay $25.5m (£13.2m) to families of Hungarian Holocaust victims as compensation for the plundering of family treasures in World War II.
US officers took the goods from a train known as the Nazi gold train, heading from Hungary to Germany in May 1945.
It was loaded with gold, silver, china, jewels, 1,200 paintings and 3,000 oriental carpets seized by the Nazis from Jewish families in Hungary.
The money will be handed out to needy survivors of the Holocaust.
The settlement is the final chapter in the disturbing story of the Nazi gold train.
Today it is estimated that the cargo might be worth as much as $90m (£46m).
The train was intercepted by the US army, and never reached Germany. Its treasures disappeared.
'Defrauded and cheated'
More than half a century later, a special commission appointed during the 1990s by then-President Bill Clinton confirmed it had been plundered by US soldiers, including high-ranking officers.
The episode has been seen as a shameful blot on the record of the US army in World War II. The Hungarian families who brought the case have given a guarded welcome to the settlement.
Their lawyers say it was never about money alone, but about having a reckoning with history.
The bulk of the money will go not to the families who lost possessions.
It will be distributed to needy survivors of the Holocaust living in Hungary, the US, Israel and Canada.
Perhaps the most important thing for the families is that the federal government has agreed to acknowledge the US army's role in the affair.
Prominent members of Congress have been urging the Bush administration to reach agreement for some time.
Republican Senator Arlen Specter said the US government should admit the Holocaust survivors had been "defrauded and cheated".
I'll ask.......
Why is the USA paying off, for Nazis?
Ahh, once again we witness the gratitude of the victims we saved in WWII.
Why don't we send them a bill for all the money, materiel, and lives we lost keeping them from being exterminated by the Nazis?
Because stealing stolen goods makes you an accomplice to the original theft.
If not, then there is no justification for paying a cent.
This is just building a case to pay reparations for slavery. It's BS!
BS! We already paid with the loss of American lives freeing them! NOW THEY WANT MONEY! WTF!
We didnt steal it, that was payment for saving their A**ES!
I don't want money, just a little respect.
The episode has been seen as a shameful blot on the record of the US army in World War II.
We freed those ungrateful wretches, and now WE have to pay THEM?
I've got an idea:
How about if GERMANY pays them?
Huh?? This looks like one of the more honorable things Clinton did. If American soldiers stole these goods, the American government should be held accountable. Only if Clinton had held himself personally accountable for the things he did.
In fact, I've got a better idea:
How about if, every day, all those survivors get down on their knees and thank God that there is a United States of America willing to send OUR young men to die, to save them from their own stupidity.
You are confusing two issues. It was actually honorable that American soldiers helped end the evils of Nazi Germany. However, it is shameful that American army personnel stole things that rightfully belonged to civilians.
IF American soldiers "stole" that gold, they stole it from the Nazis, right?
RIGHT?
How about getting the actual guilty parties to pay, instead of the U.S.?
Why would you say that? It appears that you would think the Hungarian families would be justified in spending these reparations on themselves, but since they want to give it to charity, America should not hold itself accountable. I truly don't follow your logic.
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