Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets

Under Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat and Miles Lerman, Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council are pleased to announce that the Washington Conference on Holocaust-era assets will take place at the U.S. State Department on November 30-December 3, 1998. The Conference will build on the work of the London Conference on Nazi Gold and will explore further issues of Nazi-looted assets, including artwork and insurance. The Conference will be co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

At the London Conference in December, British Foreign Minister Robin Cook and Under Secretary Eizenstat announced the establishment of a fund to provide relief to needy survivors of Nazi persecution. The United States also pledged to examine other Nazi-looted assets and to provide a more complete picture of the very complex issues surrounding them. The Washington Conference will fulfill that pledge and will deepen international research of the era, bringing together historians and other experts to share information on Nazi misappropriation of artwork, insurance policies and other assets.

The goals of the Washington Conference are to:

Encouraged by the results of and positive support for the London Conference and the continuing public and private involvement in the search for justice, Under Secretary Eizenstat has urged all nations involved in these issues to complete their work by December 31, 1999. Organizers hope that The Washington Conference will act as a catalyst to help reach consensus on further action and complete the unfinished business on this issue by the end of the millennium.

The Holocaust Museum will open its doors on the occasion of this international conference to widen the long-overdue focus on Holocaust-era assets beyond gold by hosting an opening ceremony at the Museum to honor the memory of the victims of the genocide. At the same time, the Holocaust Museum will also showcase important international developments in Holocaust education to help preserve the memory of the victims as we enter the new millennium.

Under the direction of Under Secretary Eizenstat and Chairman Lerman, the Holocaust Museum and the State Department will be consulting organizations in the United States and throughout the world as well as other governments on how best to address the issue of assets other than gold. Like the London Conference, participants are expected to include government officials from over 40 countries, historians, experts, as well as representatives of major NGOs including the survivor community.

Information on the Conference will be posted on the Internet.