INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors participated in the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets in 1998. It actively communicates with survivors about restitution issues and offers advice and guidance with filing claims. Contact: Benjamin Meed, President 122 West 30th Street, Suite 205 New York, NY 10001 USA Telephone: +1 212 239 4230 Fax: +1 212 279 2926 E-mail: mail@americangathering.org American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Founded in 1914, the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) serves as the overseas arm of the Jewish community, sponsoring programs of relief, rescue, and reconstruction. Contact: American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 711 Third Avenue New York, NY 19917 USA Tel: +1 212 687 6200 Fax: +1 212 370 5467 http://www.jdc.org The Art Loss Register The Art Loss Register (ALR) is the world's largest private international database of lost and stolen art, antiques, and collectibles that provides recovery and search services to collectors, the art trade, insurers, and law enforcement through technology and a professionally trained staff of art historians. In 1998, the ALR made full-time staff and resources available for the task of compiling a database of 1933–1945 cultural spoliation claims, objects confiscated by Nazi looting agencies, the Soviet Trophy Brigades, or individual acts of looting by Allied troops. War-era claims forms can be obtained from the ALR Web site in German and English. The ALR database lists thousands of works of art that were looted from both private and museum collections, with Holocaust claims comprising the majority of the losses. Contact in the UK (head office): The Art Loss Register Ltd Suite 101, Linton House 164-180 Union Street London SE1 OLH, UK Telephone: +44 20 7928 0100 Fax: +44 20 7928 7600 E-mail: artloss@artloss.com Contact in the USA: The Art Loss Register 20 East 46th Street, Suite 1402 New York, NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 297 0941 Fax: +1 212 972 5091 E-mail: info@alrny.com Contact in Germany: Art Loss Register Deutschland GmbH Obenmarspforten 7-11 D-50667 Cologne, Germany Telephone: +49 221 257 6996 Fax: +49 221 257 6995 E-mail: team-artloss@bvdg.de http://www.artloss.com/ Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has prepared a finding aid to sources in its Historical Archive on BIS wartime activities in general as well as on the Nazi gold issue. The finding aid can be found at http://www.bis.org/publ/bisp04.htm. Contact: Bank for International Settlements, Archive Centralbahnplatz 2 CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland Telephone: +41 61 280 8080 Fax: +41 61 280 91 00 +41 61 280 81 00 E-mail: email@bis.org http://www.bis.org/index.htm B’nai B’rith International B’nai B’rith has created an educational campaign for Holocaust compensation, provides assistance in completing claim forms, and provides representation to legislators on behalf of Holocaust claims or compensation recipients. Contact: 2020 K Street, NW, 7th floor Washington, DC 20006 USA Telephone: +1 202 857 6600 Fax: +1 202 857 1099 The Commission for Art Recovery The Commission for Art Recovery was established in 1997 to stimulate restitution efforts by European governments in order to help bring a small measure of justice into the lives of families whose art was seized, confiscated, or wrongfully taken as a result of the policies of the Third Reich and the devastation of the Holocaust. The commission encourages and assists governments, museums, and other public institutions to identify works of art in their collections that may have been stolen during the years of the Third Reich, to publicize information on these works on the Internet, and to adopt streamlined procedures that facilitate the return of these works to their rightful owners. Contact in USA: Ronald S. Lauder, Chairman Commission for Art Recovery 767 Fifth Avenue Suite 4600 New York, NY 10153 USA Telephone: +1 212 872 9893 Fax: +1 212 872 9815 E-mail: info@comartrecovery.org Contact in Europe: Ronald S. Lauder, Chairman Commission for Art Recovery Hajos u. 13-15 1065 Budapest, Hungary Telephone: +36 1 428 7129 Fax: +36 1 428 7102 E-mail: peresztegi@comartrecovery.org http://www.comartrecovery.org/ The Commission for Looted Art in Europe The Commission for Looted Art in Europe (ECLA) is the representative body in Europe dealing with all matters relating to Nazi-looted art and other cultural property. It helps families, communities, and institutions worldwide with research, identification, and recovery of looted cultural property. ECLA works with museums, governments, and other institutions to identify and locate looted cultural property. It also supports and pursues restitution claims and procedures in all countries, and promotes public policy and legislative change throughout Europe to enable the resolution of these issues. ECLA monitors and furthers international developments in the implementation of international principles on cultural assets; provides an international database of all information and research on works of art, books, Judaica, and other cultural objects seized by the Nazis; and encourages the disclosure of all relevant archives and records. It also works to establish codes of practice for the auction houses and the art trade, particularly with respect to the provision of provenance information and all other essential records, and promotes alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for resolving cases that involve looted cultural property. Contact: Anne Webber, Co-Chair David Lewis, Co-Chair Diane Michaels, Research Director Commission for Looted Art in Europe Catherine House 76 Gloucester Place London W1U 6HJ, UK Telephone: +44 20 7487 3401 Fax: +44 20 7487 4211 E-mail: info@lootedartcommission.com http://www.lootedartcommission.com/ Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) The Claims Conference works to secure compensation and restitution for survivors of the Holocaust and heirs of victims. Since 1951, the Claims Conference, working in partnership with the State of Israel, has negotiated for and distributed payments from Germany, Austria, other governments, and certain industries; recovered unclaimed German Jewish property; and funded programs to assist the neediest Jewish victims of Nazism. Contact in USA: 15 East 26th Street, Room 906 New York, NY 10010 USA Telephone: +1 212 696 4944 Fax: +1 212 679 2126 E-mail: info@claimscon.org Contact in Israel: 18 Gruzenberg Street P.O.B. 29254 65251 Tel Aviv, Israel Telephone: +972 03 517 9247/48/49 Fax: +972 03 510 0906 E-mail: infodesk@claimscon.org.il Contact in Austria: Desider Friedmann-Platz 1 A-1010 Vienna, Austria Telephone: +43 1 533 1622 Fax: +43 1 533 1623 E-mail: claims.conf.Vienna@solution.at Contact in Germany: Sophienstrasse 26 60487 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Telephone: +49 69 970 7080 Fax: +49 69 9707 0811 E-mail: lange@claims-frankfurt.de http://www.claimscon.org/ International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was established in October 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in cooperation with several European insurance companies, European regulators, representatives of several Jewish organizations, and the State of Israel. The commission is charged with establishing a just process that will expeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the Holocaust. To do so, ICHEIC has set up a Claims Resolution Process to handle insurance claims of Holocaust victims, survivors, and their heirs and beneficiaries. The Claims Resolution Process has been designed to make it as easy as possible for claimants to achieve a fair and prompt resolution of their claims. Claims forms may be obtained from ICHEIC’s Web site or by submitting a request in writing or by telephone. ICHEIC has extended the deadline for claims for policies to December 31, 2003. This final extension of the deadline was made because of the recent publication of more than 360,000 policyholder names on the ICHEIC Web site. Contact: International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims TNT International Mail LHR/LCY/690547/001 Int. Antwoordnummer C.C.R.I. Numero 5120 3000 VB Rotterdam Pays-Bas The Netherlands Telephone: +1 800 957 3203 http://www.icheic.org International Organization for Migration The International Organization for Migration (IOM) created two compensation programs for victims of the Nazi Regime, the German Forced Labor Compensation Program and the Holocaust Victim Assets Programme (related to Swiss banks). The period for filing claims under these programs expired on December 31, 2001. Since that time, the IOM’s focus has shifted from outreach and assistance to processing and payment. Some IOM offices ended their involvement with the programs, some continue processing claims, and a few have shifted their focus to the area of related humanitarian and social programs. The IOM currently publishes an occasional newsletter, “Compensation News,” to provide a forum for continued information, discussion, and dialogue for all parties involved with the programs. The newsletter can be found online at http://www.compensation-for-forced-labour.org/ Contact: International Organization for Migration 17, Route des Morillons / C.P. 71 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland Telephone: +41 22 717 91 11 Fax: +41 22 798 61 50 E-mail: info@iom.int http://www.iom.int/ International Tracing Service Requests concerning the German foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" come under the mandate of the International Tracing Service (ITS). The foundation’s partner organizations can forward inquiries for which they cannot find evidence to ITS. The results are checked at ITS to determine whether the individual is registered in the Central Index of Names and was assigned as a forced or slave laborer in order to qualify for claims compensation from the German Fund. In cooperation with the Federal Archives Koblenz and the Federal Association for Information and Advice for NS-Persecutees in Cologne, the ITS guarantees that the three organizations will exhaust all possibilities of providing evidence to claims cases. Contact: Grosse Allee 5-9 34444 Bad Arolsen, Germany Telephone: +49 5691 629 0 Fax: +49 5691 629 501 E-mail: itsdoc@its-arolsen.org (documents division) itstrace@its-arolsen.org (tracing section) itspress@its-arolsen.org (press office) http://www.its-arolsen.org Pink Triangle Coalition Formed in Berlin in 1998, the Pink Triangle Coalition is an international coalition working toward the recognition, remembrance, and education of the Nazi persecution of gay people. It works toward the representation of gay victims in the various international funds established for educational projects and reparation payments linked to the Nazi era. The Pink Triangle Coalition is asking for a small percentage of the recent US$1.25 billion Swiss bank settlement to create a fund recognizing and addressing Nazi persecution of gay people. The fund would provide support for gay victims of Nazis who have yet to come forward and would support research and education about anti-gay persecution by the Nazis. In August 2001, coalition members met in New York with the special master of the Holocaust Victims Assets Litigation to present a proposal for funding. Contact: International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) 1360 Mission Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94103 USA Telephone: +1 415 255 8680 Fax: +1 415 255 8662 E-mail: iglhrc@iglhrc.org http://www.iglhrc.org Tripartite Gold Commission A description of the Tripartite Gold Commission and its work can be found on the U.S. Department of State Web site at http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/tripartite_gold_commission.html. World Jewish Congress In 1992 the World Jewish Congress (WJC) launched efforts for restitution of Jewish property in Europe and established the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO). The WJC was charged with the task of negotiating with the governments and Jewish communities involved in restitution. Over time, the WJC introduced restitution matters to western European nations and revealed newly declassified intelligence documents relating to the actions of various European governments during the war and helped attract international media attention. WJC negations helped instigate 20 governmental inquiry commissions to investigate how each country behaved during the war and how stolen Jewish property was dealt with after the war. The WJC continues to research restitution issues worldwide and issues public policy dispatches and reports. Contact in USA (Headquarters): 501 Madison Avenue, 17th floor New York, NY 10022 USA Telephone: +1 212 755 5770 Fax: +1 212 755 5883 http://www.wjc.org.il Contact in Israel: 21 Arlozorov Street 91042 Jerusalem, Israel Telephone: +972 2 563 5261 Fax: +972 2 563 5544 E-mail: wjc@netvision.net.il Contact in Europe: European Jewish Congress 78 avenue des Champs Elysées F – 75008 Paris, France Telephone: +33 1 4359 9463 Fax: +33 1 4225 4528 Contact in Latin America: Latin American Jewish Congress Casilla de Correo 20 1453 Buenos Aires, Argentina Telephone: +54 11 4961 4534 Fax: +54 11 4963 7056 E-mail: cjl@elsitio.net www.congresojudio.org.ar World Jewish Restitution Organization Established in 1992 by the World Jewish Congress, the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) is an umbrella organization of several international Jewish groups. The WJRO seeks restitution of private and communal Jewish property and compensation when restitution is not possible. The WJRO works with both governmental and Jewish organizations in order to assure appropriate restitution legislation and recovery of looted Jewish property. Contact: World Jewish Restitution Organization Radak 7 P.O. Box 92 Jerusalem 92301 Israel Telephone: +1 972 2 561 2497 8 Fax +1 972 2 561 2496 Email: wjro@netvision.net.il