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Owners of assets looted by the Nazi regime, slave laborers forced to work under the Nazis and depositors to a number of Swiss banks filed a class action suit October 21, 1996 against three Swiss banks. The plaintiffs allege that the banks conspired to launder and conceal Nazi assets in violation of Swiss federal banking laws and international neutrality agreements.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
________________________________________
JACOB FRIEDMAN, LEWIS SALTON,
ELIZABETH TRILLING-GROTCH,
CHARLES SONABEND,
AND DAVID BORUCHOWICZ,
on Behalf of Themselves and All Others
Similarly Situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.
UNION BANK OF SWITZERLAND,
SWISS BANK CORPORATION,
and
CREDIT SUISSE,
Defendants.
CLASS ACTION
COMPLAINT
TRIAL BY JURY
DEMANDED
CIVIL ACTION
NO.__________
Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated, for their Complaint, state as follows:
OVERVIEW OF ACTION
Individual and representative plaintiffs file this action
on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated
against defendant Swiss banks which participated in a
common scheme and course of conduct to: (1) launder Nazi
Regime (defined herein) money, and fund and profit from
Nazi World War II atrocities; (2) knowingly and/or
recklessly accept looted or cloaked assets stolen or
forcibly taken by the Nazi Regime during World War II; (3)
knowingly and/or recklessly accept profits generated by
Nazi Regime forced slave laborers; and (4) act
intentionally and in concert to conceal and prevent the
recovery of assets deposited in Swiss banks by victims of
the Nazi Regime. The extent of the misconduct and the
complicity of the banks in providing active financial aid
to the Nazi Regime war effort and the Holocaust have only
recently come to light through the availability of archived
documents.
Plaintiffs seek to represent three classes:
Class A: Rightful Owners of Nazi Regime Looted Assets
and/or Their Heirs,
Class B: Slave Laborers and/or Their Heirs, and
Class C: Certain Swiss Bank Depositors and/or Their Heirs.
Plaintiffs seek equitable and compensatory relief including
a full accounting and disgorgement by defendant Swiss banks
of Nazi Regime "looted assets," "cloaked assets" and
"deposited assets" held in Swiss banks; all interest
accrued on the assets in such accounts; and all profits
derived by the defendant Swiss banks in connection with the
holding, investing or otherwise using the assets of these
accounts.
DEFINITIONS
"Nazi Regime" is defined as the National Socialist
government of Germany from 1933 through 1945, as more
specifically defined in "the Accused Organizations and
Individuals" in The Nurnberg Trial, 6 F.R.D. 69 (1946), and
persons, organizations or entities which acted in
furtherance of the interests of, on behalf of, or under the
authority of, that government (including persons,
organizations and/or entities of the European Axis
countries).
"Crimes against humanity" is defined as murder,
extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane
acts committed against any civilian population, or
persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds,
including conspiracy to commit the above acts, and
complicity in the commission of such acts, whether or not
in violation of the domestic law of the country where
perpetrated.
"Crimes against peace" is defined as planning, preparing,
initiating or waging a war of aggression, or a war in
violation of international treaties, agreements or
assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy
for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing.
"Genocide" is defined as undertaking actions, including
killing, causing serious bodily injury or permanently
impairing mental faculties, subjecting a group to
conditions of life intended to cause physical destruction
of the group, including conspiracy to commit the above
acts, and complicity in the commission of such acts,
whether in time of peace or in time of war, with the
specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial
part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
"War crimes" is defined as violations of the laws or
customs of war, including murder, ill-treatment or
deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of
civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or
ill-treatment of prisoners of war, killing of hostages,
plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction
of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified
by military necessity, including conspiracy to commit the
above acts, and complicity in the commission of such acts.
"Looted assets" is defined as any and all personal,
commercial, real, and/or intangible property, including
cash, securities, gold, jewelry, businesses, art
masterpieces, equipment and intellectual property, that was
illegally taken from the ownership or control of an
individual, organization or entity, by means including, but
not limited to, theft, forced transfer and exploitation,
during the period of 1933 through 1946 by any person,
organization or entity acting on behalf of, or in
furtherance of the acts of, the Nazi Regime, its officials
or related entities, in connection with crimes against
humanity, war crimes, crimes against peace, genocide, or
any other violations of fundamental human rights.
"Cloaked assets" is defined as any and all capital and/or
assets owned by, controlled by, or held for the benefit of,
any German corporation doing business from 1933-46 and the
identity of which was disguised in the bank of any neutral
country, which capital or assets include the profits of
entities which were engaged in the use of forced or slave
labor during this period.
"Slave labor" is defined as work done by an individual at
the sole discretion and will of another person or entity
and for which no, or insubstantial, compensation is paid,
often under circumstances that include confinement.
"Deposited assets" is defined as any and all assets
deposited in Swiss banks, including, but not limited to,
cash, securities, bonds, gold, jewels or jewelry, or any
other tangible or intangible items of personal property, or
any documents indicating ownership or possessory interests
in real, personal or intangible property, by persons who
were persecuted for religious, racial or political reasons
by the Nazi Regime.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action
pursuant to the following:
a.28 U.S.C. 1331, in that plaintiffs Friedman, Salton
and Trilling are citizens of the United States and bring
claims for violations of international treaties,
fundamental human rights law and customary international
law, and because plaintiffs' state law claims involve
substantial international and federal questions.
b.28 U.S.C. 1332(a), in that plaintiff Trilling is a
citizen of the State of California, plaintiffs Friedman and
Salton are citizens of the State of New York, defendants
are citizens or subjects of a foreign state, and the amount
in controversy exceeds $50,000 per plaintiff, exclusive of
interest and costs.
c.28 U.S.C. 1350 (Alien Tort Claims Act), in that
plaintiffs Sonabend and Boruchovicz are citizens of the
countries of England and Canada, respectively, and
consequently, are aliens, and they allege that defendants
committed torts in violation of the law of nations.
d.The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over
plaintiffs' non-federal-law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
1367 involving pendent jurisdiction.
This Court has personal jurisdiction over the parties in
that:
a.Plaintiffs submit to the jurisdiction of the Court; and
b.Defendants have places of business in the State of New
York and do business in the State of New York; defendants
accepted asset transfers specifically relating to the
illegal activities that are the focus of this Complaint for
deposit in the State of New York; defendants have minimum
contacts with the State of New York based on defendants'
continuous and systematic general business contacts with
the State of New York; and assertion of personal
jurisdiction over defendants is therefore reasonable.
Venue is proper in this Court because each defendant may be
found in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1391(b),
and, as aliens, may be sued in any district pursuant to 28
U.S.C. 1391(d).
PARTIES
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Jacob Friedman is a United States citizen and a
resident of Brooklyn, New York. Jacob Friedman was born to
Jewish parents January 7, 1921, and is presently 75 years
old. He was born in Chust, Czechoslovakia, and grew up in
Satu Mare, Romania. Jacob Friedman is the only surviving
heir of his father, Marton Friedman, and his mother,
Margita Friedman, who were gassed to death in Auschwitz in
the spring of 1944.
In 1936, Marton Friedman, a businessman dealing in
commodities such as wheat, cattle and wood, traveled to
Zurich, Switzerland, and opened three bank accounts. Jacob
Friedman does not know how much was deposited by his father
at that time. On information and belief, Marton Friedman
did not open the accounts under his own name, because it
was illegal for Romanian citizens to have foreign accounts
at that time.
During the years 1937 and 1938, Jacob Friedman, then 17
years old, made seven trips to Switzerland to make deposits
in his father's accounts. He traveled primarily by train
from Temishora, Romania, to Vinkovczy to Zagreb to Lubiana
to Trieste to Milano and to Zurich. He arrived at 7:00
a.m. in Zurich and stayed with an acquaintance of his
father named Reiger, who lived at Amvant Strasse 60, near
a synagogue. Each time he went to Zurich he was instructed
by his father on which bank to go to and he was given an
envelope that contained an account number. Jacob
Friedman's best recollection is that each deposit was
converted to approximately 22,500 Swiss Francs. On one
occasion Jacob Friedman also brought two kilograms of gold
into Switzerland and was sent to the town of Le Locle to
have the gold melted down to assess its purity, after which
he was given 10,000 Swiss Francs to deposit. Jacob
Friedman's best recollection is that he made one
22,500-Swiss-Franc deposit at the Wohl and Landau Bank in
Zurich, three 22,500-Swiss-Franc deposits in the
Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft (Union Bank of Switzerland)
in Zurich, three 22,500-Swiss-Franc deposits in the
Schweizerische Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation) in
Zurich, and an additional 10,000-Swiss-Franc deposit at the
Schweizerische Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation) in Le
Locle. Jacob Friedman did not receive any receipts to the
best of his knowledge. The receipts were provided to
Reiger, the acquaintance of his father. His father and
Reiger confirmed the deposits by telephone conversations,
conducted in code.
In 1939, Jacob Friedman moved to Budapest and returned to
visit his parents in 1940 or 1941, when he was beaten by
"police officers." In the spring of 1944, Jacob Friedman's
parents, along with the other residents of Satu Mare, were
placed in a Jewish "ghetto" by officers of the Nazi Regime
and their home and possessions were looted. Soon
thereafter, Jacob Friedman's parents, along with the other
residents of Satu Mare, were placed on railroad "cattle"
cars, taken to Auschwitz and gassed to death.
In approximately 1970, an acquaintance of Jacob Friedman's,
a Mr. Beck, met with representatives of the Union Bank of
Switzerland in Zurich. He was informed by bank officials
that accounts belonging to Marton Friedman could not be
identified without an account number. In July 1996, Senate
Banking Committee Chairman the Honorable Alfonse D'Amato
wrote letters to the Union Bank of Switzerland and the
Swiss Bank Corporation regarding Jacob Friedman and his
father's bank accounts. Representatives of each bank
answered and stated that the accounts could not be
identified and also stated that they were aware that Jacob
Friedman had sent an inquiry to more than one bank. On
information and belief, these banks have communicated with
each other regarding personal and confidential information
concerning the bank accounts holding the funds of Marton
Friedman. Also in the summer of 1996, Jacob Friedman,
through his son Robert Friedman, made telephone inquiries
to Mr. Toothaker of the Swiss Bank Corporation in New York
City, and Mr. Martin Wirz of the Swiss Bank Corporation in
Basel, Switzerland. He also sent a fax inquiry to the
Swiss Banking Ombudsman. Jacob Friedman has been unable to
recover any of the funds from his father's accounts in
Swiss Banks.
Plaintiff Lewis Salton is a United States citizen and a
resident of New York City. He was born to Jewish parents
on October 6, 1911, in Krakov, Poland, and is presently 85
years old. Lewis Salton is the only surviving heir of his
father, Bernard Salamon and his wife. Mr. Bernard Salamon
was executed by Nazi Regime SS shooting commanders in the
Polish National Forest of Neipolomice in 1942. Lewis
Salton's stepmother and stepsister (14 years younger than
Salton) were asphyxiated in the Belzec concentration camp
in Poland in 1942.
Lewis Salton's father Bernard Salamon was born in 1878 in
Wieliczka, Poland, and worked as a lawyer in Milowka,
Poland. He collected stamps as a hobby and traded stamps
with others throughout Europe, including Luder Edelman in
Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Salamon was known throughout
Europe as a stamp collector. To Lewis Salton's best
recollection, he knew his parents had traveled to
Switzerland, he knew his father conducted stamp
transactions with Edelman in Zurich, and he overheard his
father's telephone calls discussing stamp-related banking
transactions occurring in Switzerland; therefore, he
believes his father had a Swiss bank account. It was
illegal at the time for Poles to send money out of Poland.
Lewis Salton last saw his father in 1939. In 1940, Lewis
Salton left Poland and made his way to America through
Russia, Japan, and Panama. Early in World War II, he
received mail from his father stamped "CENSORED." Later in
the war he was unable to contact his father by mail or any
other means. His letters sent to his father were returned
stamped "addressee unknown."
In 1945, a friend of Bernard Salamon wrote to Lewis Salton
in New York and told him his entire family, including his
mother and father, had been killed by the Nazi Regime. The
letter stated that his family had been shipped by "cattle"
car to a concentration camp called Belzec where they were
stripped naked and gassed. He was later informed by a
German legal official and provided a court paper
documenting the death of some 612 Jews, including his
father, in the Polish National Forest of Niepolomice in
1942. Mr. Salamon had been separated from his wife,
daughter and other relatives and transported by truck to
the forest where, the day before, Poles had been ordered to
dig large trenches. The Nazi Regime SS commanders murdered
the 612, ten people at a time, by lining them up naked on
the ground in front of the trenches and shooting them to
death. Mr. Salton believes his father's home and all
possessions were looted at the time he was detained and
murdered.
In 1947, Lewis Salton returned to Switzerland to claim his
father's accounts. He inquired at a number of Swiss banks
but could obtain no information whatsoever. In 1954 Mr.
Salton inquired to the U.S. Embassy in Bern seeking
assistance in identifying his father's accounts. The
Embassy made inquiries and determined that the Swiss
Banking Association reported that they did not have any
information which would assist Mr. Salton. Mr. Salton has
been unable to identify a bank holding his father's account
or to recover any funds from any Swiss bank.
Plaintiff Elizabeth Trilling-Grotch is a United States
Citizen and a resident of El Cerrito, California.
Elizabeth Trilling-Grotch was born to Jewish parents in
Bialystok, Poland, on May 6, 1938, and is presently 58
years old. Mrs. Trilling-Grotch is the only surviving heir
of her father Roman Trilling and mother Rose Trilling. To
the best of her knowledge, her father was arrested in 1939,
detained in a Russian "Gulag" and died. Her mother was
confined to the Jewish "ghetto" in Warsaw, Poland, and
later died in a concentration camp. Elizabeth was smuggled
out of Warsaw by Jania Zilow, a Polish Christian nanny to
the Trilling family.
Prior to World War II, Roman Trilling, his brother Max, and
father Oswald, owned and operated a large textile mill
named Oswald Trilling and Son in Bialystok, Poland. On
information and belief Roman Trilling established accounts
in Swiss banks to safeguard his savings.
According to Ms. Zilow's account as relayed to Max Trilling
(Roman's brother) and Ida Tumarkin (Rose's sister) and then
to Elizabeth, Rose Trilling was forced to live in the
Jewish ghetto in Warsaw with Elizabeth beginning in
approximately 1940. In the ghetto Rose Trilling was
required to do slave labor in a factory manufacturing
raincoats. While detained in the ghetto Rose Trilling
attempted to escape by providing the factory superintendent
with a "note" to withdraw 3,000 gold Francs from a Swiss
bank account. The superintendent reported Rose Trilling to
the Nazi Regime authorities, after which time she was
transported to a concentration camp where she perished.
Rose Trilling had told Jania Zilow that the Trillings had
money in a Swiss bank account. In approximately 1942, Ms.
Zilow smuggled Elizabeth out of the Warsaw ghetto to Lvov
and then to Lublin in Poland. While in Lublin, a man who
was working to reunite families put her in touch with her
parents' siblings in the United States. Mrs.
Trilling-Grotch eventually came to the United States in
1950 through Sweden and Cuba. To the best of her knowledge
her father's company and all of her family's possessions
were looted and ultimately seized by the Nazi Regime when
Poland was overrun.
On November 12, 1946, Mrs. Ida Tumarkin, Rose Trilling's
sister and Elizabeth's aunt, wrote to the U.S. Secretary of
State on behalf of her niece to inquire as to the Swiss
bank account of Roman and Rose Trilling. The State
Department brought her letter to the attention of the Swiss
Compensation Office, who replied to the State Department on
July 20, 1947, that no account could be found.
In March, 1950, Elizabeth Trilling's uncle, Max Trilling,
wrote to the U.S. State Department asking for help to find
the monies of his brother Roman in Swiss banks. The State
Department referred Mr. Trilling to the Swiss Government
and the Swiss Compensation Office. Max Trilling died in
1984, without being able to recover any funds. Elizabeth
Trilling-Grotch has not been able to recover any of the
funds from her father Roman Trilling's Swiss bank account.
Plaintiff Charles Sonabend is a British citizen and a
resident of England. He was born to Jewish parents
February 2, 1931, in Brussels, Belgium, and is presently
65 years old. Charles Sonabend and his sister Sabine
Sonabend are the only surviving heirs of their parents
Simon and Lili Sonabend, who perished at Auschwitz.
Charles Sonabend's father Simon was a watch dealer who
imported Swiss watches and was well known in Switzerland.
He resided with his family in Brussels, Belgium. In the
summer of 1942, the Nazi Regime was rounding up Jews in
Belgium and issued papers for Sabine, then 15 years old, to
"present herself" to the authorities. Fearing the capture
and murder of his family, Simon Sonabend made arrangements
for the family, including Charles who was 11 years old, to
flee Belgium and move to Switzerland in August 1942.
On August 14, 1942, the family reached Switzerland. The
family had packed in their suitcases their personal wealth,
including currency and jewelry. On August 15, the family
declared themselves to the Swiss authorities in Biel,
Switzerland. The Swiss police immediately sought to deport
the entire family. Three prominent Swiss watch
manufacturers, and a member of the Swiss parliament, who
knew Simon Sonabend tried to prevent the family from being
deported by stating that the Sonabends would not be a
burden on the Swiss economy. Their intervention was in
vain.
Prior to the deportation, the Swiss police interrogated
Simon Sonabend, as documented by a 1942 police dossier
recovered recently. A Swiss police report written in 1963
pursuant to an investigation by Sabine Buchbinder-Sonabend
(then married) referenced the 1942 dossier. The dossier
documents two suitcases, one containing currency and given
to a Swiss family and the other, also containing currency,
left with the police to be given to a different family.
The report also mentions a 1942 deposit of $200 in the Biel
branch of the Bank Cantonale of Bern in the name of Simon
Sonabend. The 1963 police report indicates that the report
was sent to Sabine Buchbinder-Sonabend in Antwerp, Belgium.
Mrs. Buchbinder-Sonabend did not receive the 1963 report
because she has never lived in Antwerp nor had an Antwerp
address. The report did not become known to Charles
Sonabend or his sister until July 1996. Mrs.
Buchbinder-Sonabend had first inquired of the Swiss police
in 1946-47 what became of her family's belongings and was
told at that time that there were no records.
On August 17, 1942, the family was deported by Swiss police
who deposited Simon Sonabend, his wife, and two children at
the French border in the night without a map. The Sonabend
family was immediately captured by Nazi Regime soldiers and
were imprisoned in Belfort, France. The parents were
separated from the children. Their private possessions,
including currency and jewelry, were looted. In addition,
upon information and belief, all of the Sonabend's other
property was looted by the Nazi Regime. The parents were
put on a train to Drancy and then transported to Auschwitz
where they were executed on August 24, 1942. The children
were shipped to Paris to be cared for by the Jewish
community there. (A July 1942 roundup and arrest of 14,000
French Jews, including children, had overwhelmed the Nazi
Regime's capacity to imprison children, so in August
additional child prisoners were temporarily handed over to
Jewish welfare organizations to be cared for.)
After the war, Sabine Sonabend attempted to recover her
father's assets in Swiss banks and elsewhere. One of the
men who had tried to prevent the Sonabend's deportation, a
Mr. Brailowski, told Sabine after the war that there were
200,000 Swiss francs in a Swiss bank account in her
father's name. In 1946, she went to several Swiss banks in
Biel and to the police office. She was unable to uncover
any information regarding her father or his assets,
including the $200 deposit documented in the 1942 dossier.
Around 1950, her future father-in-law Mr. Buchbinder and an
acquaintance of her father notified Sabine that Simon
Sonabend had a New York bank account. In 1951, Sabine was
able to recover the funds from the New York bank.
In July 1996, Charles Sonabend located the 1963 police
report which documented the 1942 police dossier and the
deposit in the Cantonale Bank, and he then wrote the
Cantonale Bank of Bern to inquire as to his father's
assets. He did not receive a reply until a Swiss
television reporter interceded, at which time he received
a telephone reply that there were no records of the account
since records were not kept longer than ten years. The
bank then asked permission for their auditor to research
the account. The audit took place and the auditors did
find documentation of the $200 deposit but did not document
the 200,000 Swiss francs spoken of by Mr. Brailowski.
To date, neither Charles Sonabend nor Sabine
Buchbinder-Sonabend have been able to recover any of the
funds from their father's account in a Swiss bank.
Plaintiff David Boruchowicz is a Canadian citizen and a
resident of Toronto, Canada. David Boruchowicz was born to
Jewish parents, Chanina and Rifka Boruchowicz, on August
17, 1925 in Warsaw, Poland, and is presently 71 years old.
Mr. Boruchowicz was forced to perform slave labor from 1940
to 1943 for a German company named Transavia.
David Boruchowicz, his parents, and his five sisters lived
in Warsaw, Poland. In 1939-1940, David Boruchowicz was
attending a trade school located at 36 Stawki Street in
Warsaw. In February 1940, the Nazi Regime occupied the
school, seized the equipment, surrounded the school with
Nazi Regime soldiers and forced the students to perform
slave labor for 12 hours a day, six days a week. The slave
labor "school" or "factory" was converted to manufacture
airplane parts for a company called Transavia. The
"student" slave laborers, all Jewish, were given two meals
a day and no compensation. Mr. Boruchowicz and the other
"students" were allowed to visit their parents on Sunday in
the Warsaw Jewish ghetto until 1941 when the ghetto was
closed.
In the spring of 1943, the "final solution" for the Warsaw
ghetto was implemented by the Nazi Regime and all residents
of the ghetto were transported to concentration camps.
David Boruchowicz's parents and five sisters and all the
rest of his family were transported to the Majdanak
concentration camp. Mr. Boruchowicz never heard from them
again. Upon information and belief, all of Mr.
Burochowicz's family perished in the camps and all the
family's possessions were looted by the Nazi Regime. In
June of 1943, the Nazi Regime closed the Transavia slave
labor factory and deported the students to the Majdanek
concentration camp.
One month later, Mr. Boruchowicz was taken from Majdanek to
work at a camp called Buna for the company I.G.
Farben-Buna, right outside Auschwitz. From there he was
taken to Buchenwald, then to Teresienstadt, from which he
escaped in April 1945, three weeks before the liberation of
the camp. Eventually, in 1959, he came to Canada.
Defendants
Union Bank of Switzerland is a banking institution
organized under the laws of Switzerland. Its main office
is in Zurich, Switzerland. The bank conducts an
international banking business, which extends to the United
States. Union Bank of Switzerland has a New York branch at
299 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10171. The bank also
operates in, among other states, California, Illinois and
Texas. As a result of mergers and acquisitions, Union Bank
of Switzerland is now in possession of the rights,
liabilities and assets of other Swiss banks that were in
existence between 1933 and the present. As set forth in
detail below, defendant Union Bank engaged in the
misconduct alleged herein, and continues to engage in such
misconduct, individually, and as part of a common scheme
among all of the co-conspirator defendants.
Credit Suisse is a banking institution organized under the
laws of Switzerland. Its main office is in Zurich,
Switzerland. It does an international banking business,
maintaining substantial contacts in the United States, and
operates in New York, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Illinois,
and California. As a result of mergers and acquisitions,
Credit Suisse is now in possession of the rights,
liabilities and assets of other Swiss banks that were in
existence between 1933 and the present. As set forth in
detail below, defendant Credit Suisse engaged in the
misconduct alleged herein, and continues to engage in such
misconduct, individually, and as part of a common scheme
among all of the co-conspirator defendants.
Defendant Swiss Bank Corporation is a banking institution
organized under the laws of Switzerland. Its main office
is in Zurich, Switzerland. It conducts an international
banking business, and operates in New York, Georgia,
California, Illinois and Florida. As a result of mergers
and acquisitions, Swiss Bank Corporation is now in
possession of the rights, liabilities and assets of other
Swiss banks that were in existence between 1933 and the
present. As set forth in detail below, defendant Swiss
Bank Corporation engaged in the misconduct alleged herein,
and continues to engage in such misconduct, individually,
and as part of a common scheme among all of the
co-conspirator defendants.
Defendants Union Bank of Switzerland, Credit Suisse and
Swiss Bank Corporation are the leading banks in
Switzerland.
Co-Conspirators
Swiss Bank Association ("SBA") is herein included as a
named, non-defendant co-conspirator of the defendant Swiss
banks. SBA is the trade association of the Swiss banks
and currently has 405 member banks. The SBA serves two
primary functions: (1) a traditional trade association;
and (2) a "self-regulatory" organization. In its capacity
as a trade association, the SBA functions as the domestic
and international spokesperson for its members. In its
capacity as a "self-regulatory" organization, the SBA
cooperates closely with the Swiss Federal Banking
Commission and the Swiss National Bank in implementing
specific policies and procedures for its members to follow.
As set forth in detail below, the SBA engaged in the
misconduct alleged herein, and continues to engage in such
misconduct, individually, and as part of a common scheme
among all of the defendants and other co-conspirators.
Various other persons and entities, the exact identities
of which are presently unknown, have participated as
co-conspirators with the defendants in the violations
alleged herein and have performed acts and made statements
in furtherance thereof.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
I. THE NAZI REGIME AND SWISS NEUTRALITY: 1933 -
1946[FN1]Switzerland has been recognized as a permanently
neutral country since the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815).
From 1933 until at least 1946, Switzerland, however, had
close ties to the Nazi Regime which were knowingly used and
exploited to further the war objectives of that Regime.
The actions and conduct of Switzerland in general exceeded
the bounds of neutrality.
Switzerland was the Nazi Regime's foremost supplier of
foreign exchange.
Switzerland was a critical provider of vital industrial
products and raw materials to the Nazi Regime. This matter
was of such importance that, in 1944, the Allies considered
proposals to bomb certain Swiss rail lines in order to halt
this traffic.
Swiss francs were made available to the Nazi Regime for
other than recognized trade purposes.
Swiss financial markets were favorably used by the Nazi
Regime to cloak and shield its financial operations and
dispose of the spoils of their illegal plundering.
Switzerland was used as a safehaven to disguise
subsidiaries of businesses operating in furtherance of the
illegal objectives and acts of the Nazi Regime.
Swiss industry, in general, had close, historical and
interlocking ties to significant German businesses
operating to further the illegal objectives of the Nazi
Regime.
Officials of the Swiss legation of the International
Committee of the Red Cross in Istanbul were part of a
smuggling ring with a German bank involved in the
laundering of looted assets in Switzerland.
Agents of the Nazi Regime reportedly had remarkable access
to Swiss diplomatic passports, pouches, couriers and
transport, which were used to convey looted assets across
national borders.
Switzerland adopted and implemented policies and practices
with respect to persons seeking the asylum of her professed
neutrality which had the purpose and effect of aiding
religious, racial and political persecution by the Nazi
Regime:
a.Before World War II, the Jewish population in Switzerland
numbered 18,000, or 0.4 percent of the total population.
From the time the Nazi Regime rose to power in Germany in
January 1933, Switzerland was faced with thousands of Jews
seeking asylum, in addition to non-Jewish refugees from
occupied countries.
b.During the Nazi period (1933-1946), an estimated 300,000
foreigners passed through Switzerland, and ten percent
(30,000) of them were Jews. In the early stages of the
Nazi Regime, several thousand Jews went to Switzerland, and
most eventually departed for other locations. However,
once Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the numbers
greatly increased. Swiss officials opposed such an influx,
not desiring to be identified with the refugee problem, and
refused to host a conference that President Roosevelt had
called in the summer of 1938 to discuss the refugee
issue.[FN2]c.Swiss Chief of Police Heinrich Rothmund
suggested distinguishing the passports of German and
Austrian Jews with a special mark so that they could not
enter Switzerland as German tourists (who did not require
a visa). In the fall of 1938, Switzerland and Germany
agreed on this policy, and on October 5, 1938, the Reich
Ministry of the Interior issued a decree ordering all Jews
of German or Austrian nationality to submit their passports
so they could be stamped in red with a capital J (for Jude
or "Jew"). The Germans later applied this ordinance to all
the Jews of Germany, which easily enabled other countries
to isolate Jews from all those seeking entry and bar them
from entering.[FN3] d.Swiss railway personnel collaborated
with the Nazi Regime in targeting and identifying Jews who
sought refuge in Switzerland, turning them over to the
Nazis. "Jews and other politically persecuted persons,
prisoners who wanted to escape in railway cars
--. . . were their daily victims. . . ."[FN4]e.As expressed in
a challenge to Swiss Minister Stucki concerning the
government's conduct toward refugees during this period:Mr.
Minister, your statements clearly showed that you were
greatly surprised that the Anglo-Saxons not only gave you
a cool and unfriendly reception, but at times even showed
a hostile attitude. This attitude did not just happen; it
was caused by the peculiar opinion of neutrality held by
responsible Swiss circles despite all criticisms... You
have forgotten, Mr. Minister, that we turned back refugees
from our border although we must have known that this
refusal was equivalent to a death sentence.[FN5]
II. THE NAZI REGIME AND THE SWISS BANKS
During the period 1933
through at least 1946, representatives of the Nazi Regime
and of industries acting on behalf of and in furtherance of
the policies and practices of that Regime were in positions
of influence and control of the Swiss banks. The Swiss
banks knowingly cooperated and closely collaborated with
the Nazi Regime and the businesses acting on its behalf to
provide a sanctuary in Switzerland for the deposit of
looted and cloaked assets and a conduit through which such
assets could be transferred or funnelled to secret accounts
in other countries.
US Treasury officials noted that:
Switzerland has been called the German Reich's foremost
supplier of foreign exchange. Her financial role in the
Axis economy is principally dependent upon this function,
which is closely linked with her economic role as a
supplier of critical and industrial products. In addition,
the Axis finds in the Swiss financial markets the most
favorable conditions for the cloaking of its financial
operations in both hemispheres... In addition to dealings
through the [German-Swiss] clearing agreement, the Nazis
have been able to use freely the Swiss financial markets to
dispose of the spoils of their conquests.[FN6]As noted by
the U.S. Treasury Department:
The Swiss Bank Corp. of Basle, with assets of approximately
$385,000,000, is the largest joint stock bank in
Switzerland. Its directors and managers have for many
years maintained intimate connections with German industry.
Of the 24 officers of the Swiss Bank Corp., at least 15 are
known to have such affiliation at present.... The Swiss
Bank Corp. is among those listed as having accepted looted
gold.[FN7]The report further states "it should be borne in
mind that the business affiliations and political
sympathies of these individuals (the Board of Directors)
are of the utmost importance." "The Swiss Bank Corporation
has consistently maintained an impenetrable secrecy with
respect to the deposits of alien nationals and
corporations. The quality of its management is therefore
a vital clue to its policy. Affiliations should indicate
the attitude of the Bank toward acceptance of German
property and the sheltering of German subsidiaries... The
integrity of the bank officials has been the sole guarantee
of any dubious transaction."[FN8]The report noted the
relationship between German industry and Swiss banking
practices:In general the Swiss Bank Corporation officials
have served the German and Italians in the field of
chemicals and pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, electricity, and
metal products. The principal firms served are: Pirelli,
Farbe, Schering, Ciba, Lonza, Franck, La Roche.
Brown-Bveri, Atlantic, Alliance Aluminum, and Mannesmann...
Of twenty-four officers of the Swiss Bank Corporation...
fifteen at least are known to have abetted the German
strategy of avoiding confiscation of foreign assets by the
spurious sale to convenient Swiss holding companies.
In reviewing the business records of the policy group of
the Swiss Bank Corporation, it is difficult to avoid the
conclusion that any measure unfavorable to overseas Axis
assets would not be adopted by men who for many years have
been the agents and instruments thereof.[FN9]Swiss Bank
Corporation Directors (in 1945) included:
Felix Iselin: "Swiss representative of I.G. Farben, and a
leading agent in cloaking its extra-European properties
[and] ... president of I.G. Chemie in Basle.... "The
Iselin family has for many years served as custodians for
the foreign subsidiaries of German chemical and
pharmaceutical cartels... Iselin himself also is active in
Ciba, Sandoz and Geigy... Iselin was placed on the
Proclaimed List on May 22, 1942."[FN10]Rudolph Speich:
"Rudolph Speich is on the board of Ciba and represents the
Swiss Bank Corporation in the listed [Proclaimed List] firm
of Continentale Elektrizitaets -- Union AG of Basle"
Maurice Golay: "Maurice Golay, believed to be the largest
stockholder of the Swiss Bank Corporation, is Chairman of
the Board of the Lonza Electric and Chemical Works and is
known to be a director of two additional German companies
on the Statutory List... His pro-Axis sympathies are
well-known"
Ernest Homberger: "Homberger is President of the Swiss
branch of the notorious German Franck companies -- INGA and
Inter Franck"
Jacob Brodbeck: "Brodbeck is President of Ciba, Sandoz and
Geigy, and is associated with the enemy-related firm of
Brown Boveri.
Albert Nussbaumer, of the Swiss Bank Corp.: Was considered
"one of the most notorious agents for Axis capital, and was
delegated as a principal representative for
Switzerland...."[FN11]The Swiss Bank Corp. likewise directly
cloaked foreign subsidiaries of German firms in order to
preserve them from confiscation. Among firms so cloaked
were Schering, Mannesmannn and Franck under the Swiss Bank
creations "Forinvent," "Chepha" and "Sonora".[FN12]Given the
Swiss Bank Corporation's role as the "virtual owner of the
entire capital stock of Forinvent and Chepha":The Swiss
Bank Corporation was therefore one of the principal
accomplices of the Nazis in their effort to re-arm for an
aggressive war. Foreign exchange accumulated by these
subsidiaries was received by the Nazis before and during
the course of the war through the collusion of the Swiss
Bank Corporation officials who willingly offered Swiss
domicile and direction to German enterprises. Through
Forinvent and Chepha fees, and profits accrued for the use
of German enterprise, the entity of German firms was
preserved during hostilities."[FN13]German banks had large
assets in Switzerland "which consisted . . . of gold and
Swiss Francs to the value of several million Reichsmarks
and . . . [were] deposited with banks in Zurich." US
Embassy in London officials stated:We know from our own
records that the Deutsche Bank, Istanbul, has accounts with
Credit Suisse (Zurich and Neuchatel) and with Swiss Bank
Corporation, Union de Banques Suisses and the Banque
Federale in Zurich.[FN14]German businesses cooperating with
the Nazi Regime established numerous holding companies and
private investment trusts, generating a tremendous amount
of activity in Swiss banking circles. Orvis Schmidt,
Director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Foreign Funds
Control, stated that total deposits in Swiss banks
increased from 7 billion to over 16 billion in the years
1941 and 1942, and the number of Swiss banks increased from
295 to 372.[FN15] The numerous and varied economic ties
between the Nazi German economy and the Swiss banking
industry were summarized in a Treasury Department Division
of Monetary Research document:[FN16]Gold is by no means the
only asset disposed of by the Germans in Switzerland. The
Swiss Government never has introduced restrictions on the
commerce of foreign currencies, and the export as well as
the import of bills of all national banks of the world is
admitted freely by the Swiss authorities... The rates on
black markets all over the continent are set in Geneva. It
is under these favorable circumstances that the Nazis
disposed of the currency looted in her conquest.
In the same fashion the Nazis find a ready market for
looted securities... The Swiss have required that
securities be accompanied by a certificate of ownership,
but this only applies to non-bearer securities and though
it has in some instances restricted negotiability of
Axis-held securities it is only slightly prejudicial as
they can still be disposed of at a discount through the
accepted black market dealers.
There is also an active market in paintings and other works
of art, obtained primarily from French galleries and
private collections. Reportedly these sales yield the
Germans approximately 10 or more million francs annually
and the Swiss themselves benefit from a nominal customs
tariff and a 2 percent import fee.
Individual Germans... frequently buy Swiss blocked
accounts, particularly securities accounts, at reduced
prices, possibly making use of stolen assets to finance
their purchases...
As the supply of gold and other assets available in the
occupied countries themselves has run out, the Germans have
attempted to maintain their supply of free foreign exchange
by the sale of exit permits to persons in the occupied
areas. A frequent arrangement is that these persons are
permitted to leave the occupied territory on deposits... in
a German-controlled account in a neutral country... The
intermediaries through which these transactions are carried
on are Swiss nationals, and some of the depositories for
the extorted money are located on Swiss soil.
III. LOOTED ASSETS
A.General Background
As the Nazis occupied territory across Europe, they
systematically plundered gold, foreign exchange, assets,
securities, jewelry, and art treasures. Part of this loot
went back to Germany to accounts in the Reichsbank. Much
of the looted gold and foreign exchange made its way to
secret accounts in Switzerland. The Swiss Bank Secrecy Act
of 1934 designed to protect accounts was instead used to
protect looted assets in accounts of such war criminals as
Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Ribbentrop, and Himmler. It was
recognized that "[t]he traditional stock in trade of Swiss
Bankers, Notaries, Realtors, Insurance Companies,
Attorneys, . . . [was] the concealment of assets."[FN17]
B.German BanksLooted assets became a source of capital and
trade for German banks during the Nazi Regime. Reichsbank
President Hjalmar Schacht, who also served as the German
Minister of Economics, was charged with "having made profit
for his agency from the looting of Jewish property and even
of valuables taken from inmates of the death camps prior to
their being put to death."[FN18]Six SS torturers from
Majdanek concentration camp who were captured and
interrogated revealed that gold and jewels taken from the
internees were sent to the Reichsbank.[FN19] The Reichsbank
in Frankfurt received numerous shipments of concentration
camp loot:[FN20] Shipment #1:4173 bags said to contain 8307
gold bars inasmuch as these gold bars may, after proper
assay and expert consideration, be determined to represent
melted down gold teeth fillings.Shipment #52:4 boxes and 2
cartons said to contain jewelry and effects of persons from
Dachau Concentration Camp.Shipment #64:1 box diamonds and
jewelry.Shipment #70:1 sack Goering jewels.Other documents
have noted that:The Reichsbank received some 76 deliveries
of SS loot between August 1942 and February 1945. Sale of
about half the loot realized RM 24,000,000 suggesting a
total value approaching RM 50,000,000.[FN21]An official
register of nearly 3,000 victims from Dachau concentration
camp lists the victims' names, nationalities, camp ID
numbers, and the amount of gold on them -- including teeth
-- when they entered the camp. In an orderly manner, the
victims were asked to write this information on an envelope
and place their belongings in it for "safekeeping.[FN22]Three
accounts labeled "Buchenwald" were found in two banks in
Germany. One Buchenwald account at the Thuringer
Staatsbank held 514,596.40 Reichsmarks in cash. While the
money was listed as holdings from the SS Cantine at the
camp, US officials noted that the account "came from the
money taken from the prisoners on their arrival at the
camp, since the director acknowledged having received in
several instances foreign moneys to be exchanged into
Reichsmarks."[FN23] The Reichsbank held two Buchenwald
accounts, one for 1,810.09 Reichsmarks. The other
contained 2,812,388.62 Reichsmarks, "an account coming
solely from prisoners as they arrived in camp." However,
these may have been conservative figures:
In several instances large exactions were made by the camp
command without giving any reason. It is thus highly
probable that the total amount taken from all the inmates
of the camp is much greater than this amount... The total
amount which should revert to Buchenwald camp is
3,328,795.111 Reichsmarks.[FN24]The Reichsbank also profited
from concentration camp gold. An informant stationed in
the dental station at Mauthausen concentration camp stated
that incoming camp prisoners were separated based on the
amount of dental gold, and some of those with more gold
were sent to more intensive labor camps in order to
expedite their death:Those prisoners who had a conspicuous
amount of dental gold were either assigned to special labor
camps where they soon died of hunger and fatigue, or were
kept at Mauthausen and taken care of by the SS guards and
the prisoners (mostly professional criminals) whom they had
appointed overseers and block leaders.... [A]ccording to
records kept by informant, the following amounts of pure
gold were collected, the March quota being from 528 bodies:
January - 2,685.4 grams, February - 2,425.6 grams, March -
3,085.3 grams.[FN25]Melted dental gold from Thereseinstadt
concentration camp victims may have been smelted into ten
bars of gold sent to Germany by the Vermoegensamt, a Nazi
agency operating in Prague:
The bars in question are the subject of a Czechoslovak
restitution claim, the Czechs having stated that the gold
content of the bars was obtained by the Nazi agency from
political, racial and religious persecutees resident in
Czechoslovakia in the form of rings, bracelets, brooches,
teeth, etc... [There is a] possibility that the
Vermoegensamt also took property from persecutees who were
only temporarily in Czechoslovakia and whose normal
domicile was elsewhere. The Czech reference to gold teeth
as one of the sources for the contents of the bars, points
to Terezin, a notorious Nazi extermination camp in
Czechoslovakia to which persecutees from all over Europe
were shipped.[FN26]An attached secret OMGUS document
mentions:[The] Czechs themselves admit ref bars include
gold from teeth, thus indicating possibility extermination
camps origin at least of portion thereof, and the fact that
one of the principal Nazi extermination camps for
persecutees assembled from numerous European countries
[was] located at Terezin in Czecho.[FN27]The monthly report
submitted to the SS Wirtschaftsbund Verwaltungshauptamt Amt
D III (SS Economic Office, Section D III),
Oranienburg/Berlin, by the SS HQ dental stations of all
concentration camps, included a secret account of the
dental gold recovered from deceased prisoners. The SS
Economic Office had ruled that this gold was the property
of the SS.[FN28] The Reichsbank, for example, acted "as the
personal agent of Himmler in converting SS loot into
orthodox financial assets."[FN29] The Reichsbank concealed
these activities by the use of cover names; loot went into
the "MELMER;" its value after assessment was credited to
the account of MAX HEILINGER."[FN30] "Also implicated in
handling the loot are the Reich Finance Minister, the Mint,
the Reich's Pawnshop, and the precious metals firm Deutsche
Gold - und Silber Scheideranstalt, Degussa, (associated
with I.G. Farben)."[FN31]C.Knowing Complicity and
Collaboration of Swiss Banks In Receiving Looted Assets
The Swiss banking industry knowingly participated in and
collaborated with representatives and agents of the Nazi
Regime in depositing looted assets in concealed accounts in
Switzerland and otherwise aiding and abetting in the
funnelling or transfer of such assets to disguised accounts
in other countries.
Switzerland purchased huge amounts of gold from Germany:
During the six-month period ending in January, 1942, the
Germans are reported to have sold in Switzerland 260
million francs in gold, most of which came from the
occupied areas and Vichy holdings in North Africa.
Extensive transactions of this nature have continued
through 1942.[FN32] German and Swiss banks -- especially the
German Reichsbank and the Swiss National Bank -- cooperated
closely. The Reichbank maintained a gold depot in the SNB
throughout the war. The bulk of all German gold shipments
abroad during the war were destined for the Swiss National
Bank. Such shipments included approximately $123,000,000
worth of Belgian gold stolen by the Germans in France.
This gold was resmelted and sent to the Swiss National
Bank. Other shipments of looted gold went to the Bank for
International Settlements, located in Switzerland which now
admits that some 25 percent of German gold received by it
during this period was looted by the Nazi
Regime.[FN33]Reichsbank officials personally escorted gold
transports through Switzerland to the Bank of Portugal.
FFC officials reported "from a most reliable source" that
in under two months -- from the end of October to the
beginning of December 1941 -- "more than 21 tons of gold
passed through Basle, Switzerland, en route from Berlin to
Berne and escorted by Reichsbank officials."[FN34]FFC
Director Orvis Schmidt said that the Portuguese
acknowledged receiving $45,000,000 worth of gold from
Germany -- including gold from the Reichsbank account with
SNB-- and $67,000,000 worth of gold from Switzerland
(possibly originating from Germany).[FN35] In addition,
clearly identifiable looted gold such as fillings and
jewelry was sent to Portugal and sold to buyers to be
melted down and made into ornaments.[FN36]Black market agents
for the Nazi Regime in Istanbul were used to transfer funds
to Switzerland, using Swiss francs as the medium of
exchange. These agents established numbered accounts in
their own names with Swiss banks, including Union des
Banques Suisses in Geneva, Societe des Banques Suisses in
Zurich, and Banque Federal in Basel.[FN37]Swiss bankers were
repeatedly warned about the looted origins of the gold they
purchased. A memo from US Treasury official Seymore Rubin
stated:
[T]he question of gold policy had been directly raised with
all of the European neutrals. Statements were made to the
European neutrals that Germany had long since exhausted all
of its pre-war gold resources and any possible accumulation
from current production, and that, by necessity, any gold
offered by Germany must be presumed to be looted.[FN38] The
State Department noted that:Monetary statisticians all over
world knew that Germany at the start of war possessed
monetary gold reserve of about $70,000,000 worth of gold
which she had spent in her war effort at latest by
mid-1943. Therefore, if Swiss accepted one-hundred tons
gold offered by Germans in 1943 worth $123,000,000, how can
Swiss concede having acted in good faith? Furthermore, how
can they claim good faith when acquiring this gold which
they know was refused by Swedes for those reasons?[FN39]Even
allowing for private German holdings and possible purchases
of bullion from early in the war, the conclusion was
inescapable that most of this was looted gold, from
government stocks of the invaded countries, from private
hoards, or perhaps from the teeth of concentration camp
victims.[FN40]At a "Gold Committee" meeting in March 1946,
Swiss delegates defended such purchases, stating that "it
is incumbent upon a bank of issue to honor, without
question, all commitments and accept all offers in order to
protect the position and stability of a free currency."[FN41]
Also, the bankers claimed, due to Allied blocking measures,
the Swiss had to purchase gold from Germany, and that
refusing to do so "would have been an unneutral
act."[FN42]However, Reichsbank Vice President Emil Puhl later
stated that the Swiss bankers knew about the looted
gold.[FN43] The Swiss banks aided the concealment of looted
assets in various ways:The well-reputed bank of V. ERNST in
BERN is actively occupied transferring German capital out
of Switzerland. German assets in Sweden ... are declared
as Swiss property. This is done as follows: RUEEGG,
Director of the bank, finds Swiss who, in return for
bribes, sign 'Affidavits' declaring that they were in
possession of those assets in Sweden before a certain date
in 1940/41... The Enskilda Bank in Stockholm and the
Gotaland-Bank are collaborating with the Bank V. Ernst in
these transactions.[FN44]An examiner described the account
"as a 'fund' in which were placed the assets and titles of
property taken by the Nazis from Jewish businessmen in
Germany and the occupied countries."[FN45]
The use of the Swiss banks and the complicity and collusion
of the Swiss bankers and representatives and agents of the
Nazi Regime was so pervasive that accounts were brazenly
opened in Switzerland for Adolf Hitler, Herman Goering and
Joachim Von Ribbentrop.[FN46]
D.Transfers to New York Banks
Either as a result of their concerns about the safety of
looted assets in Switzerland and/or a mere desire to move
these assets outside of Switzerland, Swiss banks
transferred the looted assets into concealed accounts in
the State of New York.
In August 1939, the Swiss Bank Corporation of Basle
Switzerland established an agency in New York, New York,
which commenced operation later that fall. Three years
later, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau approved a
proposal to place a group of Treasury officials in the New
York agencies of the Swiss Bank Corporation, the Swiss
American Corporation, and Credit Suisse "for the purpose of
examining all the files and records of these agencies."[FN47]
At the start of the investigation, the Treasury Department
had information that Representatives of these banks
participated actively in the affairs of Swiss-German
industrial concerns in this country and in the management
of Swiss firms which we believe are still camouflaging for
German interests.[FN48]The Treasury Department noted that the
Swiss banks had intentionally and repeatedly violated US
law by its deliberate cloaking of funds and concealment of
transactions from US authorities.
U.S. officials noted that:
Most of the securities attributed before the war to Swiss
holders are held by banks and brokers in New York... These
securities are almost without exception held in the name of
a Swiss bank, banker, other agent or of some corporate
title or rubric. The actual beneficial owners of these
securities has never been disclosed to the authorities in
this country. In defense of this concealment the American
bankers contend that they have no knowledge of the real
owners of these securities and no way of obtaining it from
their Swiss correspondents.[FN49]Treasury Department
investigators concluded that "[the Swiss American
Corporation] and the New York Agency... continued to
conceal the true ownership of funds and securities held in
the United States and did thereby conspire to violate and
evade the provisions of Executive Order 8389 and/or the
amendments thereto. . . ."[FN50]
Overt violations included the deliberate refusal to provide
information needed on US TFR300 reports:
Irrespective of such knowledge [of how to fill out the
reports] and in complete disregard of the regulations and
instructions issued pursuant to Executive Order 8389, as
amended, and with intent to violate and evade the
provisions of said Order, the Agency did falsely state in
"Part D" of substantially all of said TFR 300 reports filed
by it, that the name of any person other than the national
in whose name the report was filed, having an interest in
the property reported was [unknown.][FN51]The Treasury
Department noted that credits were transferred between a
bank in the US and one outside the US without a license.
In addition, the Bank refused to file reports with respect
to nationals who had an interest in property subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States:
The agency not only failed to disclose in the respective
TFR 300 reports filed, knowledge it possessed relative to
the names, ... of actual owners of certain securities, but
it also failed in each instance to file a TFR 300 report
with respect to each foreign national whose name was
known.[FN52]CONCLUSIONS include:[FN53]1. "The Swiss Bank
Corporation, its officers and managers in Switzerland,
conspired with its agents in New York to evade and/or
violate the provisions of Executive Order 8389, as
amended."2. "The Swiss Bank Corporation, by its New York
agents, intentionally and knowingly filed with the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, seventy-four TFR reports, which
were false and lacking in essential details."3. "The
Swiss Bank Corporation and its New York agents, in
violation of Executive Order 8389, failed to file TFR 300
reports with respect to certain foreign nationals having an
interest in property deposited with the New York Agency."
The presence of Swiss bank agencies in the US led US
officials and others to fear the influence of Nazi money
hidden in Swiss bank branches in the United States:
. . . [W]e feel justified in our conclusion that, under
present conditions, the three Swiss institutions in New
York do not help us. We feel safe in asserting that they
harm us. We admit that such harm might be negligible at
present. We insist it could be great if a choice had to be
made between safeguarding Swiss interests and violating
American national objectives.[FN54]E. Use of the Red Cross
and Swiss Diplomatic Pouches to Transfer Looted AssetsThe
Nazi Regime used members of the Swiss Legation of the
International Committee of the Red Cross ("ICRC") and the
Swiss diplomatic corps to effect and further the transfer
of looted assets across national borders for deposit in
accounts in Swiss banks.
Officials of the Swiss legation of the ICRC in Istanbul
were part of a smuggling ring with the Deutsche Bank of
Istanbul involved in the "export of contraband jewels,
watches, gold and money. . . ." The "Division Speciale du
Consulat Suisse" -- a special division of the Swiss
Consulate in Istanbul -- was created expressly for the
hiding of German assets: "The number of businesses in
which German nationals were interested and the number of
bank accounts involved is believed to have kept the
organization and certain members of the Swiss Legation well
occupied for some time."[FN55]US officials in Switzerland
investigated this ring and the "apparent evasions of normal
Swiss controls of German assets by Beretta and Courvoisier
of the International Red Cross":
It is suspected that some of this contraband [looted money,
gold and valuables], as well as enemy assets from the
Deutsche Orientbank, may have been transported to
Switzerland via the International Red Cross pouch with
Beretta's aid.[FN56]The Swiss Government directly or
indirectly aided agents of the Nazi Regime, who reportedly
had remarkable access to Swiss diplomatic passports,
pouches, couriers, and transport. Such diplomatic
privileges simplified the German export of capital. It has
been reported that: Swiss diplomatic pouches were used by
"Hitler, Goering, etc. to send funds to Argentina. By
mid-1944 Germans had three billion pesos hidden in
Argentina. . . ."[FN57]
The Swiss diplomatic pouch was reportedly also used for
transport of art treasures by agent Alois Meidl:
As Goering's purchasing agent, he [Meidl] bought 17th
Century Dutch and Flemish paintings as well as
primitives... with German marks pumped into Dutch, Belgian
and French circulation by the Germans. Other paintings
have been paid for in "occupation Guilders" or seized
Jewish property... Goering's two most precious paintings,
one a self-portrait by Van Gogh painted after he had cut
off his ear, and the other Cezanne's "House in the Park,"
were brought over to Switzerland by pouch
[diplomatic].[FN58]F.Allied Consideration Of The Bombing Of
Swiss Rail LinesAs a direct result of this complicity and
collaboration between the Nazi Regime and the Swiss banks
in providing the economic foundation for their activities
and the continued transportation of vital raw materials in
and through Switzerland, the Allied Forces considered
bombing certain railroad lines into and out of Switzerland
to stop the trade of materials.Secretary of War Henry
Stimson wrote to Secretary of State Cordell Hull concerning
continued shipping by Switzerland, Sweden and Spain to
Germany of "imports of materials and commodities of very
great value to the German war effort and of corresponding
great damage to ourselves and our forces who are now at the
critical point of their effort."[FN59] Stimson asked Hull to
pressure the neutrals to "cease aiding our enemy," adding:
I sometimes feel that those of our assistants who are
carrying out the details of these matters do not adequately
realize the enormous change which has taken place in the
military situation since we had to use the policy of gentle
appeasement to these neutral nations. These nations are no
longer justified in claiming that fear of German reprisals
makes it unsafe for them to cease sending these supplies to
Germany.[FN60]As Swiss traffic to Germany via German-occupied
Italy increased, US officials grew more concerned about
Swiss aid to the Axis. The US Joint Chiefs of Staff looked
into various means of halting the flow of material and
supplies, including closing rail "routes by air action on
the Italian side of the Swiss border."[FN61]
The bombing suggestion was discussed among US officials.
Because of what was understood as the considerable aid to
the Nazi Regime being supplied by or through Switzerland ,
one high ranking U.S. official "...expressed a willingness
to turn the bombers loose and make life unpleasant for the
Swiss generally."[FN62]G.Acts Beyond NeutralityThe Swiss
banking industry knew that their complicity and
collaboration with the Nazi Regime, its agents and
representatives went beyond the obligations of a neutral.
Their conduct was reportedly dictated by the purely
mercenary objective of increasing their profit.
US intercepts of Swiss bank cables revealed "that Credit
Suisse performed activities on behalf of the Nazis whereby
a total of 1,930,731 Swiss francs were made available to
the Germans during the period from 9/26/44 to 11/24/44 for
purposes other than those for recognized trade purposes...
Credit Suisse also participated in two other transactions
which benefited the Reichsbank, Berlin, and the Deutsche
Bank, Hamburg."[FN63] Intercepts reveal objectionable
activities of the Union Bank of Switzerland, as well.[FN64]
In a memorandum written to Treasury Secretary Morgenthau
dated June 2, 1942 requesting approval to "place a group of
Treasury men in the New York agencies of the Swiss Bank
Corporation, Swiss American Corporation, and Credit Suisse
for the purposes of examining all of the files and records
of these agencies," concern was expressed that high
officials in Swiss banks were apparently impressed by the
"new European order" being created by the Nazi Regime and
were favorably responding to its "success."
Representatives of these banks participated actively in the
affairs of Swiss-German industrial concerns in this country
and in the management of Swiss firms which have reason to
believe are still camouflaging for German interests. Felix
Iselin, who represents I. G. Farben in Switzerland as
Chairman of I. G. Chemie, is on the board of the Swiss Bank
Corporation. Iselin, together with Gottfried Keller who is
on the board of Credit Suisse, was added to the Proclaimed
List in the supplement of May 22, 1942. A former top
executive of the Swiss Bank Corporation in Switzerland, who
now resides in New York, recently stated in a letter
written to a colleague that he had resigned because of the
fact that certain high officials of the Swiss Bank were
allowing themselves to be unduly influenced by Germany's
apparent success in establishing a new European
order.[FN65]As noted in another U.S. government
document:[Reports] of objectionable activities of Swiss
banks, including the Swiss National Bank, particularly
dealings in looted German gold... indicate the tremendous
amount of such assistance given by the Swiss to the enemy
[that] served to finance the enemy's purchases of critical
war material.[FN66]In addition, it should be pointed out that
their aid to the enemy in the banking field was clearly
beyond the obligations under which a neutral must continue
trade with a belligerent, and dictated solely by the profit
motive of the Swiss banks.[FN67]H.Estimates of Looted Assets
As a result of the Swiss banks' denial of accepting looted
assets and their active concealment of accounts which held
such assets, there is no presently available, accurate
estimate of the amount of such looted assets which were
deposited in or transferred through Swiss banks.
Various sources have estimated the value of these assets in
general as follows:
"Estimates of the wealth of the Jewish population, and thus
the amount of confiscated Jewish property in countries
under Nazi domination"[FN68]Poland $2.1 Billion
Romania $1.4 Billion
Hungary $335 million
Germany $964 million
France $278 million
Czechoslovakia $415 million
Austria $215 million
Lithuania $80 million
Holland $230 million
Belgium $138 million
Latvia $75 million
Yugoslavia $70 million
Greece $54 million
Bulgaria $45 million
Italy $34 million
Estonia $3 million
Denmark $2.25 million
According to British sources (the Ministry of Economic
Warfare and the Bank of England) in 1945, the total amount
of gold looted by Germany since 1939 was $545-550 million.
This figure includes $223 million of Belgian gold (taken
from France to whom it was transferred for safekeeping,
$193 million from Holland, and $19-24 million from Hungary.
These figures were based largely on information regarding
government-owned, not private gold:
In addition, large stocks of gold were undoubtedly
accumulated in the Reichsbank, hidden in Germany and placed
in overseas bank accounts, but apart from details obtained
from captured Reichsbank records or from private
information at the end of the war, there was, and is, no
way of discovering from documentation in the British
archives how much gold there was, where it was kept and in
whose names.[FN69]Reports estimated that looted Jewish assets
in Hungary alone totalled "approximately four billion
dollars."[FN70]
IV. SLAVE LABOR
German industry and businesses outside of Germany which
were directly or indirectly owned in whole or in part
and/or which were controlled by German business, used
forced labor in furtherance of their operations. No
company utilizing such slave labor provided any significant
monetary compensation to these laborers.
These German-owned, German-controlled and German-dominated
companies established accounts in Switzerland under
fictitious names and used fictitious means to cloak the
assets of their operations, which in part resulted from the
use of slave labor. Certain amounts of such cloaked assets
were retained under cover of secrecy in accounts in banks
in Switzerland and in Swiss banks in the United States.
The Nurnberg Judgment found that:
Part of the "final solution" was the gathering of Jews from
all German-occupied Europe in the concentration camps.
Their physical condition was the test of life or death.
All who were fit to work were used as slave laborers in the
concentration camps; all who were not fit to work were
destroyed in gas chambers and their bodies burnt.[FN71]
German industry sought cheap labor, and many companies
appealed to the Reich for concentration camp workers as
slave laborers. "Of the two million Jews who were used as
slaves in the German war production only 200,000
survived.[FN72] Former SS Captain Karl Sommer testified at
Nurnberg that he knew of the allocation of 500,000 to
600,000 concentration camp inmates who had been requested
by various industries.[FN73] Additional testimony by other
SS officials indicated that such workers were not assigned;
it was impossible to get slave labor without the company's
specific request. Each German company was assigned a
secret code number which camp commanders were instructed to
use on all correspondence relating to the company.
As the war continued, the need for armaments increased, as
did the drain on German manpower. In February 1942,
Himmler proposed to Nazi Minister for Armaments and
Munitions Albert Speer that armaments plants be built
inside the concentration camps so the inmates could work on
arms production. German industries paid little if any
money to these slave laborers after the war. Some of these
industries had cloaked subsidiaries in Switzerland, and
hidden accounts in Swiss banks -- partially comprised of
profits resulting from slave labor.
During the war, IG Farben cloaked subsidiaries in
Switzerland, including IG Chemie. IG Farben had a
production site adjacent to Auschwitz, a factory that
produced a synthetic rubber "buna," that was used by the
German air force and army. On February 18, 1941, Goering
responded to a request from IG Farben head Krauch to
Himmler, and ordered that concentration camp inmates be
used to build the buna plant at Auschwitz, and 10,000 were
made available. A camp annex was later built at the plant
site at Monowitz. Inside Auschwitz itself, IG Farben
constructed a new plant in 1941 called "Auschwitz III."
The Nurnberg court found:
Auschwitz was financed and owned by Farben... The Auschwitz
construction workers furnished by the concentration camp
lived and labored under the shadow of extermination.... The
use of concentration camp labor and forced foreign workers
at Auschwitz with the initiative displayed by the officials
of Farben in the procurement and utilization of such labor,
is a crime against humanity."[FN74]
"Although no more than 10,000 persons were ever employed at
the Buna plant at any one time, it was reported that during
the three years of its operations, over 30,000 people
perished while working there for IG Farben."[FN75] IG Farben
also manufactured Zyklon B, the poison gas used for mass
murder at the concentration camps.
After the war, the white-collar industrialists who had used
slave labor "came off relatively well. . . . Most of the
company managers were never put on trial. . . . No
corporate director ever stood before the IMT (International
Monetary Tribunal).... Many of the convicted corporate
officers were sentenced to long prison terms, but by
January 1951 not a single one was still in jail."[FN76]
After long negotiations and legal wrangling, IG Farben paid
DM 27 million to the Claims Conference in 1957.
Responding to an appeal by Polish claimants (whom, Farben
executives argued, were not eligible for funds because they
were not in Auschwitz because of their "race, religion or
ideology" but for their "nationality," and therefore did
not qualify as persecutees within the definition of German
indemnification laws[FN77]), IG Farben's legal brief to the
appellate court argued that despite Farben's strong
objection, the Reich (a decree from Goering was quoted) had
ordered Farben to build the buna factory at Auschwitz, and
brought three former Farben directors to testify. All
three were convicted war criminals. The Farben brief did
not mention that Farben had requested the order from
Goering.[FN78] In October 1961, IG Farben demanded a refund
from the Claims Conference of DM 2 million to dispose of
non-Jewish Polish claims.
Krupp industries had cloaked subsidiaries in Switzerland.
Krupp served as "armorer of the Reich" and relied on slave
labor from nearby Auschwitz. An estimated 12,000 Jewish
slave laborers "worked" for Krupp during the war. A letter
from Alfred Krupp to Lieutenant von Wedel of the German
Army High Command stressed, "I can only say that a very
close cooperation exists between this office and Auschwitz,
and is assured also for the future."[FN79] At Nurnberg, it
was decided:
The horrors of the concentration camp are well known. The
Krupp firm was the beneficiary of these camps... In the
early summer of 1944, the SS offered a large group of
concentration camp inmates to the armaments industry...
This labor was merely offered to industry, not allocated to
it... it was up to the enterprises to put in requests.[FN80]
The Nurnberg Tribunal convicted Alfred Krupp, sentenced him
to prison for twelve years and ordered the forfeiture of
his personal and professional property. However, in July
1950, High Commissioner John McCloy announced clemency for
Krupp, who received back his liberty and his fortune. The
restoration of German sovereignty in 1952 launched a new
period of prosperity for West German industry and for
Krupp. Krupp's second wife, whom he married shortly after
his release from prison, revealed during later divorce
proceedings that -- apart from his holdings in Germany,
Alfred Krupp had deposited over a quarter of a billion
dollars in Swiss and other foreign accounts. Pictured on
the cover of Time magazine on August 19, 1957, Krupp was
described as "the wealthiest man in the world".[FN81] In
1959, Krupp agreed to pay up to $2,380,000 to former Jewish
slave laborers, equal to about $1,190 to each former
laborer.
Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft (AEG), Telefunken and
Siemens were Germany's major electrical concerns, who not
only provided electrical installations to the concentration
camps, but also staffed some of their production lines with
camp inmates. The three electrical concerns formed a
partnership with the SS and relied on slave labor from
Auschwitz, Ravensbruck, Dachau and Mauthausen for slave
labor. According to Foreign Funds Control Director Orvis
Schmidt, IG Farben, AEG and Siemens also ran camouflaged
German firms in Switzerland.[FN82]
Dynamit Nobel used cloaked subsidiaries to employ slave
laborers from Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, and Gross
Rosen. Dynamit Nobel head Friedrich Flick had a personal
tour of Auschwitz, led by SS Chief Heinrich Himmler. After
the war, Flick gained control of Daimler-Benz, manufacturer
of Mercedes automobiles.
Many other German firms used slave labor, including
Rheinmetall A.G; German aircraft companies Messerschmidt,
Junders and Heinkel; the German mining company Bragbag; BMW
(Bavarian Motor Works); Herman Goering Works; Moll;
Holzmann; and Hugo Schneider AG.
On August 10, 1944, "principal German industrialists,"
including representatives from Krupp, Volkswagen,
Rheinmetal, and the German Naval Ministry in Paris, met in
Straussbourg, France to discuss ways of exporting capital
from Germany. In a smaller meeting that followed, the
industrialist leaders were informed by Nazi party officials
that the war was nearly over, and the industrialists must
increase Germany's strength and prepare to finance the Nazi
party if/when it should go underground. The meeting
introduced a "new Nazi policy whereby industrialists with
government assistance will export as much of their capital
as possible... Two main banks through which this export of
capital operates are the Basler Handelsbank and the
Schweizerische Kreditanstalt Zurich."[FN83]
The Strasbourg meeting led to the formation of foreign
commercial alliances and economic bases abroad. By one
estimate, German industry had roughly 350 direct
subsidiaries in Switzerland.[FN84]
In 1945, the Foreign Economic Administration specifically
cited as German cloaks the Swiss Bank Corporation, the
Johann Wehrli bank, Credit Suisse, Union Bank of
Switzerland, the Swiss Bank Corporation, Commercial Bank of
Basel, and the Swiss National Bank.[FN85]
It was also noted that there were instances of misconduct
of Swiss firms in the United States concerning cloaking by
Swiss insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and agencies
of Swiss banks. Named cloaks included I.G. Farben, Hoffman
LaRoche Inc., Kandos Chemical Works, Inc., Ciba and Geigy,
Swiss Reinsurance Company, Zurich General Accident and
Liability Insurance Company, the Swiss Bank Corporation,
Credit Suisse and the Swiss American Corporation.[FN86]
Swiss banks have never revealed the true identity of these
accounts, nor the amount of assets deposited as a direct
result of the use of slave labor.
Since the Swiss banks have never disclosed which accounts
reflected cloaked assets, nor accounted for what portion of
those cloaked assets are directly attributable to the use
of slave labor, there are no presently available, accurate
estimates of the amount of cloaked assets.
Various sources have generally reported, however, as
follows:
The section "Foreign holdings in Switzerland," outlines the
value of German assets in Swiss banks:
These holdings... are estimated to have a value of
considerably more than Swiss francs 500,000,000, equal to
more than $116,000,000 exclusive of real estate. This
capital is mostly in such banks as the Credit Suisse, Swiss
Bank Corporation and the Banque Federale S.A., although
many sizable German investments may also be found in the
various small private banks which abound in the
country.[FN87]
V. ASSETS DEPOSITED
Switzerland passed the Bank Secrecy Act in 1935 (the
"Act"). Its purpose was to enable the Swiss Banks to
attract the deposits of foreign persons and entities,
including Jews, who wanted their money held in confidence,
in a "safe" country, and for an indefinite period of time.
During the period 1933 through 1945, numerous Jewish
persons including the parents of the class representatives,
as well as others who were members of groups which were
subjected to racial, religious or political persecution by
the Nazi Regime, and others acting on its behalf, made
deposits of assets in various forms in defendant Swiss
banks.
The following reports are illustrative of such claimed
deposits:
a.Joseph S. Seaman asks for help in recovering funds of his
sister, a concentration camp survivor. The funds --
100,000 RM -- were transferred through Bankhaus SEILER &
CO. in Munich to the Schweizer Kreditanstalt,
Zurich.[FN88]b.Letter to the State Department on behalf of
Gertrud Holtmann, Jewish, heir to the estate of Professor
Moritz Freiberger (10/25/48).[FN89] Freiberger died in 1937,
and his wife "committed suicide in 1942 because she was
about to be deported." The estate includes "substantial"
deposits with the Swiss Bank Corporation in Zurich, the
Stockholm Enskilda Bank in Sweden (Wallenberg), and bonds
by Brown Bros. Harriman & Co., New York.
c. laim sent to the Swiss Joint Commission's Secretariat on
behalf of Fritz Fenchel, a Jewish persecutee. Fenchel's
company was aryanized, his money taken and placed in the
Swiss National Bank. After the war, Fenchel was denied
access to this money.[FN90] d.R. Weill asks assistance in
recovering his father's money, "deposited in a banking
institution in Basel":
I am heir to this money but I don't know its amount and
where it was deposited, because by obvious reasons the
facts regarding the money in Switzerland were known only to
my father and his wife Ida killed in Poland's concentration
camps.[FN91]e.A legal representative for relatives of
Holocaust victims write for help in finding the accounts of
Anna and Isabella Trepel who "had considerable funds on
deposit in banks in Switzerland:
They [the Trepels] were citizens of Germany and died during
the occupation of the Nazis in Germany. My client has
just learned that her two cousins committed suicide, both
being of Jewish faith, when they were to have been sent to
a concentration camp in Germany.[FN92]Upon information and
belief, these deposits have never been confirmed or found
by Swiss Banks and there has been no final resolution of
these claims. From 1945 to date, Swiss banks have been
dilatory in responding to requests for the return of these
assets and deliberately obstructed efforts to have the
assets returned to their rightful owners. The Swiss
banking industry has combined and conspired to delay or
deny the return of such assets to their rightful owners.
In 1962, in partial recognition of their failure to comply
with their obligations and duties to the rightful owners of
such assets, the Swiss government passed a bill which
required the Swiss banks, among other financial
institutions, as fiduciaries and trustees of depositors or
owners of accounts who were members of groups subjected to
racial, religious or political persecution by agents or
representatives of the Nazi Regime, to identify such
depositors or owners and to return such assets.
The Swiss Banking Association objected to the proposed
legislation.[FN93]Under the 1962 law, however, the Swiss
banks had ultimate decision-making power to control their
audit. In concert, they deliberately failed to
affirmatively abide by their obligations to identify these
depositors and owners and return such monies. In concert,
the Swiss banks combined and/or conspired to delay and/or
prevent such identification and return of assets.
For example, most recently, Senator Alfonse D'Amato wrote
to the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank
Corporation, on behalf of Jacob Friedman, requesting the
return of assets deposited in their banks. The reply
letters from both banks contain similar language and
indicate that each bank knew of an inquiry regarding Jacob
Friedman at the other bank, despite the fact that no bank,
under Swiss Secrecy Law, is able to communicate with any
other bank concerning any other bank or deposit.[FN94]As
recently as April 23, 1996, Hans Baer, representing the
Swiss Banking Association and its member companies,
publicly stated that the issue of assets on behalf of
members of groups which were racial, religious or political
persecutees of the Nazi Regime has never been fully, fairly
or finally resolved.In testimony before the Senate Banking
Committee, Hans Baer, SBA Executive Board member, Chairman
of the Julius Baer Bank and Baer Holding, Ltd, stated on
behalf of the SBA and all of its member banks:
We are committed to resolving all outstanding questions
about assets that may have belonged to victims of the
Holocaust in a sensitive, equitable, open, accurate, and
professional manner...
I want to emphasize in the strongest terms possible our
determination that at the end of the current process, any
dormant assets in Swiss banks that may have belonged to
victims of the Holocaust will have been distributed to the
rightful heirs of the victims, or otherwise to worthy
charitable causes...
[L]et me reiterate the desire of the SBA and its members to
resolve this matter thoroughly and expeditiously, in
accordance with the highest standards of the Swiss banks
and the Jewish community.
Our single purpose is to put in place a plan that will
sensitively, openly, and effectively resolve this matter
once and for all.[FN95]As a result of the Swiss bank's denial
of "deposited assets" accounts and their obstruction and
delays in addressing the issue, there is no presently
available accurate estimate of the amount of "deposited
assets" in Swiss banks. Their conduct, however, has
produced various, and potentially conflicting and
incomplete estimates.
For example, pursuant to the 1962 law, the Swiss Bankers
Association conducted a search through their files to
locate the assets of persecutees they had denied holding.
At the conclusion of the search, the SBA announced it had
found approximately 9 million Swiss francs, or about $2
million, belonging to 961 claimants. However, some 7,000
claimants were turned down. The validity of this search
was questioned, but nothing further was done until a new
search was conducted in 1995. These accounts were said to
have been dormant for at least ten years and were opened
before 1945. However, in his testimony before the Senate
Banking Committee on April 23, 1996, SBA representative
Hans Baer stated during questioning that the $32 million
figure represents all dormant accounts found, and that
perhaps only a portion of these accounts are Holocaust
related.[FN96]
VI. ACTIVE CONCEALMENT
Through various schemes and devices, including the
disguising of accounts, the use of fictitious names and the
signing of false affidavits, Swiss banks, acting with
others, actively and affirmatively concealed the existence
of accounts which held looted and/or cloaked assets. Since
the conclusion of World War II, Swiss banks have
deliberately and purposefully obstructed efforts to
identify such accounts and transfer the assets to the
rightful owners. The Swiss banks have also affirmatively
misrepresented their knowledge with respect to accounts
dealing with looted and cloaked assets and those belonging
to racial, religious and political persecutees of the Nazi
Regime.
A.In General
Swiss banks aided the Nazi Regime through the cloaking of
German capital and industry:
The second basic financial service rendered to Germany by
Switzerland is furnishing of financial climate and
institutions requisite for the cloaking of German
industrial operations throughout the world. Under Swiss
law and tradition of financial secrecy, the Germans are
able to conceal their ownership of nominally Swiss
companies which carry on trade in the Western Hemisphere
and elsewhere to the ultimate benefit of the Germans. One
of the largest Swiss chemical companies, Hoffman-La Roche,
maintains its Swiss head office in the border city of
Basle, primarily as a routing station for products
manufactured across the German border. In addition, Swiss
firms, with and without German ownership, have entered
readily into cartel agreements with the Germans. Many of
these were nominally severed in 1939, but will probably be
reestablished at the conclusion of the war. The result of
these arrangements has been that Swiss companies hold
markets and sources of supply from which the German
companies are cut off during wartime. These agreements are
believed important particularly in the chemical and
pharmaceutical industries, where four out of the five major
companies are affiliated with I.G. Chemie, the Swiss branch
of I.G. Farben; ... German ownership of Swiss companies in
Switzerland results in the use of these companies'
facilities as a direct aid to the German war
effort.[FN97]Close ties between bank directors and German
interests hindered US-Swiss progress on locating enemy
assets:
Agreement with Switzerland on disclosure of German property
has so far been unsuccessful. Swiss officials have not
demonstrated good faith. For example, in the conference of
April 1944 between Swiss bank officials and Anglo-American
representatives, Nussbaumer, of the Swiss Bank Corp., one
of the most notorious agents for Axis capital, was
delegated as a principal representative for Switzerland...
the decree blocking German assets as of February 17, 1945
likewise appears to have been violated. Puhl of the
Reichsbank stated that he was still able to obtain francs
and "to use these francs to transfer funds to a third
country."[FN98]British and US representatives met in Lisbon
in May 1944 to discuss imposing additional restrictions on
Swiss bank dealings with Nazis. It was agreed that the
Swiss should prevent the buying of foreign exchange in
Switzerland (escudos and Swedish crowns) and that the Swiss
should halt gold transactions between the Swiss and the
Reichsbank. At the end of May, Reichsbank official Emil
Puhl met with Swiss National Bank Chairman Ernst Weber to
discuss blocked credits. When US officials in Bern
informed OSS head General William Donovan of the results of
these talks, Donovan sent a memo to President Roosevelt,
relaying the Bern report:
Weber is personally friendly with Puhl. By the terms of
this arrangement, it is possible for the Reichsbank, within
the framework of their previous gold transactions, to sell
gold for Swiss francs in accordance with a monthly quota.
This quota amounts to approximately 6,000 kilograms of
gold, worth approximately 30,000,000-40,000,000 Swiss
francs. If it should become necessary, Weber stated, he
was ready to take even more gold than the amount fixed in
the monthly quota. Under the fairly broad arrangement thus
reached, it will be possible to exchange Swiss francs just
as before for the foreign exchange of 3rd countries....
The effects of this smuggling and the outlook for the
following six months are still as good as they were before.
It is possible for us to anticipate that for the last half
of the current year, as in the initial half, Germany will
receive an additional 3,000,000 Swiss francs worth of ball
bearings through the means I have reported above.
Moreover, the ball bearings in question are the kind which
Germany requires most and on which deliveries are needed as
quickly as possible.[FN99]A State Department memo notes that:
No useful purpose could be served at the present time by
this delegation since the Swiss have not cooperated
satisfactorily in revising the War Trade Agreement of
December, 1943, and since the Swiss have been dilatory in
forwarding their counter-proposals concerning the Standard
of Conduct, which would be followed by banks in Switzerland
in dealing with the enemy... the Swiss have so far failed
to cooperate throughout the war and even at the present
time on general, financial and economic problems.
Even in 1945, the U.S. noted that the Swiss had
"categorically refused to fulfill their promise to provide
us with a report on the results of the census as of that
date and gave no assurance that any such report would be
forthcoming." On the topic of restoring looted property,
the U.S. reported that:
The Swiss indicated that they propose to leave that matter
entirely to a case-by-case juridical determination and
Swiss stolen property legal procedure is singularly
inappropriate. This, in effect, means that the Swiss have
taken no measures whatsoever to fulfill the pledge given by
them on March 8 [the Washington Accord] to enact such
legislation as necessary to assure the return of this
property to the legitimate owners.
A U. S. report notes that:
The economy of Switerland itself is so entwined with that
of Germany that the bankers and industrialists do not wish
to have revealed the extent of their collaberation.
In a letter from the head of the US Legation in Bern head
Harrison to US Treasury Secretary (10/23/45), Harrison
relays his anger at increased "Swiss dilatory tactics,"
stating that "there is some reason for doubting whether
they are making sincere efforts to locate and immobilize
assets in their country." He expressed "doubts concerning
the good faith of [Swiss] officials" and cited the
Puhl/Fund correspondence and Puhl's boast that most of the
economic controls against the Germans "have been
successfully removed," including the unblocking of the
Reichsbank account.[FN100]
In a telegram from the American Embassy in Lisbon to the
State Department (9/3/46), the U.S. discusses the Swiss
refusal to provide Allies with information on the "bar
numbers of gold sold by the Reichsbank to Portugal from
Reichsbank depot in Switerland."[FN101]
B.Currie Mission/Kilgore Hearings
In February 1945, a special mission, later termed "The
Currie Mission," comprised of American, French and British
negotiators was sent to Switzerland. The US delegation was
headed by Lauchlin Currie, Assistant to the President and
former FEA Deputy Administrator. The direction of the war
seemed inevitable, and the Swiss feared being isolated in
the postwar world. In anticipation of Allied demands, the
Swiss Government had issued two decrees freezing German
assets and forbidding dealings in foreign currency. In the
negotiations, against the wishes of the Swiss banking
community, the Swiss Government agreed to block assets of
Axis satellites, to take a census of all assets held in
Switzerland, facilitate the return of looted property to
its rightful owners, and to halt future purchases of German
gold, except for "minor legitimate purposes." However, the
Swiss refused to provide the Allies with information on
German assets in Switzerland.[FN102]
The Swiss agreement maintained bank secrecy, yet authorized
Swiss officials to investigate ownership of the numbered
accounts, and required that such assets held for Germans be
declared to the Swiss Government. US officials sought more
concrete steps:
The action taken by the Swiss to date represents a formal
gesture to satisfy the U.S. which by itself has some value.
However, it carries no guarantee that German assets in
Switzerland will in fact be frozen.
Germans in Switzerland are permitted by the decree to
freely dispose of their assets for "normal" professional
and personal transactions, and no authorization is
required, among other things, for "normal administration"
of German assets... Unless the Swiss are strict in their
interpretation of "normal" and vigorous in their
investigation of ostensibly innocent professional, personal
and commercial transactions, agents in Switzerland will be
able to freely use German assets to further Nazi
underground activities.
The decree delegated to the appropriate Swiss officials
authority to request information from banking institutions,
with respect to the ownership of accounts within
Switzerland. Much will depend here again, on how
vigorously this authority is exercised to remove German
assets from the Swiss protective law.[FN103]Before the
surrender of Germany in 1945, Senate Subcommittee for
Military Affairs Chairman, Senator Harley Kilgore, launched
an investigation of German assets and the role played by
Swiss banks and the Bank Secrecy Act of 1934 in cloaking
financial operations of the Third Reich. Foreign Funds
Control Director Orvis Schmidt reported that the Swiss
government had wilfully neglected to intervene in the
trafficking of Nazi loot through the Swiss banks upon
official invitation of German government. Schmidt reported
on the tremendous growth of the Swiss banks, and that at
that time (later altered) German holdings in Swiss banks
amounted to 16 billion francs, adding that Swiss bank
secrecy keeps even the Swiss Government from knowing the
names of the depositors, and this favors German maneuvers.
It was noted that while the Swiss decreed illegal the
cloaking of German assets in Switzerland in March 1945, the
Swiss Federal Council nevertheless maintained bank secrecy,
rendering such an accord essentially ineffective. Also,
the Swiss Government could not inquire about the names of
the owners, and only seven investigators were assigned to
the project.[FN104] The Kilgore Committee reported that
Swiss banks, led by the Bank for International Settlements
and its member bank, the Swiss National Bank (they shared
directors and staff members) had violated post-war
agreements not to permit financial transactions that would
help Nazis hide their loot. Senator Kilgore stated:
Despite... the assurances of the Swiss government that
German accounts would be blocked, the Germans maneuvered
themselves back into a position where they could utilize
their assets in Switzerland, could acquire desperately
needed foreign exchange by the sale of looted gold and
could conceal economic reserves for another war. These
moves were made possible by the willingness of the Swiss
government and banking officials, in violation of their
agreement with the Allied Powers, to make a secret deal
with the Nazis.[FN105]German documents made public during the
Kilgore hearings revealed that Swiss banking and
governmental officials met secretly with Reichsbank Vice
President Emil Puhl, and collectively worked to find
loopholes in the Allied-Swiss Accord. Puhl boasted to his
boss, Walther Funk, of the warm reception he received in
Berne, and his success:
Above all I have insisted [to the Swiss National Bank] on
our receiving [Swiss francs] in return for Reichsmarks
which the Reichsbank might release for any reason. That is
important as it will enable us to use these francs to
transfer funds to a third country.[FN106]C.Washington AccordIn
or about March 1946, the Governments of Switzerland, the
United States, Great Britain, and France met to negotiate
the issue of the forcible removal of gold by Germany from
German-occupied countries to Switzerland.
Negotiations on the Washington Accord were long and
tedious. The following correspondence excerpts between
William Rappard of the Swiss Legation in Washington, and
Randolph Paul, Special Assistant to the President at the
State Department, exemplifies the difficulties of the
negotiations.
In one letter, Rappard challenges the Allied assessment
that a minimum of $200,000,000 worth of gold looted by
Germany was transferred to Switzerland during the war.
Such numbers are "contrary to our own," Rappard writes, and
requests "further and more concrete data which alone would
allow us to understand fully your claims and their bases:"
How are the actual circumstances to be established under
which these predatory operations took place? Is it known
when, where, by whom and in what way these different
amounts of gold came into the possession of the Germans?
And whether and to what amount direct or indirect
compensation was made to the previous holders or to the
original legal owners? Is there any documentary evidence
available concerning these transactions?... The Swiss
Delegation would welcome a definition of looted property
as understood by the Allies...[FN107]Paul responded:[N]one of
the information requested has any relevance to acceptance
by you of the principle advocated by the Allied Delegation
that you will restore to the Allies looted gold that was
acquired from the Germans. When agreement has been reached
on this principle, the Allied Delegation will be prepared
to furnish the Swiss Delegation with necessary additional
information[FN108]Rappard replied that the Allies "cannot
derive any legal claim for the surrender of the German
assets in Switzerland." On the gold issue, "the Swiss
government is not in a position to accept as correct the
verbal and written declarations of the Allies and the
conclusions drawn therefrom."[FN109]Responding to questions
about the sale of looted gold to Switzerland. Rappard
refused to assume responsibility and stated:[N]o blame can
justifiably be placed on the Swiss National Bank in
connection with its purchases of gold, and that the
question whether possibly looted gold should be restored to
the legitimate owner can solely be decided by the Swiss
Federal Tribunal.[FN110] Rappard reminded Paul of the Swiss
proposals of April 11, 1946, and the Swiss "readiness to
assume great sacrifices for which no legal obligation can
be recognized,...to open the way for a practical solution
of the existing differences."[FN111] However, when a figure
is named, the Swiss delegation President halted
negotiations:
I submitted to my Delegation the sum of $130,000,000 which
the Allied Delegations demanded as an agreed settlement of
Allied claims of the question of gold... this sum very far
exceeded not only the possibilities offered by our
instructions but also those justified by the circumstances
of this case, as we see them, the Swiss Delegation were
unanimous in deeming it aimless to continue discussions on
this basis.[FN112]Randolph Paul, Special Assistant to the
President, wrote to Minister Stucki, relaying Allied
acceptance of the Swiss offer of 250 million Swiss francs,
with the assumption that information on German assets in
Switzerland would finally be provided, and he urged the
Swiss to turn over assets of heirless victims to the
Allies:
The Allied Delegations will invite the Swiss Delegation, in
entering into the accord, to recommend to the Swiss
Government that procedures should be established whereby
the property within Switzerland of victims of Nazi action
who have since died and left no heirs are put at the sole
disposal of the Allied Governments for the purposes of
relief.[FN113]The Swiss consented, although the Swiss
Government stated it was "unable to recognize the legal
basis of these claims but that it desired to contribute its
share to the pacification and reconstruction of
Europe..."[FN114]At the end of the war, the Berlin Protocol,
issued at the end of the Potsdam Conference of the Big
Three, called for war reparations to the Allies to be
provided from appropriate German external assets. The
Swiss denied the Allied right to German property in
Switzerland, stating that Switzerland's own claims against
Germany had to be satisfied first. Swiss officials added
that estimates of German property in Switzerland had been
exaggerated, and that such funds would not even cover Swiss
claims, leaving no funds for war reparations.
At the beginning of the negotiations, $1.5 billion of Swiss
funds were blocked in the U.S. Switzerland objected to the
US proposal to use German assets in Switzerland to cover
war reparations, claiming that such action would violate
Switzerland's neutrality. Instead, Swiss officials
proposed that such assets instead be applied against German
debts to the Swiss, which the Swiss had estimated almost
equally at $250,000,000. When the Allies estimated the
figure at three times that amount, the Swiss raised
additional claims against Germany. An impasse resulted,
and Stucki flew back to Switzerland for new orders.
After six more weeks of negotiations, the Washington Accord
was signed on May 25, 1946. The Accord was negotiated for
Switzerland by Walter Stucki, who served as its war-time
Ambassador to Vichy, France, and later Chief of its
Political Department.
Under the terms of the Accord, assets of German citizens
living in Germany or subject to repatriation were to be
divided 50-50 between Switzerland and the Allied
Reparations Agency. In addition, Switzerland would
contribute 50,000,000 francs of the Allied share to aid
displaced persons, and would also pay 250,000,000 francs in
settlement of Allied claims for looted gold in Switzerland
(originally estimated at over five times that amount).
Just months after the signing of the Washington Accord, US
Treasury Representative James Mann questioned Swiss
motivations:
[T]he Swiss have furnished the Legation with an interim
report on the progress being made under the blocking and
census decrees which is a joke (and which to me clearly
proves, if any proof is needed, that the Swiss have no
intention of really doing anything in connection with the
discovery and immobilization of German assets except to
stall as long as they possibly can.)[FN115]D.Heirless
AssetsShortly after the war, it was also recognized that
there were significant issues relating to the
identification and return of assets of persons who were
persecuted for relgious, racial or political reasons by the
Nazi Regime.A State Department policy paper in 1949
outlined concerns on the persecutee issue:
[I]t has been considered that the [Washington] Accord
permits the seizure of the assets in Switzerland belonging
to the Jews who remained in Germany past February 1945.
This would include the category of those who were in
concentration or DP camps.[FN116]Four years after the
Washington Accord, issues relating to heirless assets and
persecutees remained unresolved. The Allies held a
Tripartite meeting in Paris, to be followed by negotiations
in Bern. The Swiss issued a precondition to the talks,
which the Allies found unacceptable, and the US delegation
left Switzerland "without ever having a meeting on the
subject."[FN117]E..Ongoing InvestigationsAs a result of the
above acts of concealment, obstruction and
misrepresentation, several investigations attempting to
address the issues of looted and deposited assets are
presently ongoing.
1.Volcker Commission
On May 2, 1996 in New York, the World Jewish Restitution
Organization and the World Jewish Congress, representing
also the Jewish Agency and Allied Organizations, signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Swiss Bankers
Association to:
cooperate to assure that the Swiss Government will deal
with the question of looted assets in Swiss banks or other
institutions which were not reported or returned under the
relevant laws during the years before, during and
immediately after the Second World War.[FN118]The parties
agreed to establish an "Independent Committee of Eminent
Persons" (ICEP) to appoint an international auditing
company to "search for accounts and assets in question."
The Committee appointed Paul A. Volcker, former Federal
Reserve Chairman, as committee Chairman.[FN119]
The memorandum of understanding creating the Committee
contains no time limit. No mention is made of what the
Committee will do once the audit is completed.[FN120]
The SBA -- whose activities were questionable at best
regarding dealings with Nazis and looted gold -- is
supposed to "assure the auditors unfettered access to all
relevant files in banking institutions regarding dormant
accounts and other assets and financial instruments
deposited before, during and immediately after the war."
However, the memorandum of understanding makes no mention
of any enforcement mechanism. The SBA has, in fact,
actively sought to block such investigations for over 50
years.
The Committee is apparently limited to a number of accounts
specifically selected by the SBA. The memorandum of
understanding is silent as to the Committee's authority
beyond the pre-selected accounts.
2.Swiss Investigation
On September 16, 1996, the Swiss Federal Council supported
the draft "Federal Decree Concerning the Historical and
Legal Investigation of the Fate of Assets Which Reached
Switzerland as a Result of National Socialist Rule."[FN121]The
draft decree mandates an investigation into "the extent and
fate of assets of all kinds which were transferred to
banks, insurance companies, attorneys, notaries,
fiduciaries, asset managers or other physical or legal
persons or groups of persons residing or headquartered in
Switzerland for deposit, investment to transfer to third
parties or were received by the Swiss National Bank" and
belonged to Nazi victims, persecutees, or Nazi members.
The legislation should move to the Swiss Senate in
December.[FN122]
The following phase would be a ninety-day review, and
implementation would not begin until April, 1997. In
addition, Swiss officials say the search may last up to
five years. Provisions in the legislation allow the
Federal Council to "modify the scope of the investigation",
to choose its own "experts" to conduct the search, and
mandates that "the Federal Council has the sole control
over all material related to the investigation."[FN123]
3.State Department Investigation
On October 5, 1996, the State Department announced plans to
search its archives for information on lost gold and other
assets looted by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Promising a "thorough and immediate study," State
Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the State
Department's Office of the Historian under chief historian
Bill Slaney would scour the archives in response to
requests to find "what the US government knew about the
disposition of Nazi assets at that time and whether or not
we had diplomatic contact with the Swiss government."
Burns said the State Department regarded the issue as a
"highly urgent and priority matter," and that the study
would last two to three months, and the results would be
made public.
The State Department has not disclosed when the study will
commence, nor what steps will be taken -- if any -- at a
later point.
CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS
This action is brought and may properly be maintained as a
class action pursuant to the provisions of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a)(1)-(4) and 23(b)(1),
23(b)(2) and/or 23(b)(3). Plaintiffs seek certification of
the following classes:
Class A:Rightful Owners of Nazi Regime Looted Assets and/or
Their Heirs
All persons or entities (or their heirs) from whom the Nazi
Regime obtained looted assets, as defined above, which
assets were in whole or in part the subject of any
transaction executed by or through a Swiss bank.
Class B:Slave Laborers and/or Their Heirs
All persons (or their heirs) who were forced to work as
slave laborers for the benefit of Nazi Regime entities, the
profits from which were deposited in, liquidated by, or
laundered through, commercial transactions with the Swiss
banks, which transactions included in whole or in part the
profits derived from that slave labor.
Class C: Swiss Banks Depositors and/or Their Heirs
All persons (or their heirs) who were persecuted, or feared
persecution, for religious, racial or political reasons by
the Nazi Regime, who deposited assets in Swiss banks
between 1933 and 1946 and who have not had the proceeds of
these deposits returned to them.
The class definitions exclude any entity in which
defendants have a controlling interest, and the officers,
directors, affiliates, legal representatives, heirs,
successors, subsidiaries, and/or assigns of any such
entity.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1). Each of the proposed classes is
so numerous that individual joinder of all its members is
impracticable under the standards of Fed. R. Civ. P.
23(a)(1). As the factual allegations demonstrate,
thousands of persons are members of each class. While the
exact number and identities of the class members are
unknown at this time, such information can be ascertained
through appropriate investigation and discovery.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) and 23(b)(3). There are questions
of law and fact that are common with respect to each class,
which predominate over any individual issues which may
exist as to each Class. Common questions of fact and law
include the following:
a.Did the defendant Swiss banks carry out banking
transactions involving Nazi Regime looted assets?
b.Did the defendant Swiss banks carry out banking
transactions involving Nazi Regime cloaked assets?
c.Did the defendant Swiss banks carry out banking
transactions that involved capital or assets which
included, in whole or in part, profits from Nazi Regime
entities who employed slave labor?
d.Did the defendant Swiss banks accept deposited assets and
then deny, block or obstruct access to the deposited assets
of persons (or their heirs) who were the object of
religious, racial or political persecution by the Nazi
Regime?
e.Did the defendant Swiss banks conspire with each other to
deny, block and/or obstruct access to the deposited assets
of persons (or their heirs) who were the object of
religious, racial or political persecution by the Nazi
Regime?
f.Were the defendant Swiss banks complicit in and
collaborating with the Nazi Regime's activities in
furtherance of their illegal war effort and in their
commission of violations of international law by the
liquidation, depositing, and/or laundering of, looted
assets or cloaked assets?
g.Did the defendant Swiss banks conspire with the Nazi
Regime or with each other in the Nazi Regime's illegal war
effort and in their commission of violations of
international law by the depositing, liquidating and/or
laundering of looted assets or cloaked assets?
h.Did the defendant Swiss banks violate applicable
standards of banking conduct?
i.Did the defendant Swiss banks knowingly or intentionally
conceal their participation in transactions involving
looted assets, cloaked assets, or assets of Nazi Regime
entities who employed slave labor; or conceal their efforts
to deny, block or obstruct access to deposited assets of
persons (or their heirs) who were the object of religious,
racial or political persecution by the Nazi Regime?
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3). Plaintiffs' claims are typical
of the claims of the members of each class. Plaintiffs and
all members of the classes have been similarly affected by
defendant Swiss banks' common course of conduct, and the
members of each class have identical claims against the
Swiss bank defendants.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4). The class representatives for
each class will fairly and adequately protect the interests
of the members of that class, and do not have interests
which are antagonistic to the interests of other class
members. The class representatives have retained attorneys
experienced in the prosecution of complex litigation, and
class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). A class action is superior to
other available methods for the fair, efficient and just
adjudication of this litigation. Individual joinder of all
members of each class is impractical. Even if individual
class members had the resources to pursue individual
litigation, it would be unduly burdensome to the courts in
which the individual litigation would proceed. Individual
litigation magnifies the delay and expense to all parties
in the court system of resolving the controversies
engendered by defendant Swiss banks' common course of
conduct. The class action device allows a single court to
provide the benefits of unitary adjudication, judicial
economy, and the fair and equitable handling of all
plaintiffs' claims in a single forum. The conduct of this
action as a class action conserves the resources of the
parties and of the judicial system, and protects the rights
of each class member. Furthermore, for many, if not most,
class members, a class action is the only feasible
mechanism that allows them an opportunity for legal redress
and justice.
This action is also certifiable under the provisions of
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1) and/or 23(b)(2) because:
Inconsistent or varying adjudications with respect to
individual members of each class would establish
incompatible standards of conduct for the Swiss bank
defendants toward that class.
Adjudications of individual class members' claims with
respect to the Swiss bank defendants would, as a practical
matter, be dispositive of the interests of other members
not party to the adjudications, and could substantially
impair or impede the ability of other class members to
protect their interests.
With respect to each class, the defendant Swiss banks have
acted and refused to act on grounds generally applicable to
that class, thereby making equitable relief with respect to
that class as a whole appropriate.
COUNT I
CONSPIRACY TO VIOLATE AND/OR COMPLICITY IN
VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
(On Behalf of Classes A and B)
Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated, reallege, as if fully set forth, each
and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs.
From 1933 through at least 1946, the Swiss collaborated and
acted in complicity with and aided and abetted the
activities of the Nazi Regime in furtherance of the
commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes
against peace, slavery and slave labor, and genocide.
Specifically, the actions and conduct of the Swiss Banks
exceeded the obligation of a neutral country and actively
assisted the war objectives of the Nazi Regime.
The Swiss banks knew that the agents and representatives of
the Nazi Regime and the Regime itself was looting and
plundering the assets of others in furtherance of their war
crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and
genocide.
The Swiss banks knowingly received a portion of those
looted assets for deposit; exchanged a portion of those
assets for hard currency; and otherwise transferred and
laundered such assets for and on behalf of the Nazi Regime,
its agents and representatives.
The Swiss banks also knew that the Nazi Regime, its
representatives and agents were depositing capital in
disguised accounts in Switzerland, a portion of which was
composed of profits of slave labor.
The Swiss banks knowingly hid, cloaked, liquidated and
laundered such funds and items, falsified records
pertaining to such funds and items and illegally channeled
such funds and items to third parties on behalf of the Nazi
Regime.
As to looted and cloaked assets deposited, laundered or
transferred into or out of accounts in Swiss banks, the
Swiss banks knowingly received stolen property or property
tainted by violations of international law, committed by
persons or businesses acting on behalf of the Nazi Regime.
The Swiss banks engaged in a common scheme or conspiracy
in furtherance of their objective of profiting from their
activities in aiding and abetting, or acting in complicity
and collaboration with, the Nazi Regime with respect to
looting and slave labor activities.
The above-referenced actions by defendant Swiss banks were
in violation of numerous international treaties, customary
international laws, and fundamental human rights laws
prohibiting genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity,
crimes against peace, slavery, slave and forced labor, and
slave trade, including, or as reflected by, the Genocide
Convention; the United Nations Charter; the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights; the Geneva Convention of 1929;
the supplemental Geneva Convention on the Treatment of
Non-Combatants During War Time; the Nurnberg Principles;
the Slavery Convention of 1926; the Supplementary
Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade,
and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; the
International Labor Conventions and Recommendations; the
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Hague
Convention of 1907.
As a result of the above-referenced violations of
international law, plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff
classes have suffered injury and are entitled to damages in
excess of $50,000, the precise amount to be determined at
trial.
COUNT II
BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
(On Behalf of Class C)
Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated, reallege, as if fully set forth, each
and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs.
Defendant banks, as entities who handle money and property
for the benefit of other persons, stand in a relation
implying and necessitating great confidence and trust on
the part of those, and family members of those, who deposit
such money and property with defendants. As such,
defendants owe a fiduciary duty to plaintiffs and the
class.
As fiduciaries, defendants owe plaintiffs and the class a
duty of undivided and undiluted loyalty and candor.
Furthermore, defendants must act in the best interests of
the client in the handling of the client's account, which
includes an obligation to produce all information relating
to the client's transactions to the client or his legal
representatives and heirs upon request.
A fiduciary duty by defendants also is established by the
unique factual circumstances existing prior to and during
World War II. In 1935, the Swiss Bank Secrecy Act was
passed to attract the deposits of persons, including Jews,
who wanted their money held in a country not controlled by
the Nazi Regime. Consequently, a special relationship of
confidence and trust between depositors and class members
and defendants was created by defendants, a relationship
carefully cultivated by defendant banks in their
self-proclaimed role as safe-harbors for assets during the
Nazi Regime era.
Defendants breached their fiduciary duties by, among other
things:
a.Disposing of assets of bank depositors without notice to
the depositors, for the financial benefit of the banks;
b. Providing information about depositors and deposits to
the Nazi Regime;
c.Sharing information about depositors and deposits with
other Swiss banks in furtherance of the conspiracy detailed
above; and
d.Refusing to conduct a thorough, accurate and truthful
accounting of dormant assets and return such assets to
depositors or heirs of depositors.
As a result of the above-referenced breaches of fiduciary
duty, plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff class have
suffered injury and are entitled to damages in excess of
$50,000, the precise amount to be determined at trial.
COUNT III
BREACH OF SPECIAL DUTY
(On Behalf of Class All Classes)
Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated, reallege, as if fully set forth, each
and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs.
In 1962, and again in 1995 and early 1996, defendants
assumed a special duty to protec |