The Plunder of Jewish Property during the Holocaust: Confronting European History

by A. Beker (Editor)

Overview

More than fifty years after the Holocaust, European and other countries are confronting newly-emerging memories and guilt-filled ghosts from the past. The campaign for the restitution of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust touched a raw nerve within European society and, together with the end of the Cold War and generational change, created a need to re-evaluate conventional historical truths. A group of experts joined together to review in this book how the issue was dealt with in different countries and how national myths must be re-examined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349413904
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2001
Pages:	355
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

GERARD AALDERS Institute of War Documentation, Amsterdam IRWIN COTLER Professor of International Law, McGill University, Montreal ARIEH DOOBOV Associate Editor of Dialogues STUART E. EIZENSTAT U.S. Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs GORAN ELGEMYR Member of the Executive Board in Inter-Disciplinary Media Research, Sweden HECTOR FELICIANO Editor-in-Chief of World Media Network SVEN HEDIN was Marshall of the Diplomatic Corps in Skholm between 1990-1993 ANTONIO LUCA Historian, Institute of Contemporary History, New University of Lisbon ITAMAR LEVINE Deputy -editor of the Israeli financial daily, Globes IAN LOCKE Historian and Graduate, Oxford University FURIO MORONI Journalist and author ARTHUR L. SMITH JR. Professor of History, California State University, Los Angeles VIVIANE TEITELBAUM-HIRSCH Journalist and historian CESAR VIDAL Professor of History, University of Saragosa, Spain STEPHEN WARD Historian, journalist and Associate Director of the Holocaust Educational Trust, London LAURENCE WEINBAUM Senior Research and Editorial Officer, Institute of the World Jewish Congress SIDNEY ZABLUDOFF Previously with the CIA, the Financial Enforcement Network and the White House

Table of Contents

Preface; E.M.Bronfman & I.Singer Notes on the Contributors Map Introduction: Unmasking National Myths: Europeans Challenge their History; A.Beker A Neglected Task: Restoring Stolen Assets; S.Eizenstat And It All But Disappeared; S.Zabludoff The Holocaust, Thefticide, and Restitution: A Legal Perspective; I.Cotler Righting an Historic Wrong: The Case in Eastern Europe; L.Weinbaum A Commentary of Europe's Looted Gold, 1938-1945; A.L.Smith Jr. German Assets in Switzerland: End of World War II: S.Kabludoff Why was Switzerland Singled Out?; A.Beker The Great Culture Robbery: The Plunder of Jewish-Owned Art; H.Feliciano France and Burdens of Vichy; S.Trigano Quiet Collusion: Sweden's Financial Links to Nazi Germany; S.F.Hedin & G.Elgemyr 'Ex-Enemy Jews': The Fate of the Assets of Holocaust Victims and Survivors in Britain; S.Ward & I.Locke The Norwegian Moral and Material Statement: White Paper No. 82 to the Storting - Norwegian Ministry of Justice Austria: The Evasion of Responsibility; I.Levine Franco's Spain: Willing, Unwanted Ally of Nazi Germany; C.Vidal Portugal's Double Game: Between the Nazis and the Allies; A.Luca The Robbery of Dutch Jews and Post-War Restitution; G.Aalders Italy: Aspects of the Unbeautiful Life; F.Moroni The Vatican and the Shoah: Unanswered Questions of Material Complicity; A.Doobov Confiscation in Belgium; V.Teitelbaum-Hirsch Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This useful compilation of essays serves as an introduction and guide to the complexities arising from the theft of Jewish property during WWII...This anthology belongs in every library."

-Choice

Editorial Reviews

This collection provides a cross-section of recent work by a diverse and international group of contributors, all of whom are involved in sorting out this complex issue in some capacity<-->several are on commissions on restitution, the rest have authored books or studies on the Nazi looting. The essays offer compelling stories and commentary on the looting, the national myths that disguised it until recently, the economic results to Germany and others, issues of restitution in Eastern Europe, German assets in Switzerland, the legal perspective, Sweden's financial links to Nazi Germany, and the involvement in theft of Norway, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, and Italy. Beker is director of international affairs of the World Jewish Congress and the Israel Office. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"This useful compilation of essays serves as an introduction and guide to the complexities arising from the theft of Jewish property during WWII...This anthology belongs in every library."

-Choice

From the Publisher