In the darkest era of human history, Nazi Germany committed the most heinous crimes the world has ever known. The world will never recover from the abject horrors of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and other Nazi death camps that brutally murdered six million Jews and persecuted millions more Europeans of all backgrounds and descents. The Third Reich robbed these people of their dignity and lives and it is time to stop tainting their memories and provide some closure for this rapidly aging population.

The Swiss government served as the bank and financier of the Nazi government, profiting from the stolen assets of Holocaust victims. The Swiss National Bank, which is owned by the Swiss government, received more than 85 percent of the gold deposited by Nazi Germany. Although to certain extent during World War II every Western European country participated in hiding or looting stolen Jewish assets, Switzerland, which received the bulk of all stolen Nazi deposits and profited more than $4 billion, is the only nation that has not created an effective commission or achieved significant results in redressing this gross injustice.

For nearly 50 years Swiss government has been dragging its feet in negotiations, missing settlement deadlines, and refusing to come to any reasonable common understanding with Holocaust victims and their descendants. Swiss banks concealed and appropriated their assets, demanding that the heirs of survivors produce death certificates or banking records of the depositors in order to claim their family's property. In most cases these requirements were impossible for petitioners to meet. Swiss banks employed a number of delaying tactics and legal complications to stall and sidestep the issue of restitution. Bank managers were dismissive and completely uncooperative in determining the location and extent of the assets in question, eventually forcing the United States, European countries, Israel, and Jewish organizations to apply diplomatic pressure and threaten sanctions in order to force a resolution.

Recently, Swiss banks finally agreed to a settlement that will pay $1.25 billion to Holocaust survivors. This would send $800 million to survivors and heirs who can prove their money and assets were deposited in the banks. Additionally, another $350 million will go to slave laborers and refugees with the remaining $l00 million distributed to destitute survivors, mostly in East Europe, in the name of those whose assets were looted by the Third Reich.

Rather than following through with this agreement and putting an end to this dark and tragic chapter in our history, Swiss banks have further delayed negotiations and even appealed the settlement in a federal court in Brooklyn. While the federal court denied this appeal and the decision affirmed by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, another appeal is already making its way through the federal court system challenging the legitimacy and competency of the lawyers who drafted the settlement.

In June of 1997 Governor Pataki created the Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO) of the New York State Banking Department with strong support of legislators. The mission of this office is to recover assets deposited in European banks, recover monies never paid in connection with insurance policies issued by European insurers, and recover lost or looted art. The HCPO is the only government office of its type and is an advocate for claimants. It can offer assistance in eight languages and will file claims on European bank accounts and looted art with all appropriate bodies including banks, museums, governments, and any independent organization that may assist in these claims.

This injustice has gone on long enough. It is time for the Swiss to take responsibility for the role their banks played in the Holocaust and do the right thing. As the generation of holocaust survivors advances in age, it is time for these banks to stop vacillating and start providing some closure. Fifty years of this "dialogue" has produced no results and has only insulted the world Jewish community and tainted the memory of those that perished in the camps. For too long, Holocaust survivors and their heirs have been stonewalled about the fate of their money by political maneuvering and empty promises. It is time for the Swiss to stop delaying and do the right thing.