WASHINGTON — A new account of how U.S. soldiers looted a train filled with Hungarian Jews’ property at the end of World War II may prompt other countries to search dark chapters of their own histories in an attempt to make restitution.
That is the assessment of several members of the presidential commission that researched the fate of the “Hungarian Gold Train,” which was filled with Jewish property stolen by the Nazis that later ended up in the hands of U.S. servicemen.
“I think we knew when this commission was set up there would be some dark spots on our own record,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, who also serves as the Clinton administration’s point man on Holocaust restitution issues.
However, Eizenstat, who sits on the commission, stressed that the panel’s openness in detailing those spots will “send a strong signal” to similar commissions in other countries.
“The worst thing we can do is suppress things because it’s a U.S. issue,” said Miles Lerman, the chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and a member of the commission.
“The more windows you open, the more air you let in, the healthier the process.”
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States said last week it uncovered documents detailing how U.S. infantry forces on May 16, 1945 seized a train in Werfen, Austria, that was filled with paintings, rugs, china, gold, watches and other valuables looted from Hungarian Jews by the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators.
The report, which is preliminary, “indicates that we are not afraid to look at our own government,” said Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, which has been pressing foreign countries to return Nazi-looted property to their rightful owners.
While international law and U.S. policy required the return of looted arts and cultural items to the governments of the countries from which they were taken, U.S. officials decided that the origin and ownership of the valuables on the train were “not identifiable,” according to the report released last week by the commission.
Hungarian Jewish leaders at the time criticized the decision, arguing that if they had access to the contents of the train they could help restitute the property.
Last Friday, one day after the report was issued, Hungary’s Jewish leaders said they will seek to have the looted treasures returned to their rightful owners.
While many of the assets were auctioned in New York with proceeds going to refugee organizations, many other items such as rugs, china and crystal were simply taken by top American generals to display in their homes and offices, according to the report.
The whereabouts of those objects are unknown.
Other less valuable objects such as watches, jewelry and cameras were sold in U.S. Army Exchange stores. Yet other property was stolen from military warehouses.
Researchers for the commission also concluded that 1,181 paintings on the train were returned to Austria rather than to Hungary, their country of origin, in part because the United States was leery of Hungary’s move toward communist rule and because U.S. officials may have wanted Austria, which they considered Nazi-occupied territory, to have valuables to use in war claim negotiations.
The artworks’ whereabouts are currently unknown.
Asked about possible restitution by the United States in light of the report’s findings, Steinberg said the return of the paintings to Austria rather than to Hungary raises some questions.
The commission may recommend to the president that the United States make restitution payments.