John Authers - The Victims Fortune: Inside the Epic Battle Over the Debts of the Holocaust

JOHN AUTHERS is a former New York correspondent for the Financial Times and is now its Mexico City bureau chief.

RICHARD WOLFFE is the former deputy bureau chief in Washington for the Financial Times and is now the diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek.

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A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers.

THE VICTIMS FORTUNE . Copyright 2002 by John Authers and Richard Wolffe. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

First Perennial edition published 2003.

The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:

Authers, John.

The victims fortune : inside the epic battle over the debts of the Holocaust / John Authers and Richard Wolffe.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-06-621264-2

1. World War, 19391945Confiscations and contributionsEurope. 2. JewsEuropeClaims. 3. Restitution and indemnification claims (1933). 4. Jewish propertySwitzerland. 5. Banks and bankingCorrupt practicesSwitzerlandHistory20th century. 6. Holocaust, Jewish (19391945)Reparations.

I. Title: Battle over the debts of the Holocaust. II. Wolffe, Richard. III. Title.

D810.C8.A88 2002

940.53'18dc21

2001051935

Digital Edition MAY 2022 ISBN: 978-0-06-324642-3

Version 04082022

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-093687-7 (pbk.)

For Sara,

and

For Paula and Ilana

You have committed murder and now you wish to inherit the victims fortune as well.

E LIE W IESEL ,

quoting from the First Book of Kings

J EWISH L EADERS

Israel SingerThe mastermind behind the compensation campaign

Secretary-General, World Jewish Congress

Edgar Bronfman Sr.Multibillionaire businessman, political donor

President, World Jewish Congress

Elan SteinbergMouthpiece of the World Jewish Congress

Executive Director, World Jewish Congress

Zvi BarakFormer fighter pilot and hawkish negotiator

Chairman, World Jewish Restitution Organization

Avraham BurgCharismatic, young left-wing Israeli politician

Director, Jewish Agency for Israel

Roman KentMoral conscience of the German negotiations

President, American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors

Moshe SanbarIsraeli Holocaust survivor, respected numbers man

Treasurer, Claims Conference

Gideon TaylorEnergetic manager of once-sleepy organization

Executive Vice President, Claims Conference

Abraham FoxmanVocal critic of Singers aggressive campaign

National Director, Anti-Defamation League

V ICTIMS L AWYERS

Ed FaganSmall-time personal-injury lawyer who struck gold

Sole practitioner

Bob SwiftFagans associate, Hausfelds foe

Kohn, Swift & Graf in Philadelphia

Larry KillFagans associate

Anderson, Kill & Olick in New York

Michael HausfeldSon of Holocaust survivor, millionaire attorney

Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll in Washington

Martin MendelsohnSimon Wiesenthals lawyer, Hausfelds close friend

Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand in Washington

Morris RatnerHausfelds intense young associate

Lieff, Cabraser, Hyman & Bernstein in New York

Melvyn WeissKing of the class action lawsuit

Milberg, Weiss, Hynes, Bershad & Lerach in New York

Deborah SturmanPugnacious associate of Weiss

Milberg, Weiss, Hynes, Bershad & Lerach in New York

Burt NeuborneBroker between rival factions of lawyers

Professor of Law, New York University

Stephen WhinstonIndependently filed his own lawsuits

Berger & Montague in Philadelphia

A MERICAN O FFICIALS

Stuart EizenstatAdministrations obsessive Holocaust point man

Undersecretary of State, later Deputy Treasury Secretary

J. D. BindenagelGerman specialist and career diplomat

U.S. special envoy for Holocaust issues

Bennett FreemanWordsmith and ebullient political strategist

Senior adviser to Eizenstat

Alfonse DAmatoPopulist politician who led the attack on the Swiss

U.S. Senator for New York, special master in German case

Alan HevesiLed sanctions threats against the Swiss and others

Comptroller of New York City

Steve NewmanHevesis right-hand man, former NASA engineer

Deputy Comptroller, New York City

Eric WollmanVeteran of South African sanctions campaign

Legal counsel to Hevesi, New York City

Elizabeth McCaulWorkaholic pursuer of Swiss banks

New York State banking superintendent

S WITZERLAND

Hans BaerSenior Jew in Swiss banking, negotiated with Singer

Chairman, Bank Julius Baer

Georg KrayerProfessorial president of Swiss Bankers Association

Chief Executive, Bank Sarasin

Bob OBrienAmerican inside Swiss bank, DAmatos friend

Managing Director, Credit Suisse

Robert StuderPatrician and undiplomatic banker

Chief Executive, Union Bank of Switzerland

Paul VolckerFormer Fed chairman who led Swiss bank inquiry

Chairman, International Committee of Eminent Persons

Michael BradfieldDogged leader of investigation into Swiss banks

Legal adviser to Paul Volcker

Thomas BorerTried to sell Swiss government policy to Americans

Swiss ambassador on World War II issues

Curtis HoxterWorked for both Baer and Singer

Public relations consultant

Greta BeerFirst victim to testify against the Swiss banks

Retired travel guide

Gizella WeisshausFirst survivor to sue Swiss, critic of campaign

Romanian Jewish survivor of Auschwitz

Edward KormanBanged heads together in the Swiss bank lawsuits

Chief Judge, Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn

Christoph MeiliWhistleblower who stumbled upon fame

Night watchman, Union Bank of Switzerland

Roger WittenTough attorney for Swiss banks, German companies

Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington

I NSURANCE

Lawrence Eagleburger Exasperated former Secretary of State

Chairman, International Insurance Commission

Neil LevinArchitect of international insurance commission

New York State insurance superintendent

Chuck QuackenbushVolatile member of Eagleburger Commission

California State insurance commissioner

Deborah SennVocal critic of insurers and Eagleburger

Washington State insurance commissioner

Giovanni PerissinottoCharmer who mollified Generalis antagonists

General Manager, Assicurazioni Generali

Guido PastoriUrbane head office lawyer

Chief legal counsel, Assicurazioni Generali