A federal judge in Miami Beach has approved an agreement between the US government and Hungarian Holocaust survivors, settling the so-called 'Gold Train' case. The Israeli newspaper "Ha'aretz" quotes insiders as saying that the agreement most likely includes the government's agreement to a US$ 25 million compensation payment to fund humanitarian aid to ill and poverty stricken Hungarian Holocaust survivors. The survivors allege that American Army officers during World War II plundered a trainload of family treasures that had been seized by the Nazis. The judge gave the two sides 45 days to finalize details of the settlement. The original class action suit had sought US$ 10,000 each for up to 30,000 plaintiffs.
World Jewish Congress (WJC) chairman Israel Singer was asked by the parties to help draft the agreement. He called the agreement "moral and not financial," citing the difference between the US and European states and the banks in Israel and the banks in Switzerland regarding dormant accounts. "The advancing US military across Europe saved hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews." The WJC chairman emphasized that the present agreement contained non-monetary aspects that remained to be negotiated.
