September 28, 2005
A judge in the United States has overruled appeals from 350 Holocaust survivors and affirmed a deal in the case of the so-called Nazi 'Gold Train'. Patricia Seitz of the District Court in Miami accepted the allocation of US$ 25 million in the case of a train full of goods looted by the Nazis from Hungarian Jews and confiscated by American troops in 1945. Under the deal, US$ 21 million will go to social services for Hungarian Holocaust survivors in need. The remainder will be allocated for covering legal fees, extra compensation for the individuals who brought the suit and an archive documenting the case. The deal was reached last spring but survivors were given the opportunity to object. More than 350 did so, saying they preferred an equitable distribution of the funds among all survivors. As part of the settlement, the US government will publicly apologize to Hungarian survivors for the behavior of American soldiers and its handling of the case after the war.
