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Swiss settle over Nazi gold
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August 12, 1998: 7:12 p.m. ET
Banks agree to pay $1.2 billion to end suit alleging they kept WWII deposits
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NEW YORK (CNN) - Private Swiss banks have agreed to a $1.25 billion settlement in the "Nazi gold" lawsuit brought by Holocaust survivors and their heirs.
At the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, NY, attorneys representing tens of thousands of plaintiffs reached the deal to end the class action suits they filed almost two years ago.
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee who played a key role in the settlement, announced the settlement, telling reporters it was an "historic agreement."
"I hope that this agreement allows all of us to begin to look to the future and turn to the business of healing the wounds of the past, both here and in Switzerland," said D'Amato, flanked by representatives of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, the World Jewish Congress and Swiss banks.
"To put it mildly, this is an historic agreement that I think very few people ever thought would come to pass. One billion, two hundred fifty million dollars is not an insignificant sum, and indeed it will come to help many who are still suffering," he said.
"I will bring to closure this sad episode and put us on the road to healing and the future," D'Amato said.
The first $250 million of the settlement is payable within 90 days and the rest will be paid out over the next three years in annual payments of about $333 million.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Swiss banks illegally kept millions of dollars deposited by their relatives in Switzerland for safekeeping before and during the Second World War.
Talks broke off in late June, after plaintiffs angrily rejected a Swiss offer of around $600 million to settle the claims.
During the course of researching these dormant accounts, investigators also discovered that the Swiss had agreed to buy millions of dollars of Nazi gold during the war.
Much of that gold was stolen by the Nazis from the central banks of countries conquered by Germany or from individual concentration camp victims.
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