Supreme Court deals a serious blow to Holocaust survivors’ lawsuit against Hungary
WASHINGTON (AP) – A unanimous Supreme Court on Friday launched a severe blow to Holocaust survivors and their families, seeking compensation from Hungary in a long-standing lawsuit seeking compensation during World War II Confiscated property.
While federal law generally avoids sovereign states such as Hungary in U.S. court proceedings, the judge filed an appeals court ruling that allows the proceedings to continue.
The High Court heard the debate in December in Hungary to end the lawsuit filed by survivors in 2010, all of whom are now over 90 and survivors’ heirs. Some of the survivors were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
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The Court of Appeal found that survivors met exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, which “property that violates international law.” To qualify, survivors must be able to prove that the property has some commercial relationship with the United States.
Survivors have argued that Hungary sold the property long ago, mixing the proceeds with general funds and using the money to issue bonds in the United States and purchase military equipment in the 2000s.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote the article in the court, said “no more confusion theory” does not meet the requirements of the law.
The court sent the case back to the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court, but it is not clear how much remains of the lawsuit.
The case was previously the Supreme Court.
In 2021, the Justice stood with Germany in a series of religious artworks known as Guelph’s treasures in a multi-million dollar dispute. This decision made certain lawsuits harder to try in the U.S. court, claiming that it was a claim to seize property from Jews during the Nazi era.
The Justice also heard the Hungarian case and returned it to the Court of Appeal in Washington based on a ruling involving Germany.
The Court of Appeal heard the case for the third time and refused to dismiss all claims.
Survivors filed a lawsuit to file a class action case against Hungary and its railways on behalf of all Hungary Holocaust survivors and family members of Holocaust victims. The railway played a key role in genocide, transporting more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz concentration camps in two months in 1944.
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