The Swiss government will transfer to the World
Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) moneys for the humanitarian fund that it is establishing. The fund has received $150 million so far and World Jewish Congress chairman Israel Zinger estimates that in 4-5 weeks the fund will have $300 million.
On Friday, representatives of the governments of Israel, Switzerland and the US met with the heads of the organizations comprising the WJRO: the Jewish Agency, the World Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC), Holocaust survivor organizations and Agudat Israel. At the meeting, the Assistant Director General of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Thomas Borer, apologized for the policies of his country during World War Two and the behavior of his country to Holocaust victims.
All the parties agreed that the funds will be transferred to WJRO and will be used, for the most part, to aid Holocaust survivors. The Jewish Agency requested a third of the funds be allocated to educational and documentary purposes, but apparently, only 20% of the funds will actually be allocated for these purposes. The major Jewish organizations hope to quickly come to an agreement about this with survivors’ organizations.
However, no agreement has been reached as to the fund’s management. The Swiss government hinted that is was willing to allow WJRO and the local Jewish community to participate in the management, but the major Jewish organizations are demanding that most of the responsibility be granted them. Negotiations on this are expected to continue in Berne next week.
At the same time, Swiss banks and the Jewish organizations will try to locate the heirs of holocaust victims’ accounts in order to distribute the $32 million discovered in unclaimed accounts. The mechanics of this distribution has not yet been discussed. Similarly, the US announced its intention to allocate $70 million of Swiss gold for humanitarian purposes. This gold was received from Switzerland as compensation for looted gold acquired from the Germans.
Jewish Agency Chairman Avraham Burg said today that activities surrounding Swiss accounts of Holocaust victims began after a series of article in "Globes". Burg spoke on Israeli radio. "Globes" uncovered the affair in April 1995, following initial information received from Prof. Yehuda Blum, and after exhaustive investigations in Israel and in Switzerland.