Holocaust Rail Justice Act - Grants U.S. district courts original jurisdiction over any civil action for damages for personal injury or death that: (1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps between January 1, 1942, and December 31, 1944, and (2) is brought by or on behalf of such person against a railroad that owned or operated the trains on which the persons were deported and that was organized as a separate legal entity.
Declares that: (1) no law limiting the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts shall preclude any such action, and (2) no such action shall be barred because a statute of limitations has expired. Makes this Act applicable to any action pending on or commenced after January 1, 2002.
Directs the Secretary of State to report to Congress on the status of access to wartime records and archives concerning the wartime activities of any such railroad that engaged in the deportation of such persons to Nazi concentration camps.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1393 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1393
To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial
forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against
any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the
deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration
camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs
and survivors of such persons.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30, 2013
Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Cardin, Mr. Casey, Mr. Franken, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Menendez, Ms.
Mikulski, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Reid, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Wyden) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial
forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against
any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the
deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration
camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs
and survivors of such persons.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Holocaust Rail Justice Act''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) During World War II, more than 75,000 Jews and
thousands of other persons were deported from France to Nazi
concentration camps, on trains operated for profit by the
Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (in this Act
referred to as ``SNCF''), including deportations to Auschwitz
and Buchenwald. Numerous citizens and residents of the United
States were among those who were on the trains or had relatives
on the trains. United States servicemen who were pilots shot
down over France were also among the persons deported on the
SNCF trains to Nazi concentration camps.
(2) United States citizens and others have sought redress
against SNCF by filing a class action suit in the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The named
plaintiffs and class members include United States Army Air
Force pilots and United States citizens.
(3) The complaint filed alleges that SNCF, a separate
corporate entity that remained independent during World War II,
operated the deportation trains for a profit, as ordinary
commercial transactions. SNCF remained under French civilian
control throughout World War II and is alleged to have
collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime.
(4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided the necessary
rolling stock, scheduled the departures, and supplied the
employees to operate the trains bound for the concentration
camps. SNCF allegedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare
for the deportations, calculated per person and per kilometer,
and considered these trains as ordinary commercial activities.
The plaintiffs further contend that SNCF herded as many people
as possible into each car, requiring passengers of all ages and
sexes, including the elderly and young children, to stand
throughout the trip of several days' duration, with no
provision for food or water and no sanitary facilities. The
complaint further alleges that SNCF cleaned the trains after
each trip, removing the corpses of persons who perished during
transit due to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The
destination was in each case a camp in which the deportees were
to be exterminated, worked to death, or made to suffer terrible
and inhuman conditions.
(5) The complaint contends that SNCF's actions violated the
Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950, relating to crimes
under international law (earlier recognized by the Martens
Clause of the Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and
abetted the commission of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has never
disgorged the money that it was paid for the deportations or
otherwise compensated the deportees or their heirs.
(6) SNCF's records concerning the deportation trains have
not been made available to the plaintiffs, and SNCF archives
concerning its wartime activities are not accessible to the
general public.
(7) SNCF moved to dismiss the lawsuit on a claim of
sovereign immunity under the foreign sovereign immunities
provisions of title 28, United States Code (28 U.S.C. 1330 and
1602 et seq.), even though it is one of the 500 largest
corporations in the world, earns hundreds of millions of
dollars from its commercial activities in the United States,
and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the laws of
France. SNCF's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted by the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New
York. Plaintiffs appealed the decision, their appeal was
granted, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.
Subsequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541
U.S. 677 (2004), in November 2004, on remand, the Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit recalled its prior mandate and
determined that SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the
dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stated that
``the railroad's conduct at the time lives on in infamy'' but
concluded that ``the evil actions of the French national
railroad's former private masters in knowingly transporting
thousands to death camps during World War II are not
susceptible to legal redress in Federal court today.''.
(8) This lawsuit, which arises from the unique historical
facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration
camps, presents issues of substantial importance to citizens
and veterans of the United States. Many of those who have
sought redress against SNCF are elderly and would have
difficulty traveling outside the United States in order to
pursue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United States
are and should be a proper forum for this lawsuit. The Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, which had not been enacted at
the time of SNCF's actions during World War II, was not
intended to bar suit against the SNCF.
SEC. 3. ACCESS TO UNITED STATES COURTS FOR HOLOCAUST DEPORTEES.
(a) Jurisdiction of District Courts.--The United States district
courts shall have original jurisdiction, without regard to the amount
in controversy, of any civil action for damages for personal injury or
death that--
(1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi
concentration camps during the period beginning on January 1,
1942, and ending on December 31, 1944; and
(2) is brought by any such person, or any heir or survivor
of such person, against a railroad that--
(A) owned or operated the trains on which the
persons were so deported; and
(B) was organized as a separate legal entity at the
time of the deportation, whether or not any of the
equity interest in the railroad was owned by a foreign
state.
(b) Other Laws Not Applicable.--Sections 1330 and 1601 through 1611
of title 28, United States Code, or any other law limiting the
jurisdiction of the United States courts, whether by statute or under
common law, shall not preclude any action under subsection (a).
(c) Inapplicability of Statutes of Limitation.--An action described
in subsection (a) shall not be barred by a defense that the time for
bringing such action has expired under a statute of limitations.
(d) Applicability.--This section shall apply to any action pending
on January 1, 2002, and to any action commenced on or after that date.
SEC. 4. REPORTING.
In furtherance of international education relating to the Holocaust
and historic and continuing anti-Semitism in Europe and throughout the
world, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Congress a one-time
report, outlining the status of access to wartime records and archives
concerning the wartime activities of any railroad organized as a
separate legal entity that engaged in the deportation of persons to
Nazi concentration camps during the period beginning on January 1,
1942, and ending on December 31, 1944.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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