Clinton thanks Switzerland for resolving Holocaust-era claims

President Clinton thanked Ogi for helping to resolve the issue of Holocaust-era accounts. Keystone / EPA Photo / AFP / Chris Kleponis

President Clinton has thanked Switzerland for helping to resolve claims relating to Holocaust era assets in Swiss banks. In a letter to the Swiss president, Adolf Ogi, Clinton praised Swiss banks for compensating Holocaust victims and their heirs.

The letter, addressed August 9, was released on Tuesday, and may signal an end to the strained relations between Berne and Washington over the issue of dormant Holocaust-era accounts in Swiss banks.

“With your support, we have reached a historic point in the Holocaust assets issue,” Clinton wrote. “I applaud the Swiss banks that have stepped forward to further the restitution process for the new elderly Holocaust survivors.”

He added: “It gives me great satisfaction to see this measure of justice finally coming to completion.”

The letter comes after US district judge, Edward Korman, approved a $1.25 billion (SFr2 billion) settlement between Switzerland’s two biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, and Jewish organisations over missing assets from the Nazi era.

Under the terms of the settlement, the two Swiss banks will not be liable for any future claims over dormant accounts.

The settlement is compensation for assets that Jews deposited in Switzerland during the Nazi era. After the Second World War, many of the account holders say they were unable to claim their assets.

Nearly 600,000 people have said they are considering making claims for money from the settlement.

In approving the settlement, Judge Korman gave Swiss companies which used slave labour during the war until this Friday to come forward and join the settlement, or risk facing further lawsuits in American courts.

swissinfo with agencies