24 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020

I

n a case argued before the
U.S. Supreme Court on Dec.
7, the Trump administration
argued that Holocaust resti-
tution claims should be heard
outside the United States, claim-
ing that the Foreign Sovereignty
Immunities Act protects foreign
governments from having to
defend claims in U.S. courts.
Local attorney
Jonathan Schwartz,
a partner at Jaffe
Raitt Heuer &
Weiss P
.C., believes
the administration’s
argument is wrong
and says that based
on the oral argu-
ments, he is “optimistic that a
majority of the Supreme Court

Justices will agree.
”
In the two cases currently
before the court, Holocaust sur-
vivors and their heirs are seeking
restitution for thefts of artwork
incurred during the Holocaust.
One case involves Germany, and
the other involves Hungary.
Schwartz leads a local effort
by the Jewish Bar Association
of Michigan known as the
Holocaust Art Recovery
Initiative. It aims to combat the
“ongoing injustice of unreturned
artwork looted by the Nazis and
their collaborators, which has
been called the greatest displace-
ment of art in human history.
”
The effort was launched last
year in response to passage of
a federal law that allows more

time — until Jan. 1, 2027 — for
Holocaust victims and/or their
descendants to file for the return
of valuable artwork stolen from
their families during the Nazi
era (1933-1945).
Schwartz said he advised
Hadassah’s director of govern-
mental relations to co-sign an
amicus curiae brief authored
by the American Association of
Jewish Lawyers and Jurists sup-
porting the ability of Holocaust
victims and their descendants to
file claims in the U.S.
“The facts, law, morality and
justice require opening U.S.
courts to these lawsuits, especial-
ly claims for recovery of stolen
art,
” Schwartz said.
According to Schwartz, there
is a long history of plaintiffs
suing foreign countries in U.S.
courts, including for claims
related to the Holocaust. He
said there are “various legal
arguments that justify allowing
these lawsuits to proceed here,
but the most compelling reason
to me is that victims and their
descendants, many of them U.S.
citizens, will not receive a fair
hearing in Germany, and espe-
cially not in Hungary.
”
Schwartz shared that Clara
Garbon-Radnoti, a local
Holocaust survivor, recently
discovered “smoking gun” evi-
dence stored in the archives of
the Holocaust Memorial Center
in Farmington Hills that exposes
the massive theft of important
and valuable artwork from
Hungarian Jews by the govern-
ment and museums, which have
still never been returned.
That evidence includes 180
microfilm reels related to Jews
in Hungary during World War
II from Hungarian government
agencies, Office of Military
Chief of Staff, county/district/
city/town/village administra-
tions, police, courts and local
Jewish communities. According
to Schwartz, the materials
document the legal and illegal
means by which the Hungarian,

German and local authorities
accomplished their goals and
include thousands of documents
showing theft of artwork (inven-
tories), transit documents and
acknowledgement of receipts
from Hungarian museums.
Schwartz added that
Donald Blinken, former U.S.
Ambassador to Hungary from
1994-97, publicly accused the
Hungarian government of back-
tracking on promises to take
responsibility for the looting of
art from Jewish citizens.
“To be blunt,
” Schwartz says,
“victims of the Holocaust can-
not expect any justice in biased
court systems located in coun-
tries that are still unwilling to
take full responsibility for their
misconduct.
”
He said a related compelling
point was made by Justice Neil
Gorsuch, who remarked during
oral arguments that: “If Jewish
victims of the Holocaust were
deemed noncitizens, stripped
of their citizenship, at least in
Germany, why should they then
have to go exhaust remedies
elsewhere” [than the U.S.]?
The Supreme Court is expect-
ed to issue a ruling in June, and
Schwartz is hoping it will be in
favor of the Holocaust victims
and their heirs in both cases,
which will allow them, as well as
many other cases, to proceed in
U.S. federal courts.
Schwartz continues to work
with Garbon-Radnoti and the
Holocaust Memorial Center
to ensure the “smoking gun”
Hungarian documents are avail-
able to all potential claimants.
“The Jewish people deserve
a fair hearing to right this his-
torical wrong and reclaim an
important part of our cultural
heritage,
” Schwartz said. “The
arguments for recovery are com-
pelling, although I anticipate
Germany and Hungary will
continue to obstruct, which is
unfortunately consistent with
their behavior for so many
years.
”

Local attorney who works to help
victims recover stolen art is
confi
dent plaintif
s will prevail.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR

SCOTUS Hears
Holocaust
Restitution Case

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, seen delivering remarks in 2017, asked

during oral arguments at the court why descendants of German Jews should

be forced to seek remedies in Germany in the first place.

IN
THED
JEWS

Jonathan
Schwartz

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES VIA JTA