Inside a Class Action: The Holocaust and the Swiss Banks

305 Pages·2003·1.042 MB·English

by  Jane Schapiro

INSIDE A CLASS ACTION

INSIDE
A CLASS ACTION
THE HOLOCAUST AND
THE SWISS BANKS
JANE SCHAPIRO
    
 
The University ofWisconsin Press
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Madison, Wisconsin 53711
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
Copyright © 2003
The Board ofRegents ofthe University ofWisconsin System
All rights reserved
1 3 5 4 2
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schapiro, Jane.
Inside a class action : the Holocaust and the Swiss banks / Jane Schapiro.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-299-19330-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Trials—New York (N.Y.). 2. Class actions—New York (N.Y.).
3. Unjust enrichment—United States. 4. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945).
5. Banks and banking, Swiss. I. Title.
KF228.H65 S52 2003
347.73´53—dc21 2003005663
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takes its name from the Memorial Union Terrace, located
atthe University ofWisconsin–Madison. Since its inception in 1907,
the Wisconsin Union has provided a venue for students, faculty, staff,
and alumni to debate art, music, politics, and the issues ofthe day.
It is a place where theater, music, drama, dance, outdoor activities,
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Tolearn more about the Union, visit www.union.wisc.edu.
For my father,
who believed in the value of this story,
For my mother,
who believed that I could write it,
and for Scott,
whose encouragement allowed me
to believe in both.

Here and there people wanted to know everything about
all aspects of what we so poorly call the Holocaust. Yet,
somehow its simple economic aspect seems to have been
utterly neglected.
Why? Is it that we all felt the memory of the tragedy to
be so sacred that we preferred not to talk about its con-
crete, financial, and material implications? Is it that the
task of protecting the memory was so noble, so painful,
and so urgent that we simply felt it undignified to think of
anything else—and surely not of bank accounts? In truth,
wefeel reticent to talk about it even now.
—Elie Wiesel, Washington Conference on
Holocaust-Era Assets, November 30, 1998

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 3
1 Winds of Truth 7
2 Looking Back 27
3 Plaintiffs Speak 52
4 The Devil’s Bridge 72
5 An Uneasy Alliance 86
6 ARough Calculation 106
7 Arguments and Motions 127
8 The Hearing 147
9 Stucki’s Ghost 168
10 A Victims’ Fund 187
11 A Separate Peace 205
12 Money Dance 218
13 An Accounting 233
14 The Reckoning 252
Epilogue 261
Postscript 271
Notes 275
For Further Reading 285
Index 287
ix