ALLIES CONSIDER GIVING LOOTED GOLD TO VICTIMS OF NAZI CAMPS.Byline: David E. Sanger David E. Sanger — born on July 5, 1960 in White Plains, New York — is White House correspondent for The New York Times. A 1982 graduate of Harvard College, Sanger has been writing for The New York Times The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times The United States, Britain and France have agreed to freeze the distribution of $68 million in gold bars Gold bars Bars with a minimum content of 99.5% gold, which may be held by central banks or traded by investors. that were looted by the Nazis from European central banks, and Clinton administration officials say the gold could form the core of a fund to compensate Holocaust victims. The gold bars have been stored in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and at the Bank of England Bank of England, central bank and note-issuing institution of Great Britain. Popularly known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, its main office stands on the street of that name in London. since Switzerland, Sweden and other nations turned them over to Allied powers at the end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
Most of the estimated 337 metric tons of gold collected from those secret accounts, worth more than $5 billion at current gold prices, was long ago returned to central banks across Europe after they had been systematically looted by Nazi troops as they moved across Europe. But the group administering the disbursement of the gold, called the Tripartite Commission, still has $68 million that was supposed to be distributed to the central banks early this year. The commission was then scheduled to go out of existence. Jewish groups led by the World Jewish Congress “WJC” redirects here. For other uses, see WJC (disambiguation). The World Jewish Congress, (abbrev. WJC), is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. intervened, however, claiming that some part of the gold came from private citizens in Europe, especially Jews whose assets had been seized as they were sent to death camps. The president of the World Jewish Congress, Edgar Bronfman, asked that the money be placed in a restitution fund for Holocaust victims, and his group began legal action in Britain late last year to stop the last disbursement. The action has since been suspended. Now the Clinton administration, citing newly found evidence to support those claims, says it has convinced Britain and France to hold on to the remaining gold until the three countries - and European nations that were the intended recipients of the $68 million - can weigh the new evidence. |
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