26 February 1997
The Swiss government gave final approval to a Holocaust
memorial fund to distribute millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to
Hitler's victims. Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti told reporters the Federal
Council, or cabinet, approved a decree that sets up the fund March 1 after
agreeing how to administer the pool of cash at talks this week with the
World Jewish Congress (WJC) and Israeli representatives. A government statement
said the fund could be expanded with more donations expected from Swiss
companies and its creation did not rule out setting up a broader Holocaust
memorial foundation. The WJC and other critics have accused Swiss banks
of sitting on accounts left by victims of Nazi genocide and the country
as a whole of profiting cynically from its neutral status in World War
II.
The government agreed Feb.12 to explore with Jewish
groups how to administer humanitarian aid to Holocaust survivors from a
fund launched with a donation of $70 million from Switzerland's three biggest
banks. The banks -- UBS, Credit Suisse Group and Swiss Bank Corp. -- acted
after threats by world Jewish groups to call a boycott that would threaten
their global business. The banks asked Berne to organize the fund.
"The Federal Council will have overall supervision of the fund," the
cabinet decree said. "The object of the fund is to support needy persons
who were persecuted because of their race, religion or political views
or...otherwise were victims of the Holocaust/Shoa, as well as to support
their descendants in need," the decree read. Officials have said a large
part of the money will likely go to Jewish groups and individuals in Eastern
Europe who were cut off from compensation for decades by the former Iron
Curtain.
The decree sets up a board of seven directors,
four of them Swiss to be named by the government and three to be named
by the World Jewish Restitution Organization, an umbrella group of major
Jewish organizations and the state of Israel. The fund will have an advisory
council of 18 members named by Swiss and foreign organizations including
Jewish and other Holocaust victims, such as European Roma. It will
recommend to the directors how to spend the money.
Separately, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA)
urged its over 400 member banks to pay into the fund. Berne politicians
say the government intends to put up public money in the coming months
after grooming broad political support for the step. Under Swiss direct
democracy, any government policy can be challenged by referendum if 50,000
signatures are collected.