Although Austria agreed in January to increase from $150 million to $360 million its compensation for such seizures, attorney Herbert L. Fenster of the law firm of McKenna & Cuneo said: "We found the agreement to be so deeply flawed that we simply could not sign on behalf of our clients. Beyond the woefully inadequate compensation for confiscated property and financial assets, the negotiations were rushed, excluded vital information and the resulting agreement requires the Holocaust survivors or heirs to give up their rights to a just, equitable and legal settlement of their losses. Further we challenge the notion that the executive branch of the U.S. Government even had the authority to negotiate such an agreement."

In another Holocaust development, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va) introduced a concurrent resolution to permit the U.S. Capitol Building to be used as the site for a Holocaust Day of Remembrance--a measure expected to pass overwhelmingly, possibly even unanimously.

"The use of the Capitol Rotunda for this ceremony is an important tribute to the victims of the Holocaust," he said. "I am glad that the United States Congress recognizes the importance of remembering victims of one of the Twentieth Century's greatest tragedies, the Holocaust."
Donald H. Harrison