September 23, 2002

SWISS voters turned down a plan to create a foundation to help victims of the Holocaust. Right-wing politician Christoph Blocher hailed the result of Sunday’s referendum, saying, “The Swiss people cannot be blackmailed.” In March 1997, then-President Arnold Koller proposed the foundation, saying it should be used to help the “victims of poverty and catastrophes,” including the Holocaust.

The foundation was proposed as a face-saving gesture at a time when Switzerland was confronting charges of financial complicity with Nazi Germany and of hoarding the deposits of Holocaust survivors. 

Related story on this website:

 Holocaust Survivors Protest over Legal Fee

The Times, London: Sept. 20, 2002 A US woman who led a fight by relatives of Holocaust victims to recover money from Swiss bank accounts is the first person to receive payment. A judge awarded Greta Beer $100,000 “in recognition of her services” to other Holocaust claimants. “A long struggle is coming to an end,” Beer said from Massachusetts. The payment is the first from a $1.25 billion settlement by Swiss banks of claims from Holocaust victims…