404
Opinion of the Court
during that war, and by nationals of such countries, against the Reich and agencies of the Reich . . . until the final settlement of the problem of reparation." Agreement on German External Debts, Feb. 27, 1953, 4 U. S. T. 443, 449, T. I. A. S. No. 2792. These terms were construed by German courts as postponing resolution of foreign claims against both the German Government and German industry, to await the terms of an ultimate postwar treaty. See Neuborne, Preliminary Reflections on Aspects of Holocaust-Era Litigation in American Courts, 80 Wash. U. L. Q. 795, 813-814, and n. 62 (2002).
In the meantime, the western Allies placed the obligation to provide restitution to victims of Nazi persecution on the new West German Government. See Convention on the Settlement of Matters Arising Out of the War and the Occupation, May 26, 1952, 6 U. S. T. 4411, 4452-4484, as amended by Protocol on Termination of the Occupation Regime in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oct. 23, 1954, [1955] 6 U. S. T. 4117, T. I. A. S. No. 3425. This had previously been a responsibility of the western military governments, which had issued several decrees for the return of property confiscated by the Nazis. See N. Robinson, Restitution Legislation in Germany: A Survey of Enactments (1949); U. S. Military Law Nos. 52 and 59 (reprinted in U. S. Military Government Gazette, Germany, Issue A, p. 24 (June 1, 1946) and Issue G, p. 1 (Nov. 10, 1947)). West Germany enacted its own restitution laws in 1953 and 1956, see Institute of Jewish Affairs, The (West German) Federal Compensation Law (BEG) and its Implementary Regulations (1957), and signed agreements with 16 countries for the compensation of their nationals, including the Luxembourg Agreement with Israel, Sept. 10, 1952, 162 U. N. T. S. 205; see Supplemental Excerpts of Record in No. 01-17023 (CA9) (SER), p. 1244. Despite a payout of more than 100 billion deutsch marks as of 2000, see ibid., these measures left out many claimants and certain types of claims, and when the agreement reunifying East and West
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