events 2009

Ambassador Eizenstat at Prague Holocaust Conference. Photo www.eu2009.cz

Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat at Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference

June 29, 2009

Former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Stuart Eizenstat, the U.S. delegation head at a holocaust assets conference in Prague, appealed for establishment of a fund to assist needy holocaust victims. 

In an exclusive interview with MF Dnes daily, Eizenstat discussed the holocaust in current school curricula: “There are 27 countries which pledged to include an appropriate amount of information into educational programs. The aim is to teach students to recognize current genocides around the world such the one in Darfur…  The Nazi holocaust was the largest genocide ever, and also the biggest theft.  It was not only about destroying human lives, but also their culture and everything they had.  Therefore it is important, even decades later, to reach justice, albeit imperfect.”

The Holocaust Era Assets Conference was held in Prague and Terezín from 26 till 30 June 2009.  The conference was hosted by the Government of the Czech Republic in co-operation with the Forum 2000 Foundation, the Documentation Centre of Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WW II Victims, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Terezín Memorial, and the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hussite Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague. 

Members of the U.S. Delegation:

• Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, Head of Delegation
• Ambassador J. Christian Kennedy, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues
• Professor Elie Wiesel, author, Holocaust Survivor 
• Mary Thompson-Jones, Charge d’Affaires, American Embassy, Prague
• Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) 
• Lynn Nicholas, author of The Rape of Europa
• Nancy Yeide, Head of the Department of Curatorial Records, National Gallery of Art
• Menachem Rosensaft, General Counsel, World Jewish Congress
• Owen Pell, attorney, White & Case
• Sara Bloomfield, Director, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Anna Rubin, Director, New York State Holocaust Processing Office
• Esther Finder, President, Generation After
• Saul Kagan, Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, Holocaust Survivor
• Alex Moskovic, Holocaust Survivor
• Abraham Biderman, Chairman, Eagle Advisers, L.L.C.
• Benjamin Ringel, President, Armstrong Capital
• Ann F. Lewis, Board member, Jewish Women’s Archive
• Susan Sher, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady
• Danielle Borrin, Special Assistant, Office of the Vice President
• Office of Holocaust Issues staff, US Department of State
• Elizabeth Nakian, John P. Becker, Gregory Mattson, Basil Scarlis, Brittney Bolin

Related Links:

• Holocaust Era Assets Conference
• Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the US
• Holocaust Issues
• Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art
• Vilnius Forum Declaration