Holocaust victims seek restitution from Degussa

Abstract

Holocaust survivors are asking a U.S. court to award them unspecified restitution, including compensatory and punitive damages, from German chemical producer and metal refiner Degussa. They allege the firm profited from atrocities committed when the Nazi Party controlled Germany prior to and during World War Ð. Lawyers working on behalf of the survivors say the suit could bring them ownership of Degussa, which had sales of $8.5 billion and assets of $2.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1997. In a class-action suit filed in federal district court in Newark, N.J., on behalf of more than 100,000 survivors of Nazi concentration camps, four New York City complainants allege the firm sought to profit from the theft and confiscation of looted personal assets. Those assets included but were not limited to gold taken from jewelry, precious-metal coins, eyeglasses, and teeth stolen from concentration camp inmates. The suit also accuses Degussa of acquiring on the ...