The Swiss government said yesterday it was ready to pay millions of francs to relatives and representatives of bank account-holders killed by the Nazis. In a statement issued yesterday, the Swiss embassy in the Republic said the full list of original account-holders would be published on Monday.
"The Swiss government has decided to award full compensation for the assets placed in 550 Swiss bank accounts prior to 1939 and left dormant by their owners who were later presumed victims of racist, religious or political persecution," the statement said.
In 1962 these accounts were closed and the proceeds transferred to two humanitarian organisations, the statement added.
"The full list with the names of original account-holders and their legal representatives, if any, will be published on Monday, January 18th," the embassy said. "It will be accessible on the Internet on www.switzerland.taskforce.ch "Claims for compensation under this scheme, or requests for further information in the matter, should be addressed to the Embassy of Switzerland by September 30th, 1999."
The measure is independent of the search for dormant accounts under the supervision of the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Mr Paul Volcker.
Last August the Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion (£850 million) to Holocaust survivors as restitution for assets lost.
A Gypsy organisation, the Rom National Congress, said yesterday it had filed suit against a special Swiss compensation fund for Holocaust victims, charging it swindled gypsies. The RNC, which says it represents 18 European gypsy groups, specifically accused the fund of not paying the total compensation due some victims, particularly in Poland.
