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Holocaust Survivors Foundation, Usa, Inc., Renee Firestone, David Mermelstein, David Schaecter, Klaire Firestone, Thomas Weiss, M.D., and Naomi Vilko, M.D

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Holocaust Survivors Foundation, Usa, Inc., Renee Firestone, David Mermelstein, David Schaecter, Klaire Firestone, Thomas Weiss, M.D., and Naomi Vilko, M.D Nos. 18-1447 & 19-351 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ———— REPUBLIC OF HUNGARY, et al., Petitioners, v. ROSALIE SIMON, et al., Respondents. ———— FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, et al., Petitioners, v. ALAN PHILIPP, et al., Respondents. ———— On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ———— BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS FOUNDATION, USA, INC., RENEE FIRESTONE, DAVID MERMELSTEIN, DAVID SCHAECTER, KLAIRE FIRESTONE, THOMAS WEISS, M.D., AND NAOMI VILKO, M.D. IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS ———— SAMUEL J. DUBBIN Counsel of Record DUBBIN & KRAVETZ, LLP 1200 Anastasia Ave., #300 Coral Gables, FL 33134 (305) 815-8060 (305) 357-9004 [email protected] Counsel for Amici Curiae October 29, 2020 WILSON-EPES PRINTING CO., INC. – (202) 789-0096 – WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................ v INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ........................ 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ............................. 2 ARGUMENT ........................................................ 5 I. The Circuit Court Correctly Held that Petitioners’ Confiscation of the Respond- ents’ Property Violated International Law Under FSIA Section 1605(a)(3) and that FSIA Jurisdiction Precludes the Discretionary Defense of Comity.............. 5 II. Prior Court Decisions Departing from Established Constitutional Principles in Favor of Standardless “Foreign Policy” Considerations Allowed Global Insurers Who Collaborated with the Third Reich to Retain Billions of Dollars in Insurance Proceeds They Owe to Holocaust Victims and Families.............................................. 6 A. States Legislate to Protect Survivors and Heirs and Insurers Respond by Creating ICHEIC – 1998. .................... 6 B. German Foundation Agreement – 2000. ..................................................... 7 C. Garamendi Decision and Executive Preemption. ......................................... 8 D. Justice Ginsburg’s Prescient Dissent. 10 E. Garamendi Dissent’s Deconstruction of Majority Reasoning. ........................ 12 (i) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page F. The U.S. Government Changed its “Foreign Policy” in the Middle of the Litigation, Proving the Dangers of Deciding Cases Based on Foreign Policy and Abandoning Traditional Constitutional Principles .................... 17 G. Expansion of Garamendi Preemption Based on Additional Misrepresenta- tions of U.S. Foreign Policy ................. 20 III. It Would Be Physically Impossible and Emotionally Traumatic To Require Hungarian Holocaust Survivors in the United States To Litigate Their Rights In Hungary .................................................... 26 A. Naomi Vilko.......................................... 27 B. David Mermelstein .............................. 27 C. Renee Firestone ................................... 29 D. Klara Firestore .................................... 30 IV. Survivors’ Ability to Personally Partici- pate in Holocaust Restitution Proceed- ings is a Valuable Element of the Justice System. ...................................................... 30 CONCLUSION .................................................... 34 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued APPENDIX Page APPENDIX A: Statement of David Mermelstein, United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (September 17, 2019) ....................................... 1a APPENDIX B: Statement of Jack Rubin, United States House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs Joint Subcom- mittee Hearing, Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, Subcom- mittee on the Middle East and North Africa The Struggles of Recovering Assets for Holocaust Survivors (September 18, 2014) ..... 7a APPENDIX C: Statement of Klara Firestone, United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, The Struggles of Recovering Assets for Holocaust Survivors (September 18, 2014) ....................................... 37a APPENDIX D: Statement of Renee Firestone, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Holocaust Era Claims in the 21st Century (June 20, 2012) .................................. 56a APPENDIX E: Statement of David Schaecter, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Righting the Enduring Wrongs of the Holocaust: Insurance Account- ability and Rail Justice (November 16, 2011) . 75a iv TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page APPENDIX F: Statement of Herbert Karliner, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Righting the Enduring Wrongs of the Holocaust: Insurance Account- ability and Rail Justice (November 16, 2011) . 82a APPENDIX G: Testimony of Alex Moskovic, House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe (October 3, 2007) .............................................. 89a APPENDIX H: Fairness Hearing Before the Hon. Patricia A. Seitz, 3., United States District Judge, in Rosner v. United States, Case No. 01-1859 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (September 26, 2005) .......................... 94a APPENDIX I: Statement of Dr. Tom Weiss, United States House of Representatives, Committee on Banking and Financial Services (February 12, 1998) ........................... 110a v TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES Page(s) American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396 (2003) ..................................passim Barclay’s Bank PLC v. Franchise Tax Bd., 512 U.S. 298 (1994) ................................... 23 Buxbaum v. Assicurazioni Generali, 33 N.Y.S.2d 496 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1942) ...... 19 Dames & Moore v. Regan, 453 U.S. 654 (1981) ................................... 9, 13 Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. v. Kelso, No. 00-16163 (9th Cir. 2000) .................... 17 Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 126 S. Ct. 2749 (2006) ............................... 16 In re Assicurazioni Generali, S.p.A Insurance Litig., 228 F.Supp.2d 348 (S.D.N.Y. 2002).......... 21 Medellin v. Texas, 128 S.Ct.1346 (2008) ................................. 16 Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany, 894 F.3d 406 (D.C. Cir. 2018) ................... 5, 17 Rosner v. United States, 231 F.Supp.2d 1202 (S.D.Fla. 2002) .. 30, 31, 32 Simon v. Republic of Hungary, 812 F.3d 127 (D.C. Cir. 2016) ............... 5, 17, 26 United States v. Belmont, 301 U.S. 324 (1937) ............................... 9, 13, 14 United States v. Pink, 315 U.S. 203 (1942) ............................... 9, 13, 14 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page(s) Weiss v. Assicurazioni Generali, S.p.A, 592 F.3d 113 (2d Cir. 2010) ...................... 26 Zschernig v. Miller, 389 U.S. 429 (1968) ............................... 9, 10, 13 STATUTES 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(3).................................... 2, 5 INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS German Foundation Agreement, 39 Int’l Legal Materials 1298 (2000) ...................... passim COURT FILINGS Brief for Amicus Curiae the United States of America in Support of Affirmance in Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. v. Kelso, Case No. 00-16163 .......................... 19 Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioners, American Insurance Association, et al., v. Harry Low, Insurance Commissioner, State of California, Case Nos. 02-722 and 02-733, 2003 WL 721754 ....................................... 20 Transcript of Final Approval Hearing, Rosner v. United States, No. 01-1859-civ (S.D. Fla. Sept. 26, 2005) .................... 32, 33, 34 vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued OTHER AUTHORITIES Page(s) David Mermelstein and Samuel J. Dubbin, Responses to Senate Judiciary Questions (October 17, 2019), available at https:// www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ Dubbin-Mermelstein%20Responses%20 to%20QFRs.pdf ......................................... 7 Gerald Feldman, Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945 ................ 7 Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, Inc., www.hsf-usa.org (last visited Oct. 28, 2020) .......................................................... 1 Letter from Naomi Vilko, M.D. to Samuel J. Dubbin, P.A. (January 24, 2018), available at http://www.hsf-usa.com/wp- content/uploads/2018/02/LTR-re-Hungary- Litigation-Jan-24-2018.pdf; http://www. hsf-usa.com/class-action-lawsuit-against- hungary-and-hungarian-railway/ .............. 27 Video, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of September 17, 2019, http:// www.hsf-usa.com/judiciary-committee-he aring-unpaid-holocaust-insurance-claims/ ... 7 James Moll, The Last Days, Steven Spielberg, Shoah Foundation (1998) ........ 29 Letter from State Department Legal Adviser to Department of Justice Appellate Staff Director, August 19, 2009 ......................... 25 viii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page(s) Sidney Zabludoff, “The International Commission of Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims: Excellent Concept but Inept Imple- mentation,” Jewish Political Studies Review (Spring 2005) ................................ 12 Statement of Dr. Tom Weiss, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services (February 12, 1998) .......................................................... 26 Statement of Klara Firestone, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, The Struggles of Recovering Assets for Holocaust Survivors (Sept. 18, 2014) .... 30 Statement of Samuel J. Dubbin, Counsel, Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, Before the United States Senate Judici- ary Committee, Hearing on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (September 17, 2019), available at https://www.judiciary. senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dubbin%20Te
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