_______gladius said:
OK, this is my last post on this !
Look, what are you talking about ??
We are like the mother in-law who thinks knows better, and we dont.
A short list of things that developed in Spain, even during the war, and thanks not to the US, but to Spaniards and Franco
1- They wanted nothing to do with the Marshall Plan, they knew the price was to high.
2- They turned a nation of mostly farmers and the poor, and created a middle class, industry and social benefits
3- Created in the mid-civil war , the ONCE, National Org. for the Blind, today a pillar in Spain for social services.
4-Established a Social Security Program, with guaranties, even today 30 day vacations, yes guaranteed
5-Created the Social Institute for Marines, to assit the fishing industry.
The list is too long.
These are just a few things, not to mention what Franco had told Nixon that became a reality,
No to Communism, Creation of a Mid-Class, Re-institution of the Crown.
And about th Central and South America,
Well Argentina had a great economic plan, until we saw it and decided to kill it, (remember Citi Corp scandal, maybe not it only made a few samll papers) and dont forget the Iran-Contra Affair, and several deposing of "Democratic" elected presidents we did not like and decided to change the view.
We dont know better, and we are sometimes just as bad as the ones we judge !here is another good example ! We denied this for 60 years.
Once we are eady to admit our wrongs, we will come to BE !
U.S. to pay $25.5 million, acknowledge role in plundering of Nazi gold train
By CATHERINE WILSON
Associated Press
Posted March 11 2005, 10:46 AM EST
MIAMI -- The United States agreed Friday to acknowledge its role as part of a $25.5 million settlement of claims by Hungarian Holocaust survivors that U.S. soldiers plundered a trainload of family treasures seized by Nazis during World War II.
The wording of the acknowledgment is up to the government and is not expected before a hearing on final approval proposed for October. A hearing on preliminary approval is set Thursday before U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz.
Word of the financial settlement, to be distributed among needy Hungarian survivors rather than individual claimants, leaked in December after the two sides announced an agreement in principle, but the question of whether any acknowledgment was forthcoming had not been resolved.
``The case never really was about money. It was about having a reckoning with history,'' said Sam Dubbin, one of the families' lawyers. He called the agreement ``a great outcome.''
The Justice Department, which negotiated on behalf of the government, issued a statement saying it was ``very pleased to announce'' the settlement but said it would be inappropriate to add comment on a pending legal matter.
About $21 million in funding for humanitarian services will be distributed to social service agencies worldwide based on the percentage of survivors, including 40 percent in Israel, 22 percent in Hungary, 21 percent in the United States and 7 percent in Canada.
Up to $3.85 million is proposed for legal fees and costs. A total of $500,000 would fund an archive on the train for scholarly and educational uses.
The families claimed high-ranking U.S. Army officers and troops pilfered from the so-called Nazi Gold Train's 29 boxcars after it was intercepted in May 1945, during the closing days of the European war. The train carried gold, jewels, 1,200 paintings, silver, china, porcelain, 3,000 Oriental carpets and other heirlooms seized by the Nazis from Jewish families.
``I can't say that I'm happy with the settlement, but I am happy that we have a closure,'' said David Mermelstein of Miami, one of the plaintiffs. In the pending U.S. statement, he said. ``I expect them to acknowledge that it was a mistake not to return the property to the rightful owners.''
The agreement concluded it ``would be impractical'' to divide money among an estimated 60,000 Hungarian survivors because of the difficulty determining who had what on the train and the administrative costs of determining eligibility for compensation.
``This case has little precedent,'' the two sides wrote the judge. ``Many of the participants are dead. There are evidentiary gaps. The actions of the United States that the plaintiffs challenge followed in the wake of the worst crime in modern history.''
Events were complicated by migrating populations, border shifts and foreign policy realignments as the Soviet Union solidified its hold on Eastern Europe.
The United States had insisted it would be impossible to prove whose property made it into U.S. hands after Hungarians and Austrians stole from the train along the way.
A commission appointed by then-President Clinton concluded in 1999 that American officers helped themselves to china, silverware and artwork for their homes and offices.
The families claimed the U.S. government improperly changed its repatriation policy by auctioning what remained and donating the money to international Jewish aid agencies.
Well-established Jewish charities have received funds in past settlements when the U.S. government pressed European governments and corporations to resolve Holocaust claims.
A United Jewish Communities survey in 2003 estimated about 5,000 Hungarians were among about 122,000 Holocaust survivors living in the United States. With a median age of 71, they were poorer, sicker and more disabled than other older American Jews.
It is nice to hear opinions like yours and Guaripa´s.
