Posted on 02/04/21
| News Source: Politico
The Supreme Court delivered a major defeat Wednesday to the heirs of Jewish German art dealers in a lawsuit claiming a famous collection of religious relics was effectively stripped from them as the Nazis came to power in the 1930s.
Many of the relics now sit in a government-owned museum in Germany, so the heirs sued the German government seeking $250 million.
But, in a unanimous ruling, the justices said U.S. courts can't be used to pursue claims that a foreign country's citizens suffered financial damages through the taking of property by their own government.
Lawyers for the heirs contended that the owners of the collection — a trove known as the Welfenschatz which dates to the Holy Roman Empire — were forced to sell it at fire-sale prices as Nazi coercion and harassment of Jews intensified prior to World War II.
Join BJL on WhatsApp Status: Click here to Join BJL status for engagements, births, deals, levayos, events & more
Join BJL on WhatsApp Groups: Click here to Join an official BJL WhatsApp group for breaking news as it happens
The heirs argued the sales were part of genocide under international law because they were essentially an early stage of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were eventually killed.
However, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the argument, saying the dispute was better viewed as one over taking of property than of genocide. Foreign governments are generally immune from suits in the U.S., but the exemption is nullified for acts that violate international law, such as genocide. Read more at Politico