claims resolution tribunal - Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss ...

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The CRT notes that the other claims to these accounts were disconfirmed because that claimant provided a different profession or city or country of residence than the profession and city and country of residence of the Account Owners. Status of the Account Owners as a Victim of Nazi Persecution The Claimant has made a plausible showing that the Account Owners were Victims of Nazi Persecution. The Claimant stated that the Account Owners were Jewish, that they resided in Austria after its incorporation into the German Reich in March 1938 (the Anschluss ), that their family business was aryanized, and that Account Owner Paul Mayer and Account Owner Theodor Meyer were imprisoned by the Nazis in November 1938. The CRT notes that the Account Owners were required to register their assets pursuant to the 1938 Census. The Claimant s Relationship to the Account Owners The Claimant has plausibly demonstrated that he is related to the Account Owners by submitting specific information and documents, demonstrating that the Account Owners were the Claimant s grandparents, his grandfather s brother, and his family s business. These documents include: 1) an excerpt from a publication regarding the history of the M. E. Mayer Company indicating that Paul Mayer, Paul Mayer s son, Stephen H. Mayer, and Stephen s son, Gay A. Mayer, each led the company in turn; 2) Paul M. E. Mayer s obituary indicating that his wife was Renée A. Mayer and his son was Stephan H. Mayer; 3) a legal document dated 21 January 1948, indicating that Stephen H. Mayer served as the executor of the late Paul E. Mayer s estate; 4) Stephen Mayer s will listing his children Gay A. Mayer and Laurette M. Beach among his heirs and; 5) a court order dated 7 February 1990 indicating that Gay A. Mayer served as a co-personal representative of the estate of Stephen H. Mayer. There is no information to indicate that the Account Owners have other surviving heirs other than the party whom the Claimant is representing. The Issue of Who Received the Proceeds Given that the Account Owners resided in Austria after the Anschluss, that assets belonging to Account Owner M.E. Mayer were declared to Nazi authorities in the 1938 Census, that there is no record of the payment of the Account Owners accounts to them nor any record of a date of closure of the accounts; that the Account Owners and their heirs would not have been able to obtain information about their accounts after the Second World War from the Bank due to the Swiss banks practice of withholding or misstating account information in their responses to inquiries by account owners because of the banks concern regarding double liability; and given the application of Presumptions (h)and (j), as provided in Article 28 of the Rules Governing the Claims Resolution Process, as amended (the Rules ) (see Appendix A), the CRT concludes that it is plausible that the account proceeds were not paid to the Account Owners, the Power of Attorney Holder, or their heirs. Based on its precedent and the Rules, the CRT applies presumptions to assist in the determination of whether or not Account Owners or their heirs received the proceeds of their accounts. 6/8
Basis for the Award The CRT has determined that an Award may be made in favor of the Claimant and the party he represents. First, the claim is admissible in accordance with the criteria contained in Article 18 of the Rules. Second, the Claimant has plausibly demonstrated that the Account Owners were his grandparents, his grandfather s brother and his family business, and these relationships justify an Award. Third, the CRT has determined that it is plausible that neither the Account Owners, nor the Power of Attorney Holder, nor their heirs received the proceeds of the claimed accounts. Amount of the Award Bank I In this case, Account Owner Theodor Mayer and Account Owner Paul Mayer jointly held one account of unknown type and Account Owner Renée Mayer held one account of unknown type. Pursuant to Article 29 of the Rules, when the value of an account is unknown, as is the case here, the average value of the same or a similar type of account in 1945 is used to calculate the current value of the account being awarded. Based on investigation carried out pursuant to the instructions of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons ( ICEP or the ICEP Investigation ) in 1945 the average value of an account of unknown type was 3,950.00 Swiss Francs (SF). Thus, the combined 1945 average value for the two accounts at issue is SF 7,900.00. Bank II In the 1938 Census declarations submitted by Account Owner Paul Mayer and Account Owner Theodor Mayer, the value of the account of unknown type held by M. E. Mayer Company was SF 861.62 in April 1938. The CRT determines that it is unable to rely on the balance amounts declared in the 1938 Census as it has no evidence regarding the circumstances of the Account Owner s declaration. The CRT notes that, as evidenced in a number of cases, the Account Owners may not have declared all of their assets, or understated their value, in the belief that this might help them safeguard some of them. Pursuant to Article 29 of the Rules Governing the Claims Resolution Process, as amended (the Rules ), if the amount in an account of unknown type is less than SF 3,950.00 and in the absence of plausible evidence to the contrary, the amount in the account shall be determined to be SF 3,950.00. In this case, the CRT does not find that the value of the account indicated in the Account Owner s 1938 Census declaration constitutes plausible evidence to the contrary sufficient to rebut the presumption of Article 29 of the Rules, and concludes that the value of the Account Owners account of unknown type shall be determined to be SF 3,950.00. The current value of the amount of the award is determined by multiplying the account balances as determined by Article 29 by a factor of 12.5, in accordance with Article 31(1) of the Rules, to produce a total award amount of SF 148,125.00. Division of the Award According to Article 23(1)(c) of the Rules, if the Account Owner s spouse has not submitted a claim, the award shall be in favor of any descendants of the Account Owner who have submitted 7/8
Page 1 and 2: CLAIMS RESOLUTION TRIBUNAL In re Ho
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