Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Busines of World War II

by Stuart E. Eizenstat

Book Overview

In the second half of the 1990s, Stuart Eizenstat was perhaps the most controversial U.S. foreign policy official in Europe. His mission had nothing to do with Russia, the Middle East, Yugoslavia, or... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158648110X
• ISBN13: 9781586481100
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 424 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.0" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Insights into Difficult Negotiations to Secure Justice

Imperfect Justice is a book that will appeal to many readers . . . but for different reasons. At one level, it's a magnificent story of turning back the clock to right wrongs dating back to the 1930s. At another level, it's an intriguing story of how to secure agreement among those who have vastly different interests and are pursuing them aggressively. At a third level, it's a tale of how a negotiating team learned from its experiences. At a fourth level, it's an inspiring tale of what the U.S. can accomplish when it focuses its attention on improving life for everyone. At a fifth level, it's an insightful case history of how agreements can have negative, unintended consequences. At a sixth level, it's a template for working on other important international issues in the future. I felt greatly enriched by this book, and am sure you will to. I believe this book deserves many more than five stars. Although I had read about some of the many settlements made in the 1990s by European countries and companies concerning slave labor, looted bank accounts, and misdeeds during World War II, I had no idea of the scope of that experience and effort until I read this book. It's a candid appraisal of how class action lawyers, Jewish groups, the U.S. government, some state government officials, some well-meaning Europeans and lots of recalcitrant parties came together to recognize wrongs that had been previously ignored. To me, it was shocking to recognize the full extent of misbehavior during World War II. The numbers of slave laborers and the conditions are beyond easy comprehension. The misbehavior of companies and countries since then to take advantage of those who were victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi era was even more shocking. The insensitivity and lack of concern for others described in this book made me shake my head in disgust. I also came away with a different impression of the leaders and Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Israel and many other countries as a result of understanding more about how they handled these issues. It's an important education that you should have for yourself. Ultimately, we must all be very grateful for the good will of those who worked so hard to provide some justice (including apologies and some payments) for those who had been overlooked and ignored for so long. Those who obstructed the process know who they are (and the book names many of them), and should be ashamed of themselves. I was pleased to see that this paperback version has a new epilogue to update the implementation of the agreements since the end of the Clinton administration. I was disappointed to see that the Bush administration has not been very effective in following up on the fine work that preceded them in office in this important area. If you think justice is important, read this book!

What It Takes To Make A Difference

On one level, this book is worth reading just to affirm that there have in fact been times when important people, in this case one in particular -- the author -- cared fiercely about showing many suffering and powerless thousands that the world cared about the unfathomable injustices they had suffered. The victims didn't really get justice, as that was, as the title acknowledges, not remotely possible. But at least they knew that, finally, after decades of wall to wall indifference, someone was listening and trying, seriously, to do what could be done.But what will make it hard for many readers to put this book down is that it is both a good story, entertainly told, and a shrewd analysis of a complex multi-party, multi-governmental, legal and political negotiation with high stakes, bitter differences, and high-powered protagonists. The book is certainly one of the best case-studies in captivity of the tricky and combustible mix of law, diplomacy, and politics both bureaucratic and democratic, that drives such processes. That this episode stayed on track to reach the best result that it could have was very far from a sure thing, from the beginning to the end. Eizenstat's seasoned, sometimes cynical, frequently amusing exegisis of the calculations, mistakes, and victories of the players makes the book hugely instructive for professionals as well as entertaining for casual students of government. It could be a popular teaching aid in law schools, especially for Eizenstat's exposition of his own strategies, and his often surprisingly candid Monday Morning quarterbacking of himself.

A Rare Insider's View of Holocaust Recovery Efforts

Having lived through the Holocaust, and as someone personally involved in ongoing efforts to recover art works stolen by the Nazis, I found Mr. Eizenstat's new book both revealing and insightful. Pissarro's Impressionist masterpiece "Rue St. Honore, apres midi, effet de pluie," stolen from the Cassirer family by the Third Reich in 1938, is currently being held, in violation of international law, by the Spanish government in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. Mr. Eizenstat has selflessly provided much needed assistance to our family in connection with our efforts to effect its return. "Imperfect Justice" illustrates, from a rare insider's point of view, the many challenges of typically difficult, complex and not infrequently controversial recovery efforts, and how these obstacles have been overcome on behalf of Holocaust victims and their families. The author's remarkable descriptions of how compensation agreements were forged, and many other fascinating details he shares from his first-hand experience on the "front line" of Holocaust recovery efforts are really most compelling. I encourage everyone interested in the "unfinished business" of the Holocaust to carefully read this unique work of non-fiction by a key figure in these extraordinary matters.

A Great Book for Everyone

Terrific book! This is a deeply moving, informative and fascinating account. It should be read by everyone-- ordinary citizens, businessmen and women, religious leaders, lawyers, government officials, academics and students of the political process. Everyone can learn from this book. Read it if you want to learn more about how:· One committed government leader- in this case, Stuart Eizenstat- can tenaciously speak truth to power, proving that democratic government, in the hands of highly ethical and competent people, can serve well the interests of the powerless;· A small group of international leaders, using lawsuits and diplomacy, media coverage and legislative action, can wrest some justice from the jaws of great multinational evil, even half a century after atrocities have been committed;· Profoundly unethical corporate behavior can be effectively challenged and brought to justice- and how such immoral practices might be prevented in the first place;· Real political power works in a democracy- from the inside out, and how ordinary individuals can cooperate with and use democratic power to obtain some justice for the wrongs they have suffered; and how· The former Communist countries of Eastern Europe are supporting (or not) emerging democratic processes, the rule of law and the resurgence of many religious traditions-and how all this intersects with a fragile but hopeful renewal of Eastern European Judaism, previously decimated in these countries by the Holocaust and then by Communism.Imperfect Justice is one splendid man's spellbinding account of the dogged search for compensation for those who survived the horrors of Nazi concentration camps- and for those (survivors and heirs) whose personal bank accounts, property, artworks and insurance policies were stolen from them and held hostage for more than fifty years. In the end, against all odds, Stuart Eizenstat and his colleagues won eight billion dollars from the power centers of Europe as compensation for Holocaust victims, both Jews and non-Jews. A tremendous victory! This book is the very readable, information-packed and compelling story of how it was done. Don't miss it!

A genuinely impressive account

I worked with Stu Eizenstat when I was Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Clinton Administration. Although I did not know him before, except by reputation, I soon came to know him as an inspired diplomat and public servant. The work he did in bringing a resolution to the Holocaust Assets dispute was a remarkable display of ability, imagination, persistence, and conscience. This book not only tells Eizenstat's story in a compelling way, and from a profoundly human perspective, but also captures the rare decency and commitment of the author to what many considered an impossible cause. As a modern human rights memoir, it ranks with Aryeh Neier's Taking Liberties and Jeri Laber's The Courage of Strangers. This is a memoir of conscience that anyone who wants to make human rights real should read, and remember.