The topic of restitution in UN-Documentation following WW II

Abstract

Based on an examination of the relevant UN-Documentation, this report identifies four notable instances of the topic of restitutions and reparations for victims of the Third Reich appearing as a topic of interest for UN bodies: the provisions made in the interest of refugees as part of the Paris Agreement, the discussion surrounding the draft of the Genocide Convention, as well as the legislative involvement of the International Refugee Organization (IRO) and the Secretary General of the UN (Sec-Gen) in the (later) Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The funds created by the Paris Agreement are, probably, of the least interest, since they were conceived more as immediate relief than as individualized reparation. The discussion surrounding the Genocide Convention is interesting from a historical standpoint, as it attests an early and acute awareness of the underlying issues. However, any discussion addressing the restitution and reparation of victims of genocide did not find its way into the Convention. The involvement of the IRO with the Office of the Military Government for Germany, United States (OMGUS) and the FRG, which resulted in the drafting of specific laws on the matters of restitution and reparation, is perhaps the most interesting of the instances noted here. Potentially, the IRO played a significant role in the move towards restitution during the short years of its existence. Further investigations based on sources other than UN Documentation could reveal the extent to which the IRO was materially involved in the drafting of specific laws. The efforts of the Sec-Gen towards the reparation of victims of “medical” experimentation provides great insight into the process by which one such issue was discovered and addressed within the UN at the time. Beyond that, this is an instance in which there is a deeper understanding of the specific involvement of a UN-body with German reparatory legislation. In this case, it amounted to bringing up the issue and urging appropriate action without much involvement in the particulars of the resulting measures. Overall, it should be summarized that there was no consolidated or systematic effort towards the restitution of victims of the Third Reich on the parts of the UN. Rather, the issue appeared and reappeared with some frequency and only in certain cases did the UN take action.