Civilian Agency Records RG 299

Department of Justice Records

Records of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States (RG 299)

The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States, from 1948 to 1954, the War Claims Commission, was created under the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1954, effective July 1, 1954, and was transferred to the Department of Justice. The Commission is a quasi-judicial, independent agency within the Department of Justice which adjudicates claims of U.S. nationals against foreign governments, either under specific jurisdiction conferred by Congress or pursuant to international claims settlement agreements. Funds for payment of the Commission's awards are derived from congressional appropriations, international claims settlements, or the liquidation of foreign assets in the United States by the Departments of Justice and the Treasury.

The Commission's organization and functions are defined in the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949, as amended (22 U.S.C. 1621 et se.), the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended (50 U.S.C. app. 2001 et seq.), and the Iran Claims Settlement Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 note).

War Claims Commission Minutes 1949-1954 (Entry 3)

Boxes 1-5

Summary Sheets, Cost Estimates, and Other Records Relating to War Damage Claims (Romanian Claims Program) 1956 (Entry 11)

This series consists chiefly of records created or accumulated in April 1948 by the general manager of Romano Americana, S.A., of Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently transferred from the State Department to the Romanian Claims Division of the Commission. The records document the role of the Commission and its predecessors in assisting U.S. nationals in their efforts to recover compensation for property or financial losses sustained in Romania during World War II. The records includes records from the U.S. Embassy (Bucharest) legation records (dating from 1940) which support claims of American Jews against the fascist Romanian government to recover expropriated property and other assets. Arranged by type of record, thereunder by volume in alphabetical order, thereunder by subject heading, and thereunder by section number. Boxes 1-3

Records Relating to American Claims Against Romania 1945-1951 (Entry 11A)

This series contains State Department records relating to American claims against the Romanian government. Box 1

Pilot and Precedent Decisions for the Polish and Title III Claims Programs 1956-1967 (Entry 12)

This series consists of proposed and final decisions rendered by the Commission on claims of American citizens and nations to restitution or compensation of property or financial losses sustained in consequence of operation of laws or official acts of infringement of rights or expropriation of property in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Poland in the World War II era. The records are arranged by type of decision, thereunder sequentially by volume number, thereunder by name of claims program, and thereunder chronologically. Each decision has an assigned claim number and decision number, and decision numbers run consecutively, though there are gaps. Boxes 1-2

Lists of Bulgarian Laws on Nationalization and Confiscation and Related Records 1955- 1956 (Entry 13)

This series consist mainly of compilations of annotated lists of Bulgarian laws and proclamations (1945-1955) on nationalization of foreign, including American property. Among the other records are copies of State Department legation records dating from 1942. Arranged chronologically (laws) or by subject (other records). Box 1

Decisions, Opinions, and Related Records 1950-1957 (Entry 16)

This series consists mainly of opinions rendered by the General Counsel on World War II-related property claims of American citizens against foreign governments. Other records include panel opinions and decisions based on Public Law 285, and related legislative histories and yearly reports. Arranged by type of decision (pilot, panel) of chairmen of commissioners, or by opinion of the General Counsel, and thereafter numerically. Other records are arranged by subject. Boxes 1-5

Transcripts of Hearings 1952-1959 (Entry 17)

This series consists mainly of transcripts of hearings of the War Claims Commission and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission regarding the disposition of claims of American citizens and corporations arising from the confiscation or expropriation of property by the governments of Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, and various European nations before and during World War II. Arranged chronologically by date of hearing. Boxes 1-5 location: 230/43/24/05

Correspondence, Memorandums, and Reports Concerning the Resolution of POW, Civilian Internee, and Corporate Claims 1950-1956 (Entry 18)

The records in this series chiefly related to the interpretation and enforcement of the restitution provisions of the legislation which established the Yugoslavian, Chinese, and Czechoslovakian property claims programs. Other records include lists of confiscated property claims by religious claimants and lists of Hungarian claims of aggrieved American nationals, and statements relating to various American claims against the Italian Government. Arranged by name of claims program, thereunder by subject, and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-6

Yugoslavian Program Claim Files, 1950-1981 (Entry 20)

These records pertain to claims submitted by American citizens whose real property or other tangible assets had been expropriated or sequestered by authority of the Yugoslavian government during World War II. The records are arranged sequentially by claim docket number (Y-251 thru Y-1807) and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-103 ; Box 13 D/14/02; Boxes 104-126 ; and, Boxes 127-230

State Department Correspondence and Other Records for the Polish and German Claims Program 1954-1962 (Entry 21)

This series consists chiefly of correspondence and other communications between officials in the U.S. State Department and in the U.S. Embassy at Danzig, Germany, concerning the processing and disposition of claims of American citizens or companies whose property had been seized in Nazi-controlled Poland and Germany. Other records include documentation of individual claims and copies of final decisions on claims based on the War Claims Act of 1948 and the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949. The records are arranged by type of claims program, thereunder by subject, and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-3

State Department Correspondence Relating to the Polish Program 1922-1960 (Entry 21A)

This series contains State Department correspondence relating to American commercial and personal losses in Poland before, during, and after World War II. The records are arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent. Boxes 1-6

Miscellaneous State Department Records Relating to the Polish Program 1921-1959 (Entry 21B)

This series contains miscellaneous State Department records relating to American claims against the Polish government. The records are arranged by subject. Box 1

Correspondence, Reports, and Other Records for the Soviet (Title III), German, and Other Claims Programs 1954-1964 (Entry 22)

This series consists mainly of background legal documentation relating to the claims of American holders of repudiated Imperial Russian ruble bonds and German Weimar Republic dollar bonds. Other records include State Department correspondence with U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow and Berlin, and indexes, lists, and reports concerning claims of American citizens or companies whose property had been seized in Soviet Russia before World War II or had been expropriated or destroyed in fascist Japan,. in Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and in occupied Balkan countries during World War II. The records are arranged by name of claims program, thereunder by subject, and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-3

OMGUS Property Control Correspondence Maintained by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States 1945-1949 (Entry 23)

This series consists chiefly of correspondence between executive officers or counsel of American corporations that held interests in Germany of heads of American-owned German corporations and officials of the Property Control and External Assets Branch of the Property Division of the Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS). The Property Control Division reviewed, investigated, and documented the claims of companies for compensation for loss of property sustained at the hands of the Nazi Government in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Other records include background legal documentation supporting these corporate claims and other claims of American citizens for restitution. The records are arranged consecutively by claim number and thereunder by name of individual or corporation.
Boxes 1-4

POW and Civilian Internee Compensation Claim Files 1950-1967 (Entry 24)

These records pertain to claims to compensate former American and Filipino POWs, American merchant seamen, and civilian American citizens determined to be legally eligible to receive benefits because they had suffered imprisonment, internment, detainment, or expropriation of property at the hands of hostile forces during World War II and the Korean Conflict. The records are arranged by type of war claims program (World War II POWS and civilian internees, and Korean War POWs), thereunder in claim number order, and thereunder chronologically. Boxes 1-3

Records relating to Pre-War American Business Investments 1945-1947 (Entry 27)

The records in this series were gathered by one of the predecessors of the Commission from various sources and concern the pre-war investment of American companies in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Danzig. Included is an index to Yugoslavian claims, an index to the holdings of American firms in Czechoslovakia, an index of American claims to property in the U.S. and Russian zones, and a list of secret and confidential correspondence concerning American property claims. The records are arranged by subject. Box 1

Records relating to Claims Filed Under Public Law 285 1948-1963 (Entry 28)

This series concerns Public Law 285 signed into law on August 9, 1955. The law was established to consider war damage claims of U.S. nationals against the governments of Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, Italy, and the Soviet Union and against certain nationals of the Soviet Union. The records relate to such specific matters as war losses, debt claims, Balkan claims, and Soviet and Italian claims, German assets, and court opinions and decisions. The records are arranged by subject. Boxes 1-6