Study: Little Jewish Property Returned

The issue of restitution faded in the 1970s, but rose again in the 1990s, most prominently when Swiss banks were criticized by Holocaust survivors for allegedly stealing, concealing or handing the Nazis millions of dollars worth of Jewish holdings. The banks agreed in 1998 to pay $1.25 billion on dormant accounts held by Jewish Holocaust victims.

These later efforts, Zabludoff found, resulted in the return of only an additional 3 percent of the missing wealth before public attention faded.

"It became a popular issue in the mid '90s, but these issues tend to run their course after a while. Courts ruled against it. Public interest waned," he said in a telephone interview with AP. "Because of that, it never really got the traction to make a significant contribution to returning assets."

There is little chance of a new push for restitution because Western European governments feel they already did their share, Eastern European governments feel they are too poor, Jewish groups are too splintered to mount a major campaign and the U.S. and Israeli governments are too preoccupied with other issues, the study said.

Mark Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, hoped the huge amounts cited in the study might inspire some families to pursue compensation _ and lead to a more systematic accounting by governments.

Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, said that the Jewish community will never be fully compensated for the stolen property.

"There will never be justice, only a small measure of justice," he said.

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Associated Press reporter Larry McShane contributed to this story from New York.