Anaheim CA – Bill would Expose high-speed Train Contractors With Holocaust Ties

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    Anaheim CA – Train companies and foreign governments that helped support the Holocaust could be barred from working on the California high-speed railroad under a new bill in the Legislature.

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    The legislation would not exempt governments or companies such as France’s bullet-train operator, whose locomotives once transported prisoners to concentration camps, from bidding for a piece of the state’s $43 billion project starting next year.

    But it would allow the California High-Speed Rail Authority to disqualify any of those companies or governments based solely on their ties to World War II atrocities, specifically from 1942 to 1944.

    If contractors fail to provide evidence they played a role in the Holocaust — and officials later find they did — they would face stiff penalties. The contractors would not be able to bid on any state projects for three years and face a fine equal to double the cost of their initial bid, or $250,000, whichever is larger. They could also be sued by the firms that came in second or third in the bidding.

    Firms should begin bidding on the project next year, with virtually all the $43 billion in construction costs up for grabs among private companies, plus nations with high-speed rail experience, such as China, Japan, Germany, France and Spain. Construction on the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles line, including the section that will run along Caltrain tracks, would begin as early as fall 2012.

    The high-speed rail project is a hot topic in the Bay Area, which has the third-largest Jewish population of any metropolitan area in the country, according to the Jewish Community Federation. But it was high-speed rail supporter and Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Los Angeles, who on Friday introduced AB 619, the “Holocaust Survivor Responsibility Act.”

    “When I think about what (Holocaust survivors) went through, they basically escaped death, some of them literally jumped off the train, their entire families were killed,” said Blumenfield, who is Jewish.

    “That history could chase them across time and country, and there could be a train made by the very same company (that took them to the camps) less than a few miles from their house,” he said. “If that company hasn’t made amends by then, that to me is unconscionable.”

    Although not named in the bill, Blumenfield makes note of one company in particular: SNCF. Otherwise known as the French National Railway Corporation, SNCF now operates most of France’s rail system, including the TGV high-speed trains. Blumenfield claims they profited off transporting prisoners from France to concentration camps in Auschwitz, Buchenwald and elsewhere, and have not made proper reparations.

    Attempts to reach SNCF representatives Monday were unsuccessful.

    California has about 30 Holocaust survivors, and most are at least 90 years old, according to Blumenfield’s office.

    The bill heads to its first hearing June 29 before the Assembly Transportation Committee. The rail authority said Monday it has not yet taken a position on the bill.


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    14 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    “California has about 30 Holocaust survivors, and most are at least 90 years old, according to Blumenfield’s office.”

    30 Survivors? Sounds like an extremely low number.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    This is another case of where do we draw the line…..none of the current owners/managers of any of these companies was around when these atrocities occured. EY has made peace with the German companies that contributed more directly to the Holocaust and routinely buys/sells products and services to them. All this ill-concieved legislation will do is to make the cost of what is already a pork barrel boondoggle even more expensive for the taxpayers.

    Mr. Apikoros
    Mr. Apikoros
    13 years ago

    This law is a bill of attainder, aimed at keeping SNCF out of the business.

    One can argue that BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche were involved in the Holocaust. For that matter, one can make a strong case for the Ford Motor Company. However, one can also argue that NOT A PRESENT-DAY SINGLE EMPLOYEE of those five companies, nor for that matter SNCF, has any involvement in the Holocaust.

    I guess Blumenfield wouldn’t have a problem with Chinese technology being used to build California’s high-speed rail network, even though the Chinese, under Mao and his successors, killed far more people than both Hitler and Stalin combined.

    Perhaps the United States and American-based companies should be barred from doing business with the rest of the world because up until 145 years ago, slavery was legal in much of the country.

    The Holocaust ended 65 years ago. Germany has made resititution by becoming the greatest democracy in all of Europe. Blumenfield, get over it.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    30?, somebody goofed!
    this is a dangerous move because it likely will remove german (Siemans) companies from contention. They are the world leaders in this field. Chinese projects all use Siemans so expect us to be the guinea pigs for the Chinese home made?

    Milhouse
    Milhouse
    13 years ago

    This is ridiculous. Contracts should go to the lowest bidder who can do the job; to disqualify a bidder because of what different people at the company did 60 years ago is a pure waste of public money. First of all, companies in the Third Reich had no choice in what they did; but even if they had,a choice, it was 60 years ago, and nobody who was working then is at the company now. So what has the company now got to do with it?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Every American Jew who visits France and travels on SNCF trains !!!
    Oh, tens of thousands of American Jews own and enjoy Mercedes, BMWs etc !!!
    Oy vey, even Israelis !!!
    This proves Govt is meshugeh.

    the money
    the money
    13 years ago

    give me restitution…and give it too me now….#8 you are gevaldick

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    If your degree of involvement in the WWII affect your ability to get a contract, how funny that IBM is doing so well, or Hugo Boss for that matter.