CHARLES HODSON, CNNFN CORRESPONDENT: In April, 1998, the banks came under such pressure that they were really forced to open negotiations with Jewish groups on the question of reparations for people who had died in the holocaust and their survivors. There had been already an offer made, after about two month of negotiations by the Swiss banks of about $600 million, which was basically derided by the Jewish groups. It finally came through that this fund of $1.25 billion was to be established. There were the claims that -- the money that they had themselves directly deposited with the Swiss banks had not been paid out to them or their heirs and survivors after the Holocaust. And also, I think there was the question of gold that had been looted by the Nazis directly in Germany was used to pay Switzerland for raw materials and for industrial goods supplied during World War II. The real nub of the issue was the fact that the Swiss did not accept that they had responsibility for the continuation of the war. They were, in a sense, enabling the Nazis to pursue the war by exchanging that gold for raw materials and for industrial goods, which definitely, if the Nazis hadn't had those, they would have been forced to surrender much earlier.
CNN 20: Switzerland Banks Settle Claim, June 19, 1998