Holocaust survivors want French Railway out of US bid

The Iran News.Net
Thursday 2nd September, 2010

Holocaust survivors and the families in the US have objected strongly to a French Railway bid for high-Speed tracks in Florida, which will eventually connect Tampa and Orlando.

The French national railway’s hope for a bid on the first high-speed tracks in the United States has run into trouble due to the company’s role in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II.

Holocaust survivors have objected to the bid at public meetings, which have been called for people to voice their opinions.

Survivors have asked the railway, known as the SNCF, to formally apologize, make reparations for its role in the war, and give full access to its records.

SNCF has said it will make its records available to show that many railway workers at the time were killed or bullied by Nazis in order to get them to comply with orders to send Jews to the death camps.

The French railway company has already argued it had no control over operations when France was under Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944 and was under orders to transport Jews to death camps.

The firm also has said the French government has made an apology and offered reparations.

But survivors have insisted the company itself has never made amends for the horror that was inflicted on French Jews.

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