SNCF to pay reparations for Nazi death camp trains

[John Ashworth]

French railway firm finally set to pay reparations in the U.S. for transporting 76,000 Jews to Nazi death camps as it seeks to secure billion dollar contract

- SNCF runs some of the most efficient railway lines in the world but has a dark history during which it transported thousands of Jews to their deaths
- The company has repeatedly denied requests to make reparation payments to Holocaust survivors
- U.S. subsidiary Keolis is facing growing criticism that it shouldn't receive a $6.5 billion contract in Maryland because of it's parent company's actions
- Leo Bretholz, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives in Maryland, has gathered more than 150,000 signatures opposing SNCF
- He doesn't believe local tax dollars should go toward SNCF or its subsidiaries
- The Maryland state legislature will debate a bill this month to prevent it from doing work with companies that haven't paid reparations
- A lawyer representing some 600 Jews has now received a communication from SNCF to start discussing her clients' expectations