Inside a Class Action: The Holocaust and the Swiss Banks

Shadowing attorney Michael Hausfeld through almost three years of litigation, Schapiro, a freelance writer and poet, details the progress of the class action suit Holocaust survivors filed against Swiss banks in 1996. The suit accused the banks of hoarding Jewish money, of serving as a channel for Nazi profits from slave labor and for""being accessories to the crime of genocide."" The tension of the battle between the plaintiffs and the defendants is almost tangible, as is the passion for justice that motivates Hausfeld, his team and the victims. One survivor, Alice Fisher, expresses a feeling echoed by many others that sheds light on the attitude of survivors toward the suit:""this is not just a material issue; this is a moral issue...This puts the Holocaust on the map against all the denials."" Touching letters by victims, legal memos and first-person perspectives help this book create a complete panorama of the case, and a glimpse into the personal lives of the case's personalities make it a fascinating read.