Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II

Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II
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Hard to see the forest for the trees

Insights into Difficult Negotiations to Secure Justice

What It Takes To Make A Difference

Tedious

an insult to the Swiss flag

Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II
Stuart E. Eizenstat
Manufacturer: Public Affairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Holocaust | Jewish | World | History | Subjects | Books
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Wiesel, Elie | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1586482408
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Book Description

"Eizenstat's exciting account of his six-year effort to obtain compensation for Nazi victims." Los Angeles Times

In the second half of the 1990s, Stuart E. Eizenstat was perhaps the most controversial U.S. foreign policy official in Europe. His mission had nothing to do with Russia, the Middle East, Yugoslavia, or any of the other hotspots of the day. Rather, Eizenstat's mission was to provide justice--albeit belated and imperfect justice-for the victims of World War II.

Imperfect Justice is Eizenstat's account of how the Holocaust became a political and diplomatic battleground fifty years after the war's end, as the issues of dormant bank accounts, slave labor, confiscated property, looted art, and unpaid insurance policies convulsed Europe and America. He recounts the often heated negotiations with the Swiss, the Germans, the French, the Austrians, and various Jewish organizations, showing how these moral issues, shunted aside for so long, exposed wounds that had never healed and conflicts that had never been properly resolved. Though we will all continue to reckon with the crimes of World War II for a long time to come, Eizenstat's account shows that it is still possible to take positive steps in the service of justice.

Customer Reviews:

Hard to see the forest for the trees.......2007-04-20

Former Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat is a man of great moral conviction and political savvy. He epitomizes what it means to be a true public servant. His passion for justice comes through very clearly in this book. Historians of the Clinton administration and of Europe's response to the Holocaust will find this book invaluable.

That said, I found this book quite difficult to read. Eizenstat's blow-by-blow descriptions of the seemingly endless negotiations lack dramatic structure and are far too detailed for a book intended for the general reader. When Eizenstat looks at the big picture -- the differing political cultures of France and the United States, the Austrians' cramped apologetics for their role in the Holocaust -- he is convincing. But far too much of this book feels as if it's written by a lawyer for other lawyers. It needed an editor who could get past Eizenstat's note cards and create a real narrative.

Insights into Difficult Negotiations to Secure Justice.......2004-07-31

Imperfect Justice is a book that will appeal to many readers . . . but for different reasons. At one level, it's a magnificent story of turning back the clock to right wrongs dating back to the 1930s. At another level, it's an intriguing story of how to secure agreement among those who have vastly different interests and are pursuing them aggressively. At a third level, it's a tale of how a negotiating team learned from its experiences. At a fourth level, it's an inspiring tale of what the U.S. can accomplish when it focuses its attention on improving life for everyone. At a fifth level, it's an insightful case history of how agreements can have negative, unintended consequences. At a sixth level, it's a template for working on other important international issues in the future. I felt greatly enriched by this book, and am sure you will to. I believe this book deserves many more than five stars.

Although I had read about some of the many settlements made in the 1990s by European countries and companies concerning slave labor, looted bank accounts, and misdeeds during World War II, I had no idea of the scope of that experience and effort until I read this book. It's a candid appraisal of how class action lawyers, Jewish groups, the U.S. government, some state government officials, some well-meaning Europeans and lots of recalcitrant parties came together to recognize wrongs that had been previously ignored.

To me, it was shocking to recognize the full extent of misbehavior during World War II. The numbers of slave laborers and the conditions are beyond easy comprehension.

The misbehavior of companies and countries since then to take advantage of those who were victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi era was even more shocking. The insensitivity and lack of concern for others described in this book made me shake my head in disgust.

I also came away with a different impression of the leaders and Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Israel and many other countries as a result of understanding more about how they handled these issues. It's an important education that you should have for yourself.

Ultimately, we must all be very grateful for the good will of those who worked so hard to provide some justice (including apologies and some payments) for those who had been overlooked and ignored for so long. Those who obstructed the process know who they are (and the book names many of them), and should be ashamed of themselves.

I was pleased to see that this paperback version has a new epilogue to update the implementation of the agreements since the end of the Clinton administration. I was disappointed to see that the Bush administration has not been very effective in following up on the fine work that preceded them in office in this important area.

If you think justice is important, read this book!

What It Takes To Make A Difference.......2003-07-08

On one level, this book is worth reading just to affirm that there have in fact been times when important people, in this case one in particular -- the author -- cared fiercely about showing many suffering and powerless thousands that the world cared about the unfathomable injustices they had suffered. The victims didn't really get justice, as that was, as the title acknowledges, not remotely possible. But at least they knew that, finally, after decades of wall to wall indifference, someone was listening and trying, seriously, to do what could be done.

But what will make it hard for many readers to put this book down is that it is both a good story, entertainly told, and a shrewd analysis of a complex multi-party, multi-governmental, legal and political negotiation with high stakes, bitter differences, and high-powered protagonists. The book is certainly one of the best case-studies in captivity of the tricky and combustible mix of law, diplomacy, and politics both bureaucratic and democratic, that drives such processes. That this episode stayed on track to reach the best result that it could have was very far from a sure thing, from the beginning to the end. Eizenstat's seasoned, sometimes cynical, frequently amusing exegisis of the calculations, mistakes, and victories of the players makes the book hugely instructive for professionals as well as entertaining for casual students of government. It could be a popular teaching aid in law schools, especially for Eizenstat's exposition of his own strategies, and his often surprisingly candid Monday Morning quarterbacking of himself.

Tedious.......2003-04-19

You MUST be interested in the Nazi era to a radical degree to stick with this book. It is a left-nostril account of nuances of negotiations, mainly regarding Swiss and German reparations, mainly for Jewish Holocaust survivors. Complicating the reading effort are grammatical errors (see, for example, page 198) and some apparent scholarship inconsistencies. (To illustrate, contrast discussion in next to the last paragraph on page 206 with descriptive matter associated with the first photograph on the sixth page of photographs.) Moreover, in my view, the book is as much about its author's sense of self-importance as it is about the negotiation process it describes.

an insult to the Swiss flag.......2003-04-11

I am glad that all copies of this book on Swiss territory were confiscated yesterday by order of the Geneva district attorney. The author insults my country by showing our national flag together with a fascist symbol.

Imperfect Justice - Looted Assets, Slave Labor, And The Unfinished Business Of World War Ii

Average customer rating:

Imperfect Justice - Looted Assets, Slave Labor, And The Unfinished Business Of World War Ii
Stuart E. Eizenstat
Manufacturer: Public Affairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RJ2A16

Book Description

This unique book deals with the most serious macroeconomic failure experienced in the US in the post-war period: the great inflation of the late 1960s and 1970s. It is the first detailed analysis, using Federal Reserve documents, of the thinking behind the inflationary monetary policy during this period. The book examines documentary evidence, including minutes, memos and reports and interviews with people who were closely involved in making policy decisions, to explain the monetary policy that led to this inflation. Thomas Mayer considers forecasting errors and wage and price controls in his attempt to explain why the inflation occurred, and places some of the blame on ineffective operating procedures, institutional inefficiencies, and political pressures on the Federal Reserve. The author concludes that much of the responsibility for the mistaken policies lies with academic economists who underestimated the dangers of inflation and encouraged the Federal Reserve to focus on an unattainable employment goal. Monetary Policy and the Great Inflation in the United States will be welcomed by economists, political scientists and economic historians interested in monetary policy.

Marketing With Email : A Spam-Free Guide to Increasing Awareness, Building Loyalty, and Increasing Sales by Using the Internet's Most Powerful Tool
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Buy a new Highlighter

Wonderful Business Tool

The Best Introduction to Low-Cost, Ethical E-Mail Marketing!

E-mail with permission, do not spam your audience!

Buy One for Yourself and One for a Friend

Marketing With Email : A Spam-Free Guide to Increasing Awareness, Building Loyalty, and Increasing Sales by Using the Internet's Most Powerful Tool
Shannon Kinnard
Manufacturer: Maximum Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Buy a new Highlighter.......2001-08-20

I am a technoid (See my about me area) so when I first started reading this book and Kinnard described the tools I thought the book was going to be fairly boring. Later when I entered in the chapters on marketing I was thrilled with an entry level book.

I needed (and still need) good ideas to help me market my business. I used my highlighter a great deal in this book. In almost every one of the later chapters I found really good ideas. Also the structure of the book was wonderful. The beginning of every chapter is a series of descriptive or narrative paragraphs, case study, resources and a cheat sheet. The structure that Kinnard uses makes this a tool for reference as well as a good read.

Finally, I think Kinnard has an excellent style. I think one of the great tasks of writing a book like this one is that most of the audience really is not interested in reading the material. We just want to know it so that we can use it. So, time spent reading and learning about email is tiresome. Kinnard does a good job of making the paint dry quickly.

Wonderful Business Tool.......2001-01-10

For anyone looking for an experienced and relaible method of managing opt-in email marketing this is for you.

The Best Introduction to Low-Cost, Ethical E-Mail Marketing!.......2000-09-05

I picked up this book because I have always found e-mail to be an effective way to begin and develop relationships with interesting people I would never have otherwise met. That's one of the many reasons I like to write reviews on Amazon.com. Since most books about the Internet are extremely simple and out-of-date, I had low expectations. Imagine how pleased I was when I discovered that this book not only answered many of my questions (such as how to get started with e-mailing to opt-in lists of people who have given permission to be contacted with information in certain subject areas) but also provided information that I did not imagine existed (such as sites for posting e-mail press releases and statements of competency to reach the media). Best of all, the ideas here take little capital and expertise so most people who are active on the Internet can use them.

Here is the table of contents to give you a sense of how the book is organized:

Chapter 1: E-Mail Newsletters

Chapter 2: Discussion Lists

Chapter 3: Online Networking

Chapter 4: Signature Files

Chapter 5: Autoresponders

Chapter 6: Customer Relationship Management

Chapter 7: Promotions and Direct E-Mail

Chapter 8: Online Public Relations

Chapter 9: Advertising in E-Publications

Chapter 10: E-Mail Marketing Rulebook

Chapter 11: Technical Know-How

Chapter 12: Measuring Results

Chapter 13: Opt-In List Brokering

Chapter 14: Worksheets

Chapter 15: 20 Recommended E-Mail Publications

As a result of reading this book, I began to wonder if I should also offer a free e-mail newsletter of more analytical and detailed book reviews covering those books I like best, with the reviews organized to be easier to access. Your opinions on that subject are most welcome!

The technical support in the book can save you some money on implementing by allowing you to do more of the work yourself. You are also directed to examples and organizations that can help you. I wrote down more than 30 web sites I want to investigate as a result of reading this book. That's about 27 more than I got out of the last 400 books I have read.

Another positive feature of the book is that it is anti-Spam. If you are like me, you get about 40 Spam messages a day that have no connection to any interest you have and seem to be created by people with little talent. One reason I have been slow to use more e-mail marketing is because I am very anti-Spam and didn't want to become a Spammer even by accident.

The best advice from the book is to build your own lists from people who reply to you and give you permission to contact them again, and use those to establish and maintain mutually supportive relationships. That makes sense to me. My web designer has been urging me on with this idea for years, but I never quite got the point before. Now I see what I should be doing. Even though I have read and liked Permission Marketing, the idea just hadn't clicked before.

Even if you don't plan to do e-mail mass marketing, the ideas in here for online public relations will make the book valuable all by themselves.

The authors also offer you access to their web site for more information and help.

A revised edition is planned for a few weeks from now, and I suspect that it would be a good idea to see what is in that edition as well. I wouldn't wait for that one, however, to get started. You can make significant progress in the meantime with this edition.

After you have finished reading this book, ask yourself what is the one thing you could do today that would help get valuable knowledge out to those who need it most. Then take that action. I also urge you to make that question and action step a daily process thereafter. This book should make you very capable of doing this!

E-mail with permission, do not spam your audience!.......2000-08-07

Marketing With E-Mail is a quick reading that broadens your horizon by giving you a concise, to the point overview of the different tools available to market a company and its products/ services through e-mail. Permission marketing is the mantra of Marketing With E-Mail and her author, Shannon Kinnard. E-mail marketing, though important, is not a stand-alone communication channel. By offering your prospects and customers multiple response paths, you increase the probability that they will respond to your product offering. In addition, Marketing With E-Mail and the companion web site refer to many resources that you can explore to get additional insights into that new field of marketing. Shannon Kinnard, however, does not cover the economics of e-mail marketing thoroughly. Case studies are not usually backed up by any in-depth financial analysis that should definitely convince you that investing in e-mail marketing provides a sensible return on investment and positively influences customer lifetime value. Hopefully, Shannon Kinnard will further share her (financial) expertise with you in the second edition of Marketing With E-Mail that will be released soon.

Buy One for Yourself and One for a Friend.......2000-07-18

As a web designer for small businesses, the task of bringing visitors to a site often falls into my lap. It's a daunting task and with internet marketing still in it's infancy it's difficult to look to anyone as an expert. Ms. Kinnard is worth her weight in gold; demonstrating how to handle the new field of e-marketing and expertly giving how-to advice.

Many of my clients are regional shops and businesses that do not have the big business (big $$) marketing budgets. Not only do I often find myself referring to this book often, but I recommend it to all of my clients as well.

Business owners are often one of the biggest draws for a business; their personality, eye for detail, or craftsmanship is what attracts customers. By reading this book, my clients are able to market themselves, which my all accounts is a win-win scenario.

If you own a business or if you represent a business that is trying to increase their market share on the Internet, make this mandatory reading.

Marketing with E-Mail: A Spam-Free Guide to Increasing Sales, Building Loyalty, and Increasing Awareness
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The Best Book On E-mail Marketing Around

Marketing with E-Mail: A Spam-Free Guide to Increasing Sales, Building Loyalty, and Increasing Awareness
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E-mail offers broader reach, higher measurability, quicker delivery, and easier consumer feedback for a lower cost than any other marketing medium. Here is detailed advice on how to expand and improve marketing opportunities, communications, and online relationships with this valuable tool. Topics include e-mail newsletters, online networking, signature files, and e-mail promotions. Also discussed are the differences between unsolicited commercial e-mail, anonymous bulk e-mail, and valid commercial e-mail. Small businesses will appreciate information on how to level the playing field with larger competitors by exploiting the unique opportunities available through e-mail.

Customer Reviews:

The Best Book On E-mail Marketing Around.......2000-12-30

Working in advertising, I've read more books on e-mail marketing than I care to count. Most, I've found, repeat themselves. Not this one. Ms. Kinnard is an eloquent writer, making it simple for anyone new to e-mail marketing to execute the book's many ideas on the best uses of the medium. In fact, I'm recommending it to all users of our e-mail service. If you have a small business and want to start e-mail marketing, buy this book. You won't need another.

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Marketing astrological services allows an astrologer to be self-supporting. This book tells you how to build a Master Plan that includes: targeting your market, budgeting, designing your image and putting it into print, advertising and advertisements, promotions, public relations, networking, public speaking, civic involvement, press releases, writing articles, and direct mail.

High-Impact Presentation & Training Skills
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High-Impact Presentation & Training Skills
Micki Holliday
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How To Stop from Derailing Your Job Search.......2005-11-29

Job Hunting is a stressful time. At my staffing company we've found that most of the time it's the candidate - not the recruiter, job market, industry, or economy - that makes or breaks the job search. If we had been able to offer this book, 95 Mistakes Job Seekers Meet, we may have been able to help alleviate the stress of the job hunt and the glitches that come as a result.

This little book may be short, but every word is worth absorbing before you begin your hunt. Compiled from lots of interviews of hiring managers, employers, recruiters and the like, Richard Fein has created a smart pocket-sized compendium on stopping you from derailing yourself with the simplest mistake.

The 95 tips are compiled into 15 easy to digest chapters. Each bit of advice begins with the mistake job seekers - usually a paragraph or just a couple sentences; for example, Mistake #34: "Lack examples for your personal characteristics." The mistake is followed by a longer discussion of why this it's dangerous and what you can do to avoid it. Solution #34? If you say you're hard-working, back it up with an example like "I typically work 60 hour weeks." Don't throw characteristics around - especially if you are doing it because it sounds good - if you can't explain yourself.

The format is simple and useful; the writing is clear and easily understood, but not elementary. I read through 95 Mistakes pretty quickly, but I'd recommend reading it over again, picking out each mistake and incorporating Fein's advice in your job hunting mindset. His interviews have found common mistakes I probably wouldn't have thought of - and ones I've been guilty of myself.

As an added bonus, four extra chapters discuss five or six common mistakes for candidates in special circumstances including moving from the military to civilian employment, mistakes minorities make, advice for college graduates and tips for those with disabilities.

In all our years of matching qualified professionals with successful jobs, we've read some really great resumes, enjoyed quite a few interviews, and met some impressive candidates. On the other hand, we've encountered those who've seriously derailed themselves, too. Stop yourself from derailing by picking up this easy to read book.

Great...Wondeful...It does what it says it will do........2004-03-27

This book does a great job of helping you avoid what not what to do. Which I feel is important. This book is a wonderful resource in this respect, but it left me with the question, "What should I do?"

This leads me to the classic, "How to find your dream job and make it a reality." By Jason McClure. This book doesn't tell you want to avoid, like the book reviewed, it tells you what to do to find a meaningful career. I think both of these books work hand and hand with each other. It is almost like the authors knew each other, and worked as a team to develop a resource library for job seekers.

The Post-College Survival Handbook: The Essential Money Skills You Need to Make It on Your Own
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Advice on everything from keeping a checkbook to car buying.

The Post-College Survival Handbook: The Essential Money Skills You Need to Make It on Your Own
Jo-Ann Johnson , and Jo-Ann Johnston
Manufacturer: Macmillan General Reference
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Customer Reviews:

Advice on everything from keeping a checkbook to car buying........1999-02-11

This book's subtitle, "The Essential Money Skills You Need to Make It on Your Own," is an apt description of its contents. So many kids graduate college without a clue about handling money, and get deeper and deeper into debt as the years go on.

The Post-College Survival Handbook: The Essential Money Skills You Need to Make It on Your Own

Average customer rating:

The Post-College Survival Handbook: The Essential Money Skills You Need to Make It on Your Own
Jo-Ann; Johnston, Jo-Ann Johnson
Manufacturer: Macmillan General Reference
ProductGroup: Book
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How Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. got its start and how it grew: An oral history and narrative overview
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How Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. got its start and how it grew: An oral history and narrative overview
Joseph W Kutchin
Manufacturer: Mitchell Energy & Development Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0966212703

Book Description

George P. (for Phydias) Mitchell grew up poor in Galveston, the son of a one-time goatherd from the Greek Peloponnesus. He's a soft-spoken oilman who created a new community that will soon have a population of more than 100,000. He's a top geologist, with an enviable record as an oil finder. He's invested millions in a crusade to shepherd the earth's resources in order to achieve a sustainable future. He built a freewheeling wildcatting company into one of the nation's largest and most successful independent energy producers. And he's smart, intuitive, lucky and persistent.

The updated "How Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. Got Its Start and How It Grew" is the story of Mitchell and his company told in narrative form and in a series of interviews of the people who nurtured the company through the years. It is Horatio Alger, Texana, human conflict, tales of the oil patch, and a study of the shaky start of what is now one of the most innovative and successful new communities anywhere, all rolled into one. Its author is Joseph W. Kutchin, an experienced journalist who served many years as the corporation's vice president in charge of public relations.

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