Holocaust survivors still seek atonement from railway companies for their role in Nazi deportations

By Sarah Federman, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego

The Holocaust could not have happened without the railways. Preeminent Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg underscored that almost everyone murdered at a camp arrived by train, including Jews, political prisoners, and other “undesirables.”

Since the 1990s, groups of survivors have asked European railway companies to acknowledge and atone for their critical role, a reminder that war, genocide and other atrocities cannot occur without corporate participation.

One long-running attempt met a setback on February 21, 2025, when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out an appeals court ruling in favor of survivors seeking atonement from Hungary’s state railways.

The lower court held that p