June 1, 2003 Book on Looted Nazi War Treasures To Be Discussed at the Library of Congress on June 24

Stuart E. Eizenstat, former U.S. Ambassador and senior government official in the Clinton administration, will discuss his book, "Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II" (Public Affairs, 2002), at the Library of Congress at noon on Tuesday, June 24, in Room 119, first floor, Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., in Washington, D.C.

The program, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Center for the Book's author series, Books & Beyond. It is co-sponsored with the European Division. Tickets or reservations are not required. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, will introduce the speaker and a book signing will follow the talk.

"Imperfect Justice" is Eizenstat's personal account of how the Holocaust became a political and diplomatic battleground 50 years after the end of World War II, as Europe and America dealt with issues of dormant bank accounts, slave labor, confiscated property, looted art and unpaid insurance policies.

President Bill Clinton calls "Imperfect Justice" a masterful presentation of "some of the most emotionally volatile and complex issues in human history" and a book "that reminds us that it is never too late to set the wheels of human justice in motion." Historian Martin Gilbert notes that this story of "tenacity, determination, and achievement" is told with the drama of a detective novel "by a man who, more than any other individual, enabled a glaring injustice to be reversed and decency to prevail."

From 1993 to 2001, Eizenstat served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union, undersecretary of commerce, undersecretary of state, and deputy secretary of the treasury during the Clinton administration. He also led the Clinton administration's efforts on Holocaust-related issues. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Harvard Law School, Eizenstat was chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Carter from 1977 to 1981. He is currently the head of international trade and finance at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books, reading and literacy. For information about its program, publications, forthcoming events and the activities of its affiliates in 50 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at https://www.loc.gov/cfbook.