Fischer v. Magyar Allamvasutak Zrt.

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing without prejudice lawsuits filed by Holocaust survivors and heirs of Holocaust victims against Hungarian railway and national bank seeking compensation for property seized from plaintiffs during Holocaust. While defendants-national railway and national bank could be sued in U.S. under exception to Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act if plaintiffs could demonstrate that they had exhausted any available Hungarian remedies, plaintiffs failed to show that Hungarian courts were clearly sham or inadequate forums. Fact that Hungarian courts lacked class action mechanism or that return to Hungary posed potential security concerns for plaintiffs did not require different result. Moreover, Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing on forum non conveniens grounds plaintiffs’ lawsuit against private bank, where relative convenience of parties and practical difficulties of dealing with Hungarian documents and Hungarian law favored trial in Hungary, especially where cases against national railway and national bank were now going to be held in Hungary.