gertrude was engaged in that activity as well. with various german prosecuting agencies to see if they would take those files and act on them. we were trying to publish the records of the nuremberg trials but subsequently came out of the green. we also had a complete german text, which was never published. the army decided it would be too expensive. i was doing this wrapping up thing and going forward to resuming a normal life and starting a law practice in new york. one day i had a visit from a man who was general counsel to the joint distribution community. this was the only leading one at assistanceroviding throughout the world. all in germany. their headquarters was all in paris. and their director was a man by the name of dr. joseph swarts -- dr. joseph schwartz. problem and we a would like to help you help us with that problem. the jewish government had persuaded the u.s. government to enact a law providing the restitution of property, which had been stolen or confiscated from the jews. all covered not only jews. law wasisio

my good wife gertrude said look, you know this business better than anybody else. long did they say we take? i said they thought it might take two years. she said knowing you it would only take one year. i agreed to stay and i designated myself the director general of the jewish restitution successor organization, knowing nothing would impress the germans more than being a director at the general. that is how it began. >> what was the date? benjamin ferencz: i was hired for that job in august 1948. and we had an immediate major crisis. the law required all claims be submitted by the end of that year, the end of december, 1948. that was four months in which to find staff, find funding, training staff, locate the property, submit the claims on long forms because this was a first step in a long judicial process. the first thing i did was recognized that was impossible. as soon as i agreed to undertake the job, i resigned from nuremberg and it went to see the commanding general for all u.s. forces in germany stationed in berlin. i had known general clay from before. i

gertrude. and before we got home, i don't know how she got the message to my grandmother, but before we got home, she had informed her that we crossed the street against the light, whereupon we were informed that your granddaddy would deal with you when he comes home. and that -- or he said your daddy will. and that is the worst threat to ever have. mr. bond: so these people feel free to discipline you? justice thomas: they didn't have the need because they knew the fear of my grandfather was more than enough to discipline us. but if they had to, yes. and then we would get a second one from my grandfather. mr. bond: oh, boy. [laughter] do you remember specific events that you view as critical to your understanding of american society and history? events from the civil rights movement, events in savannah, something that let you know who you were, where you were, what was expected of you or what was not expected of you? justice thomas: that would be hard. i don't think it is a specific event. i t

i disgusted with my good wife, gertrude. and she said, look, it is true, you know this business better than anybody else. they said it might take two years. she said i know you would only take one year. so, all right, we will stretch it a little bit longer. so i agreed to stay. and i designated myself the director general of the jewish restitution successor organization, knowing that nothing would impress the germans more than being a director and the general, so that is how it began. >> what was the basis of the organization? mr. ferencz: i was hired for that job in august 1948. and we had an immediate major crisis. the law required that all claims be submitted by the end of that year, the end of december 1948, ahead of our three month, four staff locates the property, submits the claims on longform -- because this was the first step in a long judicial process. the first thing i did was recognize that was impossible. so as soon as i agreed to undertake the job, i resigned from nuremberg, and i went to see the commanding gen

gertrude. and before we got home, i don't know how she got the message to my grandmother, but before we got home she had informed her that we crossed the street against the light where monday we we -- where upon we were informed that your grand daddy will deal with you when he comes home or she said your daddy will deal with you when you get home and that was the worst threat you could ever have. >> did these people feel free to discipline you as well? >> oh, yeah. they didn't have the need because they knew the father of my grandfather was more than enough to discipline us. if they had to, yes, and then we would get a second one from my grandfather. >> oh, boy. do you remember a specific events, historical or personal that you view as critical to your understanding of american society and history, events from the civil rights movement, events in your neighborhood, events in savannah, something that let you know where you were, who you were, what was expected of you or not expected of you? >> y

bea kristol irwing's widow gertrude with whom i served for 1 years on the council, she was a member ofy happy to have her here tonight. we also have with us tonight elizabeth nelson, irving and bea's daughter bill's sister and susan kristol bill's wife. we're very happy to have them, too. now, many of you might think that tonight's event is just a big d.c. party with a prominent speaker followed by dancing. that's wrong. now, it is that but it's also an academic event. the council of academic advisers of aei comprises a set of academics from leading universities around assembled by aei to serve two duties. first, to rÑview the work produced by aei scholars to make certain that that work meets academic standards. now, these are not the stañdards of ph.d. dissertations. the scholars could not be responsive to fast-moving event ifs they were forced to adhere to those standards. but the job of the council is to make certain that the work of aei scholars is solid that it's empirically defensible and more r'defensive persuasive. aei scholars know this standard and more than meet it. the seco