Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION BERYL A. HOWELL, United States District Judge In the dark chapter of history that is World War II, Winston Churchill called the shipment of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to the Nazi death camps in Poland and Germany “probably the greatest and most horrible crime ever committed in the history of the world.” First Am. Compl. (“FAC”) ¶ 4, ECF No. 21. The fourteen named plaintiffs in this proposed class action, Rosalie Simon, Helen Herman, Charlotte Weiss, Helena Weksberg, Rose Miller, Tzvi Zelikoviteh, Magda Kopolovich Bar-Or, Zehava (Olga) Friedman, Yitzhak Pressburger, Alexander Speiser, Ze-ev Tibi Ram, Vera Deutsch Danos, Ella Feuerstein Schlan-ger, and Moshe Perel (collectively, “the plaintiffs”), survived this vicious aspect of the greater Holocaust. FAC ¶¶ 5-81. The plaintiffs no longer reside in Hungary. See FAC ¶¶ 5-9, 14, 26, 27, 38, 40, 48, 64, 72, 80. Four of the named plaintiffs, Simon, Weiss, Miller, and Schlanger, are now U.S. nationals; two plaintiffs, Herman and Weksberg, are nationals of Canada; one plaintiff, Danos, is a national of Australia; and the remaining seven plaintiffs are nationals of Israel. Id. They seek recompense for alleged atrocities committed against and property allegedly stolen from them during the Holocaust by the three defendants, the Republic of Hungary (“Hungary”) and the state-owned Magyar Államvasutak Zrt. (“MÁV”), which is the Hungarian national railway (collectively, “the Hungary Defendants”); and Rail Cargo Hungaria Zrt. (“RCH”), which is a freight rail company that is the successor-in-interest to MÁV Cargo Árufuvarozási Zrt., f/k/a MÁV Cargo Zrt., a former division of MÁV. Pending before the Court are two Motions to Dismiss filed by the Hungary Defendants, ECF No. 22, and Defendant RCH, ECF No. 70. For the reasons explained below, though the plaintiffs may indeed be deserving of greater restitution than any amounts they have been provided, the defendants’ motions are granted. I. BACKGROUND The plaintiffs observe that “[njowhere was the Holocaust,” which involved the systematic murder of more than six million people, “executed with such speed and ferocity as it was in Hungary, where in 1944 over a half a million souls were dispatched to their deaths within a period of less than three months.” FAC ¶ 1. The gratuitous nature of this slaughter is apparent in the fact that “[m]ost, but not all, of the Hungarian atrocities occurred near the end of the war in 1944, when the Nazis and Hungary, knowing they had lost, raced to complete their eradication of the Jews before the Axis surrendered.” Id. ¶3. It was only through the complicity and efficiency of Defendants MÁV and RCH’s predecessor, the cargo unit of MÁV, that Hungary’s Jewish population was “transport[ed] by train to the killing fields and death camps of Nazi Germany-occupied Poland and the Ukraine, where the Jews were tortured and the vast majority died” in such a short period of time. Id. “In less than two months, over 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported, mostly to Auschwitz, in 147 trains.” Id. ¶ 108; see also FAC ¶ 121 (“During the German occupation, over 500,000 Hungarian Jews died from maltreatment or were murdered. The overwhelming majority of these were among the close to 440,000 Jews who were deported to Auschwitz between May 15 and July 8, 1944.”); id. Exs. A-B (data related to Hungarian Jewish ghettoes during World War II and deportation trains). Indeed, all but two of the named plaintiffs in this matter were transported, with the concurrent expropriation of their property, in the spring of 1944. See id. ¶¶ 11-81. These plaintiffs, unlike hundreds of thousands of others, including the plaintiffs’ friends and family, survived the Hungarian atrocities. See id. ¶¶ 11-81. The defendants recognize that “the wrongs inflicted upon Plaintiffs and millions of others were wrongful — they clearly were,” and note that “[njothing said in the defense of this lawsuit can, or should, diminish the world’s condemnation of Nazi wrongdoing during World War II.” Hungary Defs.’ Mem. Supp. Mot. Dismiss (“Hungary Defs.’ Mem.”) at 1 and n.l, ECF No. 22-1. The FAC describes in vivid detail the horrific experiences endured by the plaintiffs. • See FAC ¶¶ 11-81. While the depredations suffered by the plaintiffs are undisputed and the insufficiency of any direct restitution to them similarly patent, resolution of the instant motions rests on an examination of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) and the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), the combination of which statutes bars the plaintiffs’ suit. As background, the Court first describes the historical events affecting the plaintiffs and underpinning this lawsuit before turning to the characteristics of the defendants critical to assessing their amenability to suit in the United States. Next, the Court reviews the efforts of the United States and other sovereign nations, including Defendant Hungary, to provide compensation to the victims of the Hungarian Holocaust and the progress of this litigation. A. The Plaintiffs Twelve of the named plaintiffs allege that they were transported in 1944 by Defendants MÁV and/or RCH from their homes in Hungary to labor or death camps in various countries as part of the Nazi-led assault on the Jewish people. See FAC ¶¶ 11, 22-24, 31, 43, 50-51, 66-68, 72-74, 80, 100. Plaintiff Zelikovitch was transported in 1941 by MÁV or RCH and again in 1944. Id. ¶¶ 15, 19. All but two of the plaintiffs were, at some point, sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz on Defendants MÁV and/or RCH’s trains. Id. ¶ 100. Thirteen plaintiffs allege that their possessions and those of their families “were taken from them by MÁY and/or [RCH] as they boarded the rains for embarkation.” Id. The plaintiffs complain that defendants MÁV and/or RCH “sold, liquidated or otherwise converted” the plaintiffs’ property and “commingled those funds with other revenues.” Id. Eleven of the plaintiffs also allege that Hungarian government officials participated or colluded in the confiscation of their property when they arrived at MÁV train stations or during their transport by MÁV officials. Id. ¶¶ 12, 16, 23, 30, 43, 65-66, 80. Specifically, the plaintiffs assert that during the ghettoization of the Hungarian Jews, Hungarian officials inventoried the property left behind in Jewish homes, which “was then expropriated by Defendant Hungary and converted to cash through sales and other means[]” and that “[t]he proceeds were transferred to the Hungarian government treasury and co-mingled with other Hungarian government revenues.” Id. ¶ 99. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege, “[a]U expenses associated with ghettoization were taxed on the Jews, including the Plaintiffs herein.” Id. ¶ 98. The fourteenth plaintiff, Pressburger, was not transported by Defendant Hungary or Defendant MÁV or RCH, but alleges that his family’s property “was likewise stolen by MÁV and/or [RCH], never to be returned[ ]” in the spring of 1944, when his father’s agricultural cargo was confiscated by a MÁV stationmaster upon delivery to a train station for shipment. Id. ¶¶ 39, 100. In addition to confiscating the personal possessions of those who were transported by the defendants, the plaintiffs complain that the defendants “collaborat[ed] in murder and willful and grotesque violations of international law[ ]” by delivering Hungarian Jews in inhumane conditions to hostile authorities in “Nazi Germany-occupied Poland and the Ukraine.” Id. ¶¶ 3-4. The plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint outlines the World War II experiences of each of the named plaintiffs, and the Court will briefly recount below the chilling details of the defendants’ roles in persecuting these individuals, their families and communities because they were Jewish. Plaintiffs Simon, Weiss, Miller, Herman, and Weksberg (collectively, under their maiden names, “the Lebovies sisters”) “were raised in Tarackoz in Hungarian-annexed Ruthenia.” Id. ¶ 10. Simon, Weiss, and Miller currently live in the United States, while Herman and Weks-berg live in Canada. Id. at ¶¶ 5-9. In the spring of 1944, the Lebovies sisters, along with their brother and parents, were deported via Defendant “MÁV’s trains to the ghetto in Mateszalka, and then to Auschwitz.” Id. ¶ 11. Some of their possessions were confiscated by Hungarian government officials in Teresva, and some were confiscated by Defendants MÁV and/or RCH as they boarded the train for Auschwitz. Id. ¶ 12. The plaintiffs allege that the Lebovies sisters’ property, after being confiscated by the Hungary Defendants and/or Defendant RCH, was liquidated “to pay Defendants MÁV and/or [RCH] for the cost of transporting the family from their home in Teresva and later from the ghetto in Mateszalka to Auschwitz.” Id. ¶ 13. Plaintiff Zelikovitch is a citizen of Israel, but was born “in Uglya in Carpatorus, part of Hungarian-annexed Ruthenia,” in 1928. Id. ¶ 14. In the summer of 1941, “the entire Jewish population of Uglya, including ... [Zelikovitch] and his family, were deported by” Defendant MÁV or RCH across the border to Ukraine, which was under Nazi control. Id. ¶ 15. Before arriving in the Ukraine, Zelikovitch’s family’s possessions “were confiscated by officials of the Hungarian government” and MÁV or RCH personnel at train stations in Tecevo and Jatzin. Id. ¶ 16. Zeliko-vitch eventually escaped and returned to Hungary to find that his family’s home and property had been confiscated. Id. ¶ 18. Zelikovitch was recaptured by Hungarian police in 1944 and handed over to MÁV or RCH. Id. ¶ 19. His remaining possessions were confiscated and he was transported to Auschwitz by trains “owned and operated by MÁV or [RCH].” Id. ¶¶ 19. Plaintiff Bar-Or, a citizen of Israel, was born in Hungarian-annexed Ruthania in 1928. Id. ¶21. In the spring of 1944, Hungarian police evicted Bar-Or and her family from their home. Id. ¶22. Her parents “bribed a Hungarian policeman to allow the family to keep a large wooden package containing the family’s valuables, including jewelry, gold and silver items, diamonds, bedding, clothing, Judaica and other items,” then valued at more than $1,000. Id. ¶¶ 22-23. While being transported to the Mateszalka Ghetto in Hungary, this package was “confiscated en route by Defendants MÁV and/or [RCH] in collusion with Hungarian government officials.” Id. ¶ 23. The family .was later transported by Defendant MÁV or RCH to Auschwitz. Id. ¶ 24. Bar-Or and her sister, upon liberation, learned that their family’s home and property had been confiscated. Id. ¶ 26. Plaintiff Friedman, a citizen of Israel, was born in Satoraljaujhely, Hungary in 1932. Id. ¶27. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Friedman’s family was informed they would have to move to the ghetto. Id. ¶ 29. They transferred title to their home to a non-Jewish couple, but hid many of the family’s valuables in one room in the home to which the Friedman family retained title. Id. ¶ 29. Upon removal from their home, however, Hungarian police confiscated many of the valuables the family tried to carry with them. Id. ¶ 30. In June of 1944, the Friedman family was “forcibly taken from [the ghetto] by Hungarian police and herded on foot into the MÁV train station in Satoral-jaujhely.” Id. ¶ 31. The family was transported to Auschwitz by defendant MÁV or RCH. Id. ¶ 33. Friedman and her sister were later force-marched as part of the “infamous Death March” to camps at Ra-vensbruck and Bergen Belsen before being liberated in April 1945. Id. ¶¶ 35-36. Plaintiff Pressburger, a citizen of Israel, was born in Prague in 1933 and later immigrated with his family to Budapest, Hungary, where his father worked as an agricultural products trader. Id. ¶ 38. In 1944, Pressburger’s father was delivering “five wagons of dried prunes ... [when] the MÁV station-master and his staff-members confiscated all of [his] goods at the Ujvidek railway station[.]” Id. ¶ 39. The loss “impoverished the family,” of which Pressburger is the sole remaining member. Id. Plaintiff Speiser, a citizen of Israel, was born in Ersekujvar, Czechoslovakia in 1928. Id. ¶ 40. In May of 1944, Speiser and his family were forced to move into the Ghetto in Ereskujvar, and later to a brick factory where they were “fenced in like animals for approximately three weeks and continuously guarded by the Hungarian police.” Id. ¶42. On June 14, 1944, they were transported to Auschwitz by Defendant MÁV. Id. ¶ 43. As they were forced onto the train, they were surrounded by Hungarian police and their possessions were confiscated by MÁV or RCH personnel, including “a two carat blue-white diamond ring that [Speiser’s] father purchased for his mother.” Id. ¶¶ 41, 43. The family was put in a railway car with “eighty or ninety” other Jews, where they traveled for three days “during which time the doors to the cattle car remained sealed. There were no toilet facilities, and conditions were bestial.” Id. ¶¶ 44-45 Plaintiff Ram, a citizen of Israel, was born in Munkács, Hungary in 1930. Id. ¶ 48. In mid-April of 1944, Ram and his family were taken to a brick factory “which served as a collection point for deportation of the Jews by train” where “several Hungarian police and MÁV employees” were waiting. Id. ¶¶ 50-5 1.. MÁV employees told the family to “leave their suitcases” and Ram “watched as a MÁV official took a pair of shoes from his father’s suitcase as well as his mother’s suitcase, which contained all of the valuable jewelry that she was not wearing.” Id. ¶ 54. The family was then transported to Auschwitz in a cattle car. Id. ¶ 55. The plaintiffs state that “conditions in the cattle car were wretched. There was no water and ... it seemed as if there was no air. One bucket served as the bathroom .... Several people died during the train trip due to' the conditions in the cattle cars.” Id. ¶ 56. Plaintiff Danos, a citizen of Australia, was born in Verpelet, Hungary in 1926. Id. ¶ 64. Danos’ father was a “wealthy wine merchant” whose business was confiscated by Defendant Hungary in 1943. Id. ¶ 65. In May 1944, the Hungarian police evicted the family from their house, seized “all of their jewelry and valuables[,]” and marched them to the ghetto. Id. ¶ 66. After a week of living in the ghetto, Danos and her family were forced to board a MÁV or RCH train “destined for Auschwitz,” at which time MÁV officials forced them to abandon their personal belongings, “includ[ing] clothes and valuables.” Id. ¶ 68. The train trip took several days with approximately seventy people in each cattle car. Id. ¶ 69. After being liberated in May 1945, Danos returned to Hungary before emigrating with her surviving family to Australia. Id. ¶ 71. Plaintiff Schlanger, á citizen of the United States, was born “to a Hungarian family resident in Benedike, Czechoslovakia” in 1930, where her parents “had a large estate of several thousand acres where they grew tobacco and owned a distillery.” Id. ¶ 72. In April 1944, when the Hungarian police removed Schlanger and her family to a brick factory, they brought with them “clothing, bed clothes, personal items and some jewelry[.]” Id. ¶ 73. When they were later forced to board a MÁV or RCH train, railway personnel took their “personal items and jewelry from them,” including “an engagement ring, a diamond, a seal coat and valuable watches.” Id. ¶ 74. Plaintiff Perel, a citizen of Israel, was born in Ersekujvar, Hungary in 1927. Id. ¶ 80. In 1944, Perel and his family were forced from their home into a ghetto and were later transported to concentration camps via Defendant MÁV trains. Id. “The transport was orchestrated by MÁV and the Hungarian Police, who took [Per-el’s] watch and the family’s valuables and luggage upon embarkation.” Id. The plaintiffs allege that, following these events, none of the plaintiffs were compensated for their losses, except for Plaintiff Schlanger, who received payment, totaling $5,000, from the Hungarian government. Id. ¶ 79. The plaintiffs seek damages on their own behalf and on behalf of all Hungarian Holocaust survivors as well as immediate family members of Hungarian Holocaust victims. Id. ¶¶ 148-44. B. The Defendants Defendant Hungary is a “sovereign nation” subject to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq. FAC ¶ 82. The plaintiffs’ claims are based on the activities of Hungarian officials during World War II when the country was allied with Nazi .Germany. See id. Defendant MÁV has “operated continuously” as the Hungarian National Railway since 1868, id. ¶ 84, and for the purposes of the FSIA, Defendant MÁV “is an agency or instrumentality of the Republic of Hungary!,]” id- ¶ 85. MÁVs trains and rail lines were used to transport hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews from their homes to Nazi concentration camps in Poland and the Ukraine. See id. ¶ 84. Defendant RCH is the successor-in-interest to MÁV Cargo Árufuvarozási Zrt., f/k/a MÁV Cargo Zrt., a Division of Defendant MÁV. Id. ¶86. Defendant RCH was, during World War II, the “freight hauling unit or division of MÁV” and worked with the Hungary Defendants to “confiscate the possessions of Hungarian Jews and transport! ] them to their intended deaths at Auschwitz and other German concentration and extermination camps.” Id. Defendant RCH is now a private company owned by Rail Cargo Austria, “the freight forwarding subsidiary of the Austrian public railway company!.]” Decl. of Liesel J. Schopler, Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC (Nov. 12, 2012) (“Schopler Decl.”) ¶ 2(e), ECF No. 73-1 (quoting Defendant RCH’s website). Thus, Defendant Hungary and Defendant MÁV are sovereigns for the purposes of the FSIA, FAC ¶¶ 82, 85, while Defendant RCH is a private corporation with a principal place of business in Budapest, Hungary, id. ¶86. C. Post-War Efforts To Compensate Hungarian Holocaust Victims At the end of World War II, “Jewish communal leaders submitted to [Hungarian] party leaders and to the government their demands in support of the deportees and for a swift and generous restitution and indemnification program.” FAC ¶ 126 (quoting Randolph L. Braham, 2 The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary (“Politics”) at 1307 (1994)). The Hungarian government was not unsympathetic and “did implement an array of legislative enactments and remedial statutes.” Id. ¶ 127 (citing Politics at 1308). These statutes fell short on implementation, however, And the plaintiffs complain that “the Jews saw no tangible results with respect to restitution and indemnification.” Id. In 1947, the allied powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom (the “Allied Nations”), signed a peace treaty formally ending the war with Defendant Hungary. See id.; Treaty of Peace with Hungary (the “1947 Treaty”), Feb. 10, 1947, 61 Stat. 2065. In this treaty, Defendant Hungary agreed to “restore! ]” and, if restoration were impossible, to pay “fair compensation,” to people “under Hungarian jurisdiction” whose property was confiscated during the war “on account of the racial origin or religion of such persons.” Id. art. 27(1). Any “unclaimed” expropriated property would be transferred to refugee aid organizations six months after the 1947 Treaty came into force. See id. art. 27(2). The 1947 Treaty provided a three-tiered procedure for resolution of disputes “concerning the interpretation or execution of the [1947] Treaty,” excluding several limited exceptions that are inapplicable here, starting with “direct diplomatic negotiations,” then referral to the “Heads of the Diplomatic Missions in Budapest of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” id. art. 40(1) (referencing art. 39(1) to define “Heads of Mission”), and finally, additional dispute resolution procedures if the three Heads of Mission were unable to agree on a resolution, id. The plaintiffs do not state whether they ever attempted to invoke relief under the 1947 Treaty’s dispute provisions outlined in Article 40. See generally FAC. Following the ratification of the 1947 Treaty, the Communist Party took control in Hungary and showed little interest in upholding the 1947 Treaty’s requirements vis a vis Holocaust survivors. See FAC ¶ 130. The plaintiffs note that a “Jewish Restoration Fund” was established “[i]n the 1950s,” apparently as required by the 1947 Treaty’s Article 27(2), but “the funds were rarely used for their intended purpose and they were frequently raided by the Communists for financing their own political projects.” Id. ¶ 131. In 1973, the United States and Defendant Hungary entered into an Executive Agreement “Regarding the Settlement of Claims” to settle all claims “of nationals and the Government of the United States for ... property, rights and interests affected by Hungarian measures of nationalization, compulsory liquidation, expropriation, or other taking on or before the date of [the] agreement,” including “obligations of the Hungarian People’s Republic under Articles 26 and 27 of the” 1947 Treaty. Agreement Regarding the Settlement of Claims (“1973 Agreement”), U.S.-Hung, arts. 1-2, March 6, 1973, 24 U.S.T. 522; see Deck of Meghan A. McCaffrey, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (“McCaffrey Decl.”) Ex. 2 (text of 1973 Agreement), ECF No. 22-5. Under the terms of the 1973 Agreement, the Hungarian Government paid the United States government $18,900,000 as “full and final settlement and in discharge of all claims” held by United States nationals and the United States government. Id. art. 1. None of the named plaintiffs, including the four plaintiffs, who are currently United States nationals, claim to have sought or received compensation as a result of the 1973 Agreement. See generally FAC. Beginning in 1992, shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain, “the Hungarian Parliament adopted a law providing compensation for material losses incurred between May 1, 1939 and June 8, 1949.” Id. ¶ 132. That law was followed shortly thereafter by another statute, “providing compensation for those who, for political reasons, were illegally deprived of their lives or liberty between March 11, 1939 and October 23, 1989.” Id. Although the FAC does not specify under which law she received compensation, the plaintiffs note that Plaintiff Schlanger “received compensation from Hungary, in the amount of $5,000, for the loss of her father ($2,000), her mother ($2,000) and her brother ($1,000)[,]” and “has never been compensated ... for the loss of the family’s personal property[.]” Id. ¶ 79. The plaintiffs astutely observe that these remedies, provided for by Hungarian law, “were paltry and wholly inadequate.” Id. ¶ 132. D. Procedural History Sixty-five years after the end of World War II, the named plaintiffs filed the instant action, seeking relief from the defendants for their alleged losses suffered during the Holocaust. See Comph, ECF No. 1. Soon after the case was filed, upon the plaintiffs’ motion, the Court appointed the plaintiffs’ counsel as interim class counsel pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 23(g)(3). See Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Appointment of Interim Class Counsel, ECF No. 9. After all three defendants had appeared and filed motions to dismiss, the United States filed a Notice of Statement of Interest, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 517, to “express the United States’ foreign policy interests implicated by claims brought” against Defendant RCH, which is now an Austrian company. See Statement of Interest of the United States of America (“U.S.SOI”) at 1, ECF No. 42. While taking “no position on the merits of the underlying legal claims or arguments advanced by plaintiffs or by defendants,” the United States, “because of [its] strong support for international agreements with Austria involving Holocaust claims against Austrian companies — agreements that have provided nearly one billion dollars to Nazi victims[]” recommended “dismissal of the claims against RCH on any valid legal ground(s).” Id. at 1. The United States noted that its policy regarding “claims for restitution or compensation by Holocaust survivors and other victims of the Nazi era has consistently been motivated by the twin concerns of justice and urgency[]” and that the United States has thus “advocated that concerned parties, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations act to resolve matters of Holocaust-era restitution and compensation through dialogue, negotiation, and cooperation” rather than extensive litigation. Id. at 2. With respect to Austria, the country in which Defendant RCH’s parent company is domiciled, the United States explained that, “[s]ince 1945, the United States has sought to work with Austria to address the consequences of the Nazi era and World War II through political and governmental acts, beginning with the first compensation and restitution laws in post-war Austria that were passed during the Allied occupation! ]” and continuing with joint efforts to develop funds to compensate victims of the Holocaust. Id. at 14. The United States cites, as “[o]ne example of the successful implementation” of its policy, the 2001 Austrian General Settlement Fund (“GSF”), which was “created to provide a potential remedy for victims with Nazi-era claims against Austria and/or Austrian companies not covered” by an earlier Austrian fund, the “Reconciliation, Peace and Cooperation” fund (“Reconciliation Fund”). Id. at 2-3, 6. Although the United States emphasizes that the GSF “is not a government-to-government claims settlement agreement,” and did not “extinguish! ] the claims of its nationals or anyone else!,]” Eizenstat Decl. ¶ 15, “it is nonetheless aimed at achieving legal closure for Austrian companies and the Republic of Austria with respect to claims arising out of World War II and the Nazi era.” U.S. SOI at 12 (emphasis added); see also Ex. 1 (Decl. of William J. Burns, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs) ¶ 3, ECF No. 42-1 (“The United States’ efforts to facilitate these cooperative compensation arrangements is part of a larger policy to ensure the greatest compensation for the greatest number of Holocaust victims and their heirs, in their lifetimes, as well as to support a broad ‘legal peace’ for countries and companies subject to ongoing claims.”); Eiz-enstat Deck ¶ 31 (“[A]s a result of the inclusion in the GSF not only of Austrian companies that existed during the Nazi era, but also of the Austrian Federal Government and Austrian companies that did not exist during the Nazi era, the GSF, will be able to comprehensively cover all Nazi-era property/aryanization claims against Austria and/or Austrian companies, and all other claims not covered by the Reconciliation Fund.”); id. U.S. SOI Ex. 3 (Decl. of then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright) ¶ 3, ECF No. 42-1 (“The establishment of the GSF will significantly reduce the tensions surrounding a number of very sensitive issues.”). In this case, the United States “has determined that Defendant RCH is an ‘Austrian company’ as defined in Annex B to the GSF Agreement[,]” because it is “primarily (nearly 100%) owned by Rail Cargo Austria, an Austrian company that is owned by an Austrian holding company that is in turn owned by the Republic of Austria.” U.S. SOI at 11. The United States avers that “maintenance of this suit against RCH runs contrary to the GSF’s goal of ‘legal closure’ and to enduring United States foreign policy interests.” Id.; see also Suppl. Statement of Interest of the United States (“U.S.SuppLSOI”), ECF No. 52, at 2 n.l (emphasizing that the definition of “Austrian companies” in the agreement between Austria and the United States “is not tied to the [time of the] creation of the GSF” and that “[t]he United States has determined that RCH is an Austrian company under this definition.”). The plaintiffs assert that the U.S. SOI is “entitled to no weight in the Court’s deliberations” because it does not address the merits of the underlying dispute and merely recommends dismissal of this action “on any valid legal ground(s),” a recommendation the plaintiffs call “wholly superfluous.” Pis.’ Resp. to U.S. SOI at 1-2, ECF No. 44 (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). The plaintiffs also dispute the conclusion in the U.S. SOI that Defendant RCH is “an Austrian company as defined in the Agreement and its accompanying ■joint statement^]” since it was not acquired by Rail Cargo Austria until 2008, seven years after the GSF agreement. See id. at 2. With the defendants’ two motions to dismiss pending, the plaintiffs moved to take an expedited oral deposition of Laszlo Csa-tary, a man in his late 90s living under house arrest in Budapest, Hungary. See Pis.’ Mem. Supp. Pis.’ Mot. Lv. Take Expedited Oral Dep. at 1, ECF No. 62-2. Although the parties had not yet convened a Rule 26(f) conference, the plaintiffs requested leave, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2)(a)(iii), to proceed with expedited discovery because of the advanced age and importance of the witness and the concern that he “cannot be long for this earth.” See id. at 6. This motion was granted. See Mem. and Order at 11-12, ECF No. 68. 11. STANDARD OF REVIEW A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) “‘Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction,’ possessing ‘only that power authorized by Constitution and statute.’ ” Gunn v. Minton, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1059, 1064, 185 L.Ed.2d 72 (2013) (quoting Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994)). Indeed, Federal courts are “forbidden ... from acting beyond our authority,” NetworkIP, LLC v. FCC, 548 F.3d 116, 120 (D.C.Cir. 2008), and, therefore, have “an affirmative obligation ‘to consider whether the constitutional and statutory authority exist for us to hear each dispute.’ ” James Madison Ltd. by Hecht v. Ludwig, 82 F.3d 1085, 1092 (D.C.Cir.1996) (quoting Herbert v. Nat’l Acad. of Scis., 974 F.2d 192, 196 (D.C.Cir.1992)). Absent subject matter jurisdiction over a case, the court must dismiss it. McManus v. District of Columbia, 530 F.Supp.2d 46, 62 (D.D.C.2007). To survive a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), the plaintiff must establish the court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter by a preponderance of the evidence. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992); Bolden-Bey v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 731 F.Supp.2d 11, 13 (D.D.C. 2010) (“On a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the court has subject matter jurisdiction.”). When considering a motion under Rule 12(b)(1), the court must accept as true all uncontroverted material factual allegations contained in the complaint and “construe the complaint liberally, granting plaintiff the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged and upon such facts determine jurisdictional questions.” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co. v. FDIC, 642 F.3d 1137, 1139 (D.C.Cir. 2011) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). The court need not accept inferences drawn by the plaintiff, however, if those inferences are unsupported by facts alleged in the complaint or amount merely to legal conclusions. See Browning v. Clinton, 292 F.3d 235, 242 (D.C.Cir.2002). In evaluating subject-matter jurisdiction, the court, when necessary, may look beyond the complaint to “undisputed facts evidenced in the record, or the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court’s resolution of disputed facts.” Herbert, 974 F.2d at 197; see also Alliance for Democracy v. FEC, 362 F.Supp.2d 138, 142 (D.D.C.2005). B. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) To survive a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), the plaintiff bears the burden of “establishing a factual basis for the [Court’s] exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendant.” Crane v. N.Y. Zoological Soc’y, 894 F.2d 454, 456 (D.C.Cir.1990) (citing Reuber v. United States, 750 F.2d 1039, 1052 (D.C.Cir.1984), overruled on other grounds by Kauffman v. Anglo-Am. Sch. of Sofia, 28 F.3d 1223, 1226 (D.C.Cir.1994)). When, as here, the parties rely solely on “affidavits and other written evidence,” the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing that the court has personal jurisdiction. 5B Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, FedeRal PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 1351 (3d ed.2014); see Mwani v. bin Laden, 417 F.3d 1, 6 (D.C.Cir.2005) (“a court ordinarily demands only a prima facie showing of jurisdiction by the plaintiffs”). Similarly to a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), “the uncontro-verted allegations of the complaint must be taken as true, and the court will draw all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor.” William W. Schwarzer et al., Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial § 3:412 (2013); see Walden v. Fiore, — U.S.-,-, 134 S.Ct. 1115, 1119 n. 2, 188 L.Ed.2d 12 (2014) (accepting jurisdictional allegations in complaint as true at motion to dismiss stage). “The plaintiff, however, cannot rest on bare allegations or conclusory statements and must allege specific facts connecting each defendant with the forum.” GTE New Media Servs., Inc. v. Ameritech Corp. (GTE), 21 F.Supp.2d 27, 36 (D.D.C.1998); see also Second Amendment Found. v. U.S. Conf. of Mayors, 274 F.3d 521, 524 (D.C.Cir.2001) (noting the “general rule that a plaintiff must make a prima facie showing of the pertinent jurisdictional facts”) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted); First Chicago Int’l v. United Exchange Co., 836 F.2d 1375, 1378 (D.C.Cir.1988) (“Conclusory statements ... do not constitute the pri-ma facie showing necessary to carry the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Naartex Consulting Corp. v. Watt, 722 F.2d 779, 787 (D.C.Cir.1983) (same); Atlantigas Corp. v. Nisource, Inc., 290 F.Supp.2d 34, 42 (D.D.C.2003) (stating plaintiff “cannot rely on conclusory allegations” to establish personal jurisdiction). As is the case for a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1), the court “may consider materials outside the pleadings' in deciding whether to grant a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.” Jerome Stevens Pharms., Inc. v. FDA 402 F.3d 1249, 1253 (D.C.Cir.2005). The court “may receive and weigh affidavits and any other relevant matter to assist it in determining the jurisdictional facts.” United States v. Philip Morris Inc., 116 F.Supp.2d 116, 120 n. 4 (D.D.C.2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Mwani, 417 F.3d at 7 (holding that plaintiffs “may rest their [jurisdictional] argument on their pleadings, bolstered by such affidavits and other written materials as they can otherwise obtain”). Any “factual discrepancies appearing in the record must be resolved in favor of the plaintiff,” however. Crane, 894 F.2d at 456 (citing Reuber, 750 F.2d at 1052); see also Barot v. Embassy of Republic of Zam., No. 13-451, 2014 WL 1400849, at *3 (D.D.C. Apr. 11, 2014) (D.D.C.2010). III. DISCUSSION The Hungary Defendants, as sovereign entities, argue that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over them pursuant to the FSIA. See Hungary Defs.’ Mem. at 6-12. Defendant RCH challenges this Court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over it, see Def. RCH’s Mem. Supp. Mot. Dismiss (“Def. RCH Mem.”) at 1, ECF No. 70, and contends that the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted because their claims are time-barred, id. at 28-41. All three defendants contend that venue is improper in this District under the doctrine of forum non conviens, Hungary Defs.’ Mem. at 24-35; Def. RCH’s Mem. at 2, and that the claims are non justiciable under the political question doctrine, Hungary Defs.’ Mem. at 12-24; Def. RCH’s Mem. at 13-28. Even were this United States District Court an appropriate forum to adjudicate claims arising overseas decades ago from the Holocaust and, in that context, to assess the sufficiency of a foreign sovereign’s efforts to redress those horrors, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the Hungary Defendants under the FSIA and personal jurisdiction over Defendant RCH due to the lack of minimum contacts between that defendant and the United States. Since the Court finds that the Hungary Defendants are immune from suit under the treaty exception to the FSIA, and no personal jurisdiction may be exercised over Defendant RCH, the defendants’ other arguments need not be addressed to resolve the pending motions. The Court begins with a discussion of the evolution of both the law regarding sovereign immunity, which culminated in the FSIA, and the principles underlying the limits on the extraterritorial reach of this Court’s jurisdiction, as applied under the ATS. Considerations of international comity implicated by both of these laws bolster the Court’s conclusion that the plaintiffs’ claims are not properly adjudicated here. The Court then analyzes the separate jurisdictional concerns of the Hungary Defendants and Defendant RCH. A. Evolving Limits on the Exercise of Jurisdiction Under the FSIA and ATS The plaintiffs acknowledge that addressing the depredations suffered by Jewish victims, such as the plaintiffs, during the Hungarian Holocaust has garnered much attention by multiple governments. See FAC ¶¶ 124-132. Indeed, the plaintiffs are not complaining that their complaints have gone unnoticed, but rather that the “remedies provided ... were paltry and wholly inadequate.” Id. ¶ 132. The plaintiffs may be correct about their entitlement to additional restitution and compensation, but statutory requirements, compounded by precedent in this Circuit and the Supreme Court, restrict the use of this Court as the mechanism to address the plaintiffs’ concerns and obtain such relief. Among the first Holocaust-era claims filed in any United States court was Princz v. Fed. Republic of Ger., 26 F.3d 1166 (D.C.Cir.1994), which was filed in this District. See Michael J. Bazyler, Nuremberg in America: Litigating the Holocaust in United States Courts, 34 U. Rich. L. Rev. 1, 23 (2000) (describing Princz litigation as one of fewer than twelve cases filed by Holocaust victims in the United States prior to 1996). In Princz, an American citizen imprisoned by the Nazis and forced into slave labor, sought damages from the modern German state for the atrocities inflicted upon him. See Princz, 26 F.3d at 1168. Although “[t]he district court held that it had jurisdiction of the case on the ground that the FSIA ‘has no role to play where the claims alleged involve undisputed acts of barbarism committed by a one-time outlaw nation[,]’ ” the D.C. Circuit dismissed the case, commenting that the district court’s conclusion was “not the law.” Id. at 1169. The question before the Princz court is the same one with which the Court wrestles today: the application of the FSIA where the acts alleged are so egregious and reprehensible that members of civilized society feel propelled to rectify the wrongs. The D.C. Circuit retraced the history of sovereign immunity in U.S. courts, where prior to 1952, “the United States, as a matter of grace and comity, granted foreign sovereigns ‘virtual absolute immunity’ from suit in the courts of this country.” Id. (citing Verlinden B.V. v. Cent. Bank of Nigeria (Verlinden), 461 U.S. 480, 486, 103 S.Ct. 1962, 76 L.Ed.2d 81 (1983)). Courts “consistently ... deferred to the decisions of the political branches — in particular, those of the Executive Branch — on whether to take jurisdiction over actions against foreign sovereigns and their instrumentalities.” Id. (quoting Verlinden, 461 U.S. at 486, 103 S.Ct. 1962) (alteration in original). Prior to 1952, it was assumed that a U.S. court did not have jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns unless the Executive Branch advised the court that it could exercise jurisdiction. See id. This “virtual absolute immunity” gave way in the “first half of the 20th century,” to the modern “restrictive theory of sovereign immunity,” limiting the immunity conferred on a sovereign to “public acts of the foreign state” and not extending such immunity “to its commercial or private acts.” Id. (citation omitted). By 1976, Congress had codified the restrictive theory in the FSIA. Id. The FSIA became the sole basis by which jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign could be exercised by a United States court. See id. at 1170; see also Ye v. Zemin, 383 F.3d 620, 625 (7th Cir.2004) (noting that “the pre-1976 practice of courts reflexively deferring to the Executive Branch’s immunity determinations has been eliminated” by the FSIA). In Princz, the plaintiff argued that the activity of the sovereign defendant in that case fell into three statutory exemptions permitting adjudication, including the so-called commercial activity exception to the FSIA, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2); the waiver exception under 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1); and the treaty exception under 28 U.S.C. § 1604. See id. at 1171, 1173, 1175. The D.C. Circuit rejected all three bases for the exercise of jurisdiction, finding that the enslavement of the plaintiff by the Nazis did not cause the requisite “direct effect” on the’ United States to trigger the commercial activity exception, id. at 1173; the violation of jus cogens did not imply a waiver of sovereign immunity, id. at 1174; and no international agreement conflicted with the FSIA’s grant of sovereign immunity so as to trigger the treaty exception, id. at 1175. Thus, under the FSIA, Germany was immune from suit in United States courts even when that country’s Nazi-era government committed atrocities against a person, who was a United States citizen at the time that country was perpetrating the Holocaust. Id. at 1175. The Princz court foreshadowed the further development of principles of international comity under the FSIA, in the context of genocide allegations, in its response to a vigorous dissent. See id. at 1174 n. 1. The Princz dissent would have allowed the suit to go forward under an implied waiver of foreign sovereign immunity based on the Nazi-era German state’s “engaging in the barbaric conduct alleged in this case.” Id. at 1179 (Wald, J. dissenting). The majority cautioned, however, that without a clear expression of Congressional intent, United States courts could not “assume jurisdiction over the countless human rights cases that might well be brought by the victims of all the ruthless military juntas, presidents-for-life, and murderous dictators of the world, from Idi Amin to Mao Zedong.” Id. at 1174 n.l. Such a reading “would likely place an enormous strain not only upon our courts but, more to the immediate point, upon our country’s diplomatic relations with any number of foreign nations. In many if not most cases the outlaw regime would no longer even be in power and our Government could have normal relations with the government of the day — unless disrupted by our courts, that is.” Id. While acknowledging that a- U.S. court might be the plaintiffs “last hope of reparation^]” the court nonetheless held that it could not “responsibly make the inferential leap that would be required in order to provide him with the federal forum he seeks.” Id. Eight years later, in Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677, 681, 690, 124 S.Ct. 2240, 159 L.Ed.2d 1 (2004), the Supreme Court took up a question left open in Princz: namely, whether the FSIA applied retroactively to events that occurred before its enactment and before the State Department’s 1952 policy statement — the so-called “Tate letter” — confirmed the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity as the policy of the United States. In Alt-mann, an art collector’s heir sued the Republic of Austria and its National Gallery, an instrumentality of the Austrian state, for the return of several paintings expropriated by the Nazis. Id. at 680-81, 124 S.Ct. 2240. The Supreme Court concluded that the FSIA applied to acts occurring prior to its enactment. See id. at 700, 124 S.Ct. 2240. In reviewing the history of sovereign immunity, the Court noted that from nearly the beginning of the Republic, it was clear that “the jurisdiction of the United States over persons and property within its territory ‘is susceptible of no limitation not imposed by itself,’ and thus foreign sovereigns have no right to immunity in our courts.” Id. at 688, 124 S.Ct. 2240 (quoting Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon, 11 U.S. 116, 7 Cranch 116, 136, 3 L.Ed. 287 (1812)). Nevertheless, concomitant with this principle was the idea “that as a matter of comity, members of the international community had implicitly agreed to waive the exercise of jurisdiction over other sovereigns in certain classes of cases, such as those involving foreign ministers or the person of the sovereign.” Id. The Altmann Court reviewed the history leading to enactment of the FSIA, just as the D.C. Circuit had in Princz, noting that before the FSIA’s enactment, “the Executive Branch followed a policy of requesting immunity in all actions against friendly sovereigns.” Id. at 689, 124 S.Ct. 2240. In 1952, this case-by-case policy changed in favor of the policy reflected in the Tate letter, declaring a governing principle whereby the United States would follow the “restrictive theory” of sovereign immunity, which requires immunity for sovereigns “with regard to sovereign or public acts (jure imperii) ... but not with respect to private acts (jure gestionis).” Id. at 690, 124 S.Ct. 2240 (citation omitted). The FSIA, passed in 1976, “codifies, as a matter of federal law, the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity, and transfers primary responsibility for immunity determinations from the Executive to the Judicial Branch.” Id. at 691, 124 S.Ct. 2240 • (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). In finding that the FSIA was the most recent statement of intent as to sovereign immunity put forth by the United States government, the Supreme Court found that it applied to acts taken by sovereigns that occurred both before and after the FSIA’s enactment. See id. at 696,124 S.Ct. 2240. , Nevertheless, the Supreme Court observed that “immunity reflects current political realities and relationships, and aims to give foreign states and their instrumen-talities some present ‘protection from the inconvenience of a suit as a gesture of comity.’ ” Id. (quoting Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson, 538 U.S. 468, 479, 123 S.Ct. 1655, 155 L.Ed.2d 643 (2003)) (emphasis in original). Of particular importance to the Supreme Court was the notion that suits against foreign sovereigns are “sui gener-is,” requiring a different set of considerations — generally more deferential to the “political branches” — than suits that do not involve the conduct of a foreign sovereign. Id. This notion signaled a growing recognition of the circumscribed nature of United States courts’ jurisdiction over foreign entities, particularly foreign sovereigns. Just a few weeks after the decision in Altmann, the Supreme Court decided Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004), which, in the context of the ATS, further .elucidated the limited scope of federal courts’ jurisdiction to adjudicate claims arising outside U.S. borders between parties who were not U.S. nationals. At issue in Sosa was whether a foreign national could sue another foreign national in U.S. courts based on an alleged abduction that occurred in Mexico at the behest of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. See Sosa, 542 U.S. at 697-98, 124 S.Ct. 2739. The Supreme Court found no private right of action for the violation of the law of nations under the ATS except “in a very limited category [of claims] defined by the law of nations and recognized at common law.” See id. at 712, 124 S.Ct. 2739. The Sosa court discussed three distinct elements of international law: (1) “the general norms governing the behavior of national states with each other”; (2) “[t]he law merchant” that arose out of “the customary practices of international traders and admiralty [that] required its own transnational regulation!]”; and a third, highly circumscribed category of offenses, which “overlapped with the norms of state relationships! ]” and encompassed “violation of safe conducts, infringement of the rights of ambassadors, and piracy.” See id. at 714-15, 124 S.Ct. 2739 (citations omitted). In discussing the historical context of the ATS, the Supreme Court concluded that the ATS was applicable at the time of the Framers and that “Congress intended the ATS to furnish jurisdiction for a relatively modest set of actions alleging violations of the law of nations!,]” specifically the three aforementioned crimes. See id. at 719-20, 124 S.Ct. 2739. In general, the Sosa court concurred with Blackstone’s view that ‘“offences [sic] against this law [of nations] are principally incident to whole states or nations,’ and not individuals seeking relief in court.” Id. at 720, 124 S.Ct. 2739 (quoting 4 William Blaciístone, CommentaRies *68) (second brackets in original). Moreover, the Sosa court cautioned against the overstepping of judicial boundaries in recognizing causes of action, especially because “the potential implications for the foreign relations of the United States of recognizing such causes should make courts particularly wary of impinging on the discretion of the Legislative and Executive Branches in managing foreign affairs.” Id. at 727, 124 S.Ct. 2739. The Court elaborated on its warning, stating “[i]t is one thing for American courts to enforce constitutional limits on our own State and Federal Governments’ power, but quite another to consider suits under rules that would go so far as to claim a limit on the power of foreign governments over their own citizens, and to hold that a foreign government or its agent has transgressed those limits.” Id. Sosa and Altmann interpret two statutes authorizing the exercise of jurisdiction over a sovereign or foreign person — the FSIA and the ATS, respectively — but evince a common directive: the power of the federal courts to vindicate private rights based on wrongs that occurred overseas, particularly when those acts are perpetrated by foreign sovereigns, is highly constrained. In 2008, in the context of an interpleader action, the Supreme Court again highlighted the importance of comity in cases involving foreign sovereign defendants. See Republic of Philippines v. Pimentel, 553 U.S. 851, 865-66, 128 S.Ct. 2180, 171 L.Ed.2d 131 (2008). In Pimen-tel, the Supreme Court held that where one party to an action is immune from suit under the FSIA, and the immune party is a “necessary” party within the meaning of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19, the entire case must be dismissed so as to avoid the “potential for injury to the interests of the absent sovereign.” Id. at 867, 128 S.Ct. 2180. At issue in Pimentel was whether the Republic of the Philippines had a right to the proceeds in a U.S. brokerage account that once belonged to deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos. See id. at 857-60, 128 S.Ct. 2180. The Supreme Court reversed the holding of the district and appellate courts that an interpleader action could go forward, even though the sovereign defendant — the Republic of the Philippines— was immune from suit ip the United States, for “failing] to give full effect to sovereign immunity.” Id. at 865, 128 S.Ct. 2180. The Supreme Court noted that where “claims ... arise from events of historical and political significance .... [t]here is a comity interest in allowing a foreign state to use its own courts for a dispute if it has a right to do so.” Id. at 866, 128 S.Ct. 2180. Of particular concern to the Pimentel court was the fact that the sovereign defendants in that case had “a unique interest in resolving the ownership of or claims to the [challenged] assets and in determining if, and how, the assets should be used to compensate those persons who suffered grievous injury under Marcos.” Id. Similarly to the D.C. Circuit in Princz, the Pimentel court saw grave problems in subjecting a sovereign to suit in U.S. courts, particularly where the claims involve a contentious issue of “historical and political significance” to the sovereign. See id. (“The dignity of a foreign state is not enhanced if other nations bypass its courts without right or good cause.”). Although no FSIA exception applied to the Republic of the Philippines in Pimentel, see id. at 865, 128 S.Ct. 2180 (stating the FSIA exceptions “are inapplicable here, or at least the parties do not invoke them”), the concern for allowing a class of victims of a foreign dictator to attempt to seize assets that could rightfully belong to a foreign sovereign is entirely in line with the cautious tone raised by Altmann and Sosa, see id. at 866,128 S.Ct. 2180. More recently, in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., — U.S.-,-, 133 S.Ct. 1659, 1663, 185 L.Ed.2d 671 (2013), the Supreme Court expanded on the line of reasoning laid out in Sosa pertaining to the ATS. At issue in Kiobel were the claims of foreign nationals against foreign companies for alleged conduct that occurred on foreign soil. See id. at 1662-63. Among the atrocities alleged in Kiobel were aiding and abetting the state sponsored “beating, raping, killing, and arresting residents and destroying or looting property.” Id. at 1662. The Kiobel Court noted that, although the ATS is “strictly jurisdictional,” the presumption against extraterritorial application of U.S. law — and, consequently, the jurisdiction of United States courts — is rooted in the need to “protect against unintended clashes between our laws and those of other nations which could result in international discord.” Id. at 1664 (quoting EEOC v. Arabian Am. Oil Co. (Aramco), 499 U.S. 244, 248, 111 S.Ct. 1227, 113 L.Ed.2d 274 (1991)) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Supreme Court held that “the danger of unwarranted judicial interference in the conduct of foreign policy is magnified in the context of the ATS, because the question is not what Congress has done but instead what courts may do.” Id. (emphasis added). The Kiobel Court cautioned that the foreign policy concerns, “which are implicated in any case arising under the ATS, are all the more pressing when the question is whether a cause of action under the ATS reaches conduct within the territory of another sovereign.” Id. at 1665. The practical consequences that could flow from throwing open U.S. courthouse doors to vindicate harms caused by egregious conduct perpetrated by foreigners overseas were of particular concern to the Kiobel Court, which stated that “accepting petitioners’ view would imply that other nations, also applying the law of nations, could hale our citizens into their courts for alleged violations of the law of nations occurring in the United States, or anywhere else in the world.” Id. at 1669. Thus, the Court found, “[t]he presumption against extraterritoriality guards against our courts triggering serious foreign policy consequences, and instead defers such decisions, quite appropriately, to the political branches.” Id.; see also Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 654 F.3d 11, 77-78 (D.C.Cir. 2011) (Kavanaugh, J. dissenting in part) (listing ongoing protests by foreign governments to extraterritorial application of ATS for “improperly interfereflng] with their rights to regulate their citizens and conduct in their own territory”), vacated and remanded by 527 Fed.Appx. 7 (D.C.Cir.2013). Similarly to the ATS, the FSIA is a jurisdictional statute because it “take[s] away no substantive right but simply changes the tribunal to hear the case.” Princz, 26 F.3d 1166, 1170 (alteration in original, quotation marks and citation omitted). Yet, as the exclusive method under which litigants may hale foreign sovereigns into courts in the United States, see id. the FSIA implicates the same policy considerations about which the Supreme Court advised caution in Kiobel, 133 S.Ct. at 1669. If anything, the policy concerns raised in Kiobel, where jurisdiction was sought over a foreign corporation, see Kiobel, 133 S.Ct. at 1663, apply a fortiori in the FSIA context, where jurisdiction is sought over a foreign sovereign. Most recently, in Daimler AG v. Baumann (Daimler), — U.S.-,-, 134 S.Ct. 746, 763, 187 L.Ed.2d 624 (2014), the Supreme Court discussed the need to hon- or international comity, this time in the context of a suit against a German company, under the ATS and Torture Victim Protection Act, for alleged human rights violations that took place outside of U.S. territory during Argentina’s “dirty war,” id. at 751. The Supreme Court found that a federal court in California could not exercise general jurisdiction over the German corporation for its alleged collaboration “with Argentinian state security forces to kidnap, detain, torture, and kill plaintiffs and their relatives during” Argentina’s military dictatorship, when no part of the alleged collaboration giving rise to the plaintiffs’ claims occurred in United States territory and the corporate defendant had insufficient connection to the forum. Id. at 751. In doing so, the Daimler Court criticized the lower court for paying “little heed to the risks to international comity” engendered by “its expansive view of general jurisdiction.” Id. at 763. Of particular concern was that “foreign governments’ objections to some domestic courts’ expansive views of general jurisdiction have in the past impeded negotiations of international agreements on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments.” Id. (citation omitted). The Supreme Court therefore found that “[cjonsiderations of international rapport thus reinforce our determination that subjecting [the foreign defendant] to the general jurisdiction of courts in California would not accord with the fair play and substantial justice due process demands.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). * * * The plaintiffs seek to hale a foreign sovereign, Defendant Hungary, its instrumentality, Defendant MÁV, and a foreign private corporation, Defendant RCH, into a U.S. court to answer for the crimes the entities’ predecessors committed seven decades ago. As the previous discussion makes clear, cases involving the FSIA and the ATS nearly always raise substantial comity concerns, which are not diminished by the fact that the claims pertain to the Holocaust during World War II. See Abe-lesz v. Magyar Nemzeti Bank, 692 F.3d 661, 667 (7th Cir.2012). These concerns are heightened with respect to the Hungary Defendants. The FSIA governs the ultimate resolution of this matter as to the Hungary Defendants and the plaintiffs’ claims against these two defendants must be dismissed unless those claims fall within one of the FSIA’s exceptions. See 28 U.S.C. § 1604 (“a foreign state shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States” subject to certain enumerated exceptions). Beginning with Princz and proceeding through to Daimler, this Circuit and the Supreme Court have expressed grave reservations about the use of federal courts to adjudicate claims against foreign entities, under the ATS and the FSIA, for actions that took place on foreign soil, particularly when those claims may be better addressed on a sovereign-to-sovereign level. The claims before this Court, to use Blackstone’s international law elements summarized in Sosa, are more akin to “ ‘offences [sic] against’ the law of nations [that] are ‘principally incident to whole states or nations’ ” than to “mercantile questions, such as bills of exchange and the like.... ” Sosa, 542 U.S. at 714-15, 124 S.Ct. 2739 (quoting 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries *67-68). The claims here are predicated on the execution of Holocaust-related policies in Hungary, even if they include ostensibly commercial