Envoy to the Holocaust appointed

There is no U.S. envoy to the Crucifixion or a special State Department office for the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption.  But there is now an official representative to the Holy Hoax in a blurring of the line between Church and State--or should we say, SYNAGOGUE and State?

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PRESS RELEASE
U.S. Department of State

Biography of Randolph Marshall Bell

Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues

Mr. Bell was appointed Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues in May 2002.

Mr. Bell entered the Foreign Service in August 1972, following studies at the College of William and Mary (BA, 1969) and Cambridge University (MA, 1971). His early diplomatic assignments included postings in Frankfurt, Prague and Vienna as well as to the State Department Operations Center. He completed Advanced East European Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute and attended the National Defense University. Mr. Bell subsequently was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he worked on Soviet and East European political issues (1984-1985).

Mr. Bell served as Political-Economic Counselor in Prague (1985-1988) and Political Counselor in Brussels (1989-1993). He directed the Office of Russian and Eurasian Affairs in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1993-1996). He also served as Director of the Office of United Kingdom, Ireland and Benelux Affairs in the Bureau of European Affairs (1996-1999), where he managed U.S. policy for relations with these countries. In September 1999, he proceeded to Bern to serve as interim Chargé d'Affaires, returning in the summer of 2000 to take up his assignment as Director for Austria, Germany and Switzerland Affairs (2000-2002).

Mr. Bell has worked extensively on issues related to World War II and the Holocaust. He led the U.S. team that helped organize the December 1997 London Conference on Nazi Gold. He also negotiated the successful closeout of the postwar Tripartite Gold Commission and the subsequent establishment of the $61 million Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund, which provides relief to needy victims who had previously received little or no compensation and also provides resources for projects aimed at preventing similar injustices in the future. Mr. Bell worked closely with Treasury Deputy Secretary Eizenstat to negotiate the two bilateral agreements concluded with Austria in 2000 and 2001 for payments to former World War II forced laborers and to individuals who lost property during that period. In his current capacity as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the German Foundation, "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future" and as an observer to the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC).

Mr. Bell has earned the Department of State's Superior Honor Award four times individually and once as a group award recipient. He speaks German, French and Czech.

Mr. Bell is married and has a son. He is a member of the American Foreign Service Association, the Virginia Historical Society, Phi Beta Kappa, the Arlington-East Falls Church Civic Association, and St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia.

Released by the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, August 2002.

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http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/2002/12692.htm