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Moreover, insurance and banking are far more complex than other businesses to trace because of the intricate way that money traveled a circuitous global route. Exactly where the boundaries of blame should be drawn has led to endless debates about how far to extend responsibility for the one war that truly engulfed the globe.

''Whole conferences are held on these sorts of questions,'' said Ron Zweig, a Tel Aviv University Holocaust expert and a member of a historians panel helping oversee the US records declassification. ''These are difficult and complex issues.''

Greg Murphy provided research assistance for this article. Mark Fritz's e-mail address is mfritz@globe.com.