A group of Holocaust survivors in the United States have filed a civil suit against two German banks they accuse of appropriating money and assets the Nazis took from Jews during the Second World War.

The group's lawyer told a news conference in New York that the banks the Deutsche Bank and the Dresdner Bank had accepted and sold looted personal property, including the gold teeth of inmates of concentration camps.

A similar suit has been filed against Swiss banks which are trying to reach a global compensation settlement with Holocaust survivors.

On Tuesday, an official American report accused several countries including Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Argentinaof trade dealings with the Nazis and of being paid in gold stolen from Holocaust victims.