Holocaust-era insurance claims process to be prepared by October

An international commission administering Holocaust-era insurance claims – including those affecting Swiss-based companies -- said that comprehensive preparations for the claims process would be completed by October 29.

An international commission administering Holocaust-era insurance claims – including those affecting Swiss-based companies — said that comprehensive preparations for the claims process would be completed by October 29.

The chairman of the commission, former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, said after two days of discussions in Washington that the remaining questions about the value of policies would be answered within the next 10 days.

Figuring out how many policies that Holocaust victims bought to protect their families in the volatile prewar years and how much they are worth has been one of the toughest issues facing the panel.

The panel includes five big European insurers — Germany’s Allianz AG, France’s AXA, Italy’s Generali, and Switzerland’s Winterthur and Zurich Allied. These five account for 40 percent of the prewar market.

Eagleburger directed the London office of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims to finish arrangements for receiving and processing claims by October 29.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Eagleburger said the commission would pursue “in every reasonable way” sources for obtaining lists of potential claimants and include them in the process.

In dispute is how to arrange a formula for placing values on the claims of families of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust and survivors who were forced to sell their insurance policies and turn in the proceeds to their Nazi persecutors.

Earlier, the issue of claims in countries that became communist after World War II was a stumbling block for the commission.

Communist governments nationalized branches of insurance companies and then either refused to accept liabilities or paid out according to calculations that rendered the claims almost worthless.

A representative of the Czech Republic, meanwhile, gave the commission the names of an additional 15,000 people who held insurance policies.


From staff and wire reports.