The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in August 1998 to identify, settle, and pay individual Holocaust era insurance claims at no cost to claimants.
ICHEIC was established in 1998 following negotiations between representatives of international Jewish and survivor organizations, the State of Israel, European insurance companies and U.S. insurance regulators. The result of the negotiations, a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU"), was signed on August 25, 1998, by several European insurance companies.
This organization headed off the need for legislation in several U.S. states that would provide compensation for such victims. However, New York, California and Florida each passed legislation entitling survivors to compensation prior to its organization. In New York, Senator Guy Velella, sponsored such legislation and hearings with insurance archeology specialists were held to prove victims were denied such claims.
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims ceased accepting claim forms/applications from Holocaust survivors on March 31, 2004. According to the ICHEIC website, all timely filed claims received a final decision through the ICHEIC process by December 2006.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as "the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people." Membership in the WJC is open to all representative Jewish groups or communities, irrespective of the social, political or economic ideology of the community's host country. The World Jewish Congress headquarters are in New York City, and the organization maintains international offices in Brussels, Belgium; Jerusalem; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Geneva, Switzerland. The WJC has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany was signed on September 10, 1952, and entered in force on March 27, 1953. According to the Agreement, West Germany was to pay Israel for the costs of "resettling so great a number of uprooted and destitute Jewish refugees" after the war, and to compensate individual Jews, via the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, for losses in Jewish livelihood and property resulting from Nazi persecution.
The German word Wiedergutmachung after World War II refers to the reparations that the German government agreed to pay in 1953 to the direct survivors of the Holocaust, and to those who were made to work at forced labour camps or who otherwise became victims of the Nazis. The sum would amount, through the years, to over 100 billion Deutsche Mark. Historian Tony Judt writes about Wiedergutmachung:
Sh'erit ha-Pletah is the name of an organization formed by Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps, assigned with acting on their behalf with the Allied authorities. The organization was active between 27 May 1945 and 1950-51, when it dissolved itself.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. The Claims Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the Holocaust. Julius Berman has led the organization as chairman of the board, and currently president, as of 2020.
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accepted definition of the term, and it has been applied variously to Jews who survived the war in German-occupied Europe or other Axis territories, as well as to those who fled to Allied and neutral countries before or during the war. In some cases, non-Jews who also experienced collective persecution under the Nazi regime are also considered Holocaust survivors. The definition has evolved over time.
Moshe Sanbar was an economist and Israeli public figure. He served as governor of the Bank of Israel during 1971–1976.
The World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks was launched to retrieve deposits made into Swiss banks by victims of Nazi persecution during and prior to World War II. Initiated in 1995 as WJC negotiations with both the Government of Switzerland and its banks over burdensome proof-of-ownership requirements for accounts, strong support from United States politicians and leaked documents from a bank guard pressured a settlement in 1998 in a U.S. court for multiple classes of people affected by government and banking practices. As of 2015, $1.28 billion USD has been disbursed for 457,100 claimants.
The Holocaust had a deep effect on society both in Europe and the rest of the world, and today its consequences are still being felt, both by children and adults whose ancestors were victims of this genocide.
The Volcker Commission, also known as the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP), was established in 1996 to investigate the accounts lying dormant since the Second World War in various banks in Switzerland. The committee was headed by former United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker and was composed of three representatives from the Swiss Bankers Association and three appointed by Jewish organizations.
Israel Singer was secretary general of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) from 1986 to 2007.
Samuel J. Dubbin is an American lawyer, public servant, and Holocaust Survivors' rights advocate. He is a principal in the law firm Dubbin & Kravetz, L.L.P., a former shareholder in the law firm Greenberg Traurig, and a former partner with Steel Hector & Davis. A Clinton Administration appointee, he served in the Department of Justice and Department of Transportation. He has received a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating of AV and is included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
Anya Verkhovskaya is a Moscow-born consultant, chief operating officer, film producer, and activist. She is the founder of Class Experts Group, LLC. and former Managing Director of DRRT. Verkhovskaya currently serves as the President of Class Experts Group, LLC.
TheAssociation of Jewish Refugees (AJR) is the specialist nationwide social and welfare services charity representing and supporting Jewish victims of Nazi oppression, and their dependants and descendants, living in Great Britain. The AJR celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2016 with a series of events including a reception at the Wiener Library in London and a two-day seminar at JW3, also in London.
Risk International, founded in 1986, is a risk management consulting firm. It services clients in the areas of outsourced risk management, claims recovery, insurance archaeology, benefits advisement, actuarial services, loss prevention and mitigation. Headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio, the company also has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, London and Ho Chi Minh City.
The Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce or Project HEART was a Holocaust restitution project that was created by a decision of the Israeli Government to locate Holocaust victims and their heirs and the property that was taken from them during the Holocaust and to assist in obtaining restitution for that property. Restitution would have been sought using databases containing the data submitted by Holocaust victims and their heirs and information about the property that was taken from them. Those who were interested in participating were directed to fill out a questionnaire to determine their eligibility and may also have accessed a website and call center for assistance. Questionnaires had been collected and processed by an administrator and then forwarded to the Israeli Government, which had planned to negotiate with the relevant Governments, companies and others who hold Holocaust assets. This project used innovations, such as the Internet, not used in previous restitution attempts and marked the most serious attempt at obtaining restitution for aged Holocaust victims and their heirs. As of April 2014 the project lost 95% of its funding, is accepting no requests, and has been absorbed into the Israeli Ministry of Senior Citizens.
The Humanitarian Fund for the Victims of the Holocaust was created by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) as a result of the "Meili Affair". The fund enabled the Swiss financial industry to participate in the process of paying reparations to the victims of Nazi looting during World War II that was abetted by Swiss banks and the failure of Swiss life insurance companies to honor the policies of Holocaust victims. The fund is administered by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
The Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act of 2017 is US legislation that requires the State Department to report to Congress on steps that 47 countries in Europe have taken to compensate Holocaust survivors and their heirs for assets seized by Nazi Germany and post-war communist governments.
Private sector participation in Nazi crimes was extensive and included widespread use of forced labor in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe, confiscation of property from Jews and other victims by banks and insurance companies, and the transportation of people to Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps by rail. After the war, companies sought to downplay their participation in crimes and claimed that they were also victims of Nazi totalitarianism. However, the role of the private sector in Nazi Germany has been described as an example of state-corporate crime.
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