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July 27, 2010
State Dept. Legal Advisor Memo for the Solicitor
General, 18 Aug 2009
July 13, 2010
FBI Probes Fraud At Claims Conference
The New York
Jewish Week
reports on an expanding federal investigation of the
theft of more than $7 million from the Article 2 Fund, a
pension program for Holocaust survivors administered by
the Claims Conference and funded by the German
government.
The suspected
multi-million dollar fraud appears far larger than an
earlier fraud that came to light in February, also
first reported by the Jewish Week. At that
time, three Claims Conference employees, including a
supervisor, were fired in connection with hundreds of
thousands of dollars in fraudulent claims under the
Hardship Fund, a program designed to benefit Holocaust
victims originally from Eastern bloc countries. Only
after that news report did the Claims Conference issue a
brief
public acknowledgement that a loss had occurred,
without mention of a dollar amount.
The FBI investigation
is ongoing and few new details have been divulged. The
Claims Conference provided statements for the Jewish
Week's latest story, but has not made any official
pronouncements since February addressing concerns about
their handling of hundreds of millions of German and
other funds designated for survivors, many of whom are
needy.
Long-time Claims
Conference critic and communal activist Isi Leibler has
reacted to the scandal with an
opinion column in the Jerusalem Post.
UPDATE: Leibler
has followed up with a
scathing column focusing on the lack of action taken
at the just-completed Claims Conference annual meeting.
One week after the
coverage in Jewish Week, the JTA's Jacob Berkman
filed a story on the scandal.
July
1, 2010
Restore Survivors Rights
An
op-ed in
the Miami Herald by HSF President David Schaecter
and Esther Toporek Finder, president of The Generation
After and a member of the Coordinating Council of
Generations of the Shoah International (GSI), urges
President Obama and Congress to support the rights of
survivors and heirs seeking justice on Holocaust-era
insurance claims.
JTA covers the
news
here.
June 30, 2010
Kagan ducks response on Holocaust claims case
At the June 30th
Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing on the
appointment of Elana Kagan to the U.S. Supreme
Court, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) asked Kagan whether
she would, if seated on the Court, agree to hear an
appeal of the
Generali
case brought by Holocaust survivors. Kagan
declined to answer directly. JTA summarizes the
exchange
here.
June 30, 2010
Specter: "You ought to be able to go to court and
sue them"
Sen. Arlen
Specter prefaced a question to Supreme Court nominee
Kagan with the following statement:
...the
Holocaust issue was one where Holocaust victims
suffered terribly, brought lawsuits against an
Italian insurance company, and the administration
took the position that the Supreme Court should not
hear the decision by the Court of Appeals for the
2nd Circuit, which decided that the claims were
preempted by an executive branch foreign policy
favoring a resolution of such claims through an
international commission. Well, that seems like a
wrong decision to me. You have an insurance policy,
insurance company won't pay on a claim, you ought to
be able to go to court and sue them, and not to have
the governments of the two countries decide what you
can sue.
Link to video of Specter's question time (the
Generali case is referenced at 1:31:48 mark)
June 9, 2010
One year after global conference, "Guidelines" for
Holocaust property restitution announced
No attention to
survivor poverty
Forty three nations
have endorsed non-binding guidelines for the return of real
estate stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust to
rightful owners or heirs.
The document,
entitled
Guidelines and Best Practices for the Restitution and
Compensation of Immovable (Real) Property Confiscated or
Otherwise Wrongfully Seized by the Nazis, was
presented by the Czech Prime Minister at a
special meeting in Prague on June 9. Negotiations on the
guidelines were a follow up to the 2009
Prague
Conference, which produced the "Terezin
Declaration."
News coverage
here and
here.
February 4, 2010
H.R. 4596 Introduced: "Holocaust Insurance
Accountability Act of 2010"
Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen joined by bipartisan co-sponsors
"This Act
expresses the intent of Congress to deem valid State
laws protecting the rights of Holocaust survivors and
the heirs and beneficiaries of Holocaust victims to
obtain information from insurers and to bring actions in
courts of proper jurisdiction to recover unpaid funds
from entities that participated in the theft of family
insurance assets or the affiliates of such entities."
The full text of the
legislation and list of initial sponsors is
here. A statement released by Congresswoman
Ros-Lehtinen is
here.
February 3, 2010
It's
Our
Last Chance to Help Survivors
An
op-ed by Esther Finder urges
Jewish leaders to fulfill their moral responsibility by
acting on commitments to help needy Holocaust survivors.
Finder is
President of the Washington DC-area group, "Generation
After", and a member of the coordinating council of
Generations of the
Shoah International (GSI).
January 13, 2010
Second Circuit rejects appeal of Generali decision
The United States
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has
affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims,
agreeing that such claims were preempted by an Executive
Branch foreign policy favoring the resolution of such
claims solely through an international commission.
For background and
all related documents, see the
HSF Generali
Litigation webpage.
December 22,
2009
Ros-Lehtinen: Congress must act to help survivors
"Time for everyone
on Capitol Hill to stand up for Holocaust survivors and
the families of the victims"
On the eve of
reintroduction of legislation to require insurance
 companies
to disclose the names of Holocaust-era insurance
policyholders, and allow Holocaust survivors or their
heirs to sue the insurance companies in U.S. courts,
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), Ranking Member of the
House Foreign Relations Committee, has penned
an op-ed in the Jewish news service JTA.
December 18,
2009
Generali developments
A powerful
Friend of the Court brief by eminent constitutional
and foreign policy law professors has been filed in the
pending Generali appeal. In the brief, the scholars
argue in support of plaintiffs-survivors seeking
overturning of a 2004 District Court decision blocking
suits against the large Italian insurer accused of
failing to honor Holocaust-era policies.
Attorney Sam Dubbin,
who serves as counsel to HSF,
has filed a response on behalf of plaintiffs in the
Generali appeal to the
Department of Justice brief in late October. The
response challenges basic arguments and omissions made
by the government.
November 5, 2009
State Department urges remaining Swiss funds go to
needy survivors
Eizenstat: "The
needs of the U.S. survivor community are pressing and
well-documented."
The U.S. State
Department is urging the federal judge overseeing the
Swiss bank settlement to consider the "significant
social welfare needs" of U.S. survivors in determining
the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in
unspent settlement funds. A letter
to U.S. District Judge Edward Korman from Stuart
Eizenstat, former U.S. Envoy and current Special Advisor
for Holocaust Issues to Secretary of State Clinton,
briefed the court on the accomplishments of the June
2009
Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, and about
new opportunities to develop effective social welfare
programs to address the special needs of aging survivors
worldwide. The letter was co-signed by Christian
Kennedy, the Obama administration's current
Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
The Eizenstat-Kennedy
letter was transmitted via the U.S. Department of
Justice, which added its own
Statement of Interest.
November 5, 2009
Obama administration opposes survivor lawsuits
DOJ: Holocaust
assets litigation conflicts with U.S. foreign policy
In a
brief to a U.S. Appeals Court filed in late October
2009, the Department of Justice confirmed that the Obama
administration has decided to adopt the position of the
Bush administration that opposes survivors and families
pursuing justice through the U.S. courts against global
insurance companies that failed to pay on insurance
policies they sold to Holocaust victims. The brief
states that “non-adversarial mechanisms” are the
“preferred way” of ensuring compensation to Holocaust
survivors, and that in the case of Holocaust-era
insurance claims, it is “the foreign policy of the
United States that the International Commission on
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) should be
regarded as the exclusive forum and remedy for claims.”
The statement to the
court is related to the pending appeal of a
2004 District Court ruling dismissing cases by
survivors and heirs against the Italian insurer
Assicurazioni Generali.
The plaintiffs in the
case have asked the appellate court for an opportunity
to respond, stating: “It would be fundamentally unfair
if the rights of the Holocaust survivors and heirs with
claims against Generali were decided without giving them
a chance to respond,” and noting that the Obama
Administration’s brief, like the Bush Administration’s,
“(a) fails to demonstrate any adverse reaction from the
government of Italy; (b) fails to show how plaintiffs’
litigation against Generali would in fact undermine any
U.S. foreign policy interest; (c) fails to explain how
foreign policy interests emerged in 2008 and 2009 when
the U.S. government denied they existed for the previous
eight years; (d) fails to address the profound
inconsistencies between the Bush and Obama
Administrations’ broad statements of foreign policy
conflict and the Clinton Administration’s positions; and
(e) is replete with specious reasoning, misleading
claims, and erroneous statements of law. Appellants
deserve, and the Court should obtain, an accurate
record.”
Several members of
Congress, including U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Russ
Feingold, and U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Robert Wexler, Alcee Hastings, Dan Burton, Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz, Elton Gallegly, Ron Klein, Chris
Smith, Kendrick Meek, Mike Pence, Mario Diaz-Balart, and
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, sent letters to Attorney General
Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
urging the Administration to side with the survivors’
and heirs’ right of access to courts.
August 12, 2009
11 Years: The Swiss bank settlement process grinds on
Today is the 11th
anniversary of the Swiss Bank Settlement ("In re
Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation"). For more
background, see our entry
below from a
year ago marking the 10th anniversary.
The
latest claims & distribution statistics have not
been publicly updated for over seven months. These
figures show that as of December 31, 2008, Deposited
Assets settlement awards stood at $545,814,793. This is
about two thirds of the amount originally set aside for
the Deposited Assets (bank account) category.
The U.S. District
Court overseeing the settlement continues to consider a
recommendation to distribute the unspent quarter of
a billion dollars by recalculating & increasing previous
awards.
HSF and the
State of Israel have both filed formal objections to
that recommendation.
July 28, 2009
Op-Ed:
"Holocaust-Era Restitution Conference: Repeat
Performance"
The New York
Jewish Week has published an
analysis of the recent Prague Conference by
Sidney Zabludoff. In April, Zabludoff
shared some hopes and expectations for the
conference.
July 24, 2009
Op-Ed: "Should the Killers be the
Victims' Heirs?"
Commentary by Esther Toporek Finder, member
of U.S. delegation to the Prague Conference.
July
24, 2009
Additional links to Prague presentations
Remarks by Elie Wiesel at Opening Plenary
Remarks by Congressman
Robert Wexler
July 1, 2009
GSI leader Esther Finder speaks at Prague Conference
June 29, 2009
HSF leader Alex Moskovic reacts to conference
HSF Board
member Alex Moskovic, a survivor living in Florida and
member of the U.S. delegation to the Prague Conference,
is quoted in an
Associated Press story as seeing "no forward motion"
coming out of the conference.
June 26, 2009
Prague Conference Gets Under Way
Wire
coverage by Associated Press cites HSF concerns
about lack of survivor voices.
June 22, 2009
HSF confers with Eizenstat, offers support
Following
direct discussions with Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat on
issues related to the Prague
Conference
on Holocaust Era Assets, HSF has informed Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton that it no longer is asking
that Eizenstat be
replaced as head of the U.S. delegation to the
conference.
HSF looks forward to working
with Eizenstat on matters
affecting Holocaust survivors’ rights and interests.
UPDATE: More
background
here and
here.
June
19, 2009
Rep. Robert
Wexler, HSF leader Alex Moskovic named to U.S.
delegation to Prague conference
Announcement from
Rep. Wexler's office
here.
UPDATE:
Complete U.S. delegation listed
here. Of 24 total delegates, five are Holocaust
survivors.
June
14, 2009
Israel shakes up
delegation to Holocaust Assets conference after survivor
criticism
The Israeli
government
plans to replace Reuven Merhav, a private citizen
and top officer of the Claims Conference, as head of the
official Israeli delegation to the international
Conference on Holocaust Era Assets set for late June.
The move came after survivors and others
expressed opposition to Merhav's appointment over
conflict of interest concerns.
UPDATE:
Information and
Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein has been
appointed to head the Israeli delegation to the
conference.
June 3, 2009
HSF urges Obama to address
needs of living survivors
Statement coincides with
President's visit to Buchenwald
HSF has issued a
public statement
on the occasion of President Obama's visit to the Buchenwald
memorial in Germany. In it, the President is asked "to pay
greater heed to the plight of so many thousands of survivors in
our communities who are living in poverty." The statement also
urges the administration to "take the lead in insisting that the
international community address the needs of living survivors as
a moral imperative."
UPDATE:
See
coverage in Ha'aretz newspaper:
"U.S. Holocaust
Survivors: Pres. Should Address Needs"
May 26, 2009
HSF publishes blog page
HSF has started its own
blog page to serve as
a grassroots forum for Survivors, the Second & Third
Generations, and those who support justice & dignity for
survivors. Read and join the conversation
here.
May 24, 2009
Israelis alarmed about
Prague Conference lineup
"Conflict of interest"
concerns
Ha'aretz reports
on the controversy that has
erupted over the appointment
of a top Claims Conference
official to head the Israeli
government delegation to the
Prague Conference on
Holocaust Era Assets
scheduled for June.
May 18, 2009
Si Frumkin
Si Frumkin, Holocaust
survivor and tireless activist on behalf of Soviet
 Jewry and his
fellow survivors, died in California on May 15th. His obituary
in the Los Angeles Times is
here. HSF previously posted a link to his 2008
essay on restitution in
Reform Judaism Magazine. In the past year,
Frumkin threw his support behind passage of the Holocaust
Insurance Accountability Act in the U.S. Congress. Read his
appeals to Rep. Howard Berman, Chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, at this
link.
May
10, 2009
Claims Conference's hardball
tactics exposed
"Criticize us and lose aid"
The Ha'aretz
newspaper
reports on how the Claims Conference uses
Holocaust-related grant funds under its control to
squelch criticism and apply political pressure on social
welfare agencies serving needy survivors.
May 6, 2009
Agenda for Prague Conference
broadened
Discussion of survivor
welfare added after concerns voiced
The agenda of the upcoming
Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, which originally
excluded any formal discussion of survivor welfare issues, has
been expanded after HSF and others expressed criticism. A
special session on "Caring for Victims of Nazism & Their
Legacy" has been added to the conference program |
Conference homepage
April 28,
2009
Holocaust Assets Conference
planned for June
Organizers lay out limited agenda
/
HSF leaders press
for more attention to issue of survivor needs
The European Union,
under the presidency of the Czech Republic, is hosting
an international
Conference
on Holocaust Era Assets set for June 26-30, 2009 in
Prague.
The Conference is
described as a follow up to an international gathering
held over ten years ago in
Washington. Organizers have chosen to focus on two
"unresolved" Holocaust issues, looted art and real (or
"immovable") property. The narrowness
of this agenda, and the absence of any sessions devoted
to the economic, social, housing, and health care needs
of survivors, quickly become the target of criticism.
UPDATE: At the
request of Florida Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, a special public meeting to discuss
the Prague Conference and how the U.S. government can
influence the outcome was held in Miami on May 1st. At
the session, HSF leaders, local survivors, social
service professionals and elected officials shared
concerns over the Prague agenda with the State
Department's Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
On May 4th and 5th
the State Department held what was billed as a
"Town Hall" meeting in Washington, DC to solicit
information from interested individuals or organizations
regarding the planned conference. Representatives of HSF
were in attendance and submitted documents for the
official record. These included a formal
request by HSF
President David Schaecter to address the Prague session,
HSF's letter to Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton,
statement by HSF Counsel Samuel J. Dubbin, and a
summary of the Holocaust insurance issue.
April
30, 2009
Survivors suffering from
Post-Traumatic Stress have special needs
The Tampa Tribune
reports on the high incidence of Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder among Holocaust survivors and the
special care they require.
April 7, 2009
"Unlike Madoff, European
Insurers Remain At Large"
Novelist,
Essayist, Law Professor and Son
of Holocaust Survivors Thane
Rosenbaum has posted a
provocative essay on the Huffington
Post site. Click
here to read.
April 2, 2009
 Rep. Robert Wexler urges
Pres. Obama to support
justice for Holocaust
insurance claims
In a
letter to the
administration, the Florida
Democrat presses the case
for Holocaust insurance
legislation and just & fair
treatment of the claims of
survivors and heirs of
Holocaust victims.
March 19,
2009
Benefits extended to
survivors previously shut out
The Claims
Conference has announced a new agreement with the German
government that allows
needy survivors from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who had been
unfairly rejected for benefits in the past to reapply. Although
no mention is made in the
official press release, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz
reports
that the agreement to allow FSU survivors
to reapply to the
Hardship Fund is actually designed to settle a lawsuit
brought against the Claims Conference. An Israeli court
ruled in June 2008 that the group improperly
misled thousands of claimants and denied them of their benefits.
See HSF post from June 2008
.
March 1, 2009
Editorial: "The survivors'
cause is more than just -- it is a grievous wrong that must be
righted."
In its lead Sunday March 1,
2009
editorial, the
Miami Herald calls for renewed effort
to pass the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act.
February 24,
2009
HSF and State of Israel file
objections to Swiss settlement plan
Both HSF and the
government of Israel have raised objections to a
proposal to recalculate the value of compensation and
award additional compensation to some claimants who have
already received payments from the Holocaust settlement
involving Swiss banks.
The plan is under
consideration by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman,
who oversees hundreds of millions of dollars still not
distributed from the 10 year old Swiss Bank Settlement.
The Court has been criticized for not channeling the
funds more quickly to needy survivors around the world.
The HSF objections
are
here, the Israeli objections
here. The original proposal and related court
documents are found
here.
February 10,
2009
German Ambassador disavows
threat to cut off survivor funding
Jewish
Organizations Raised False Red Flag to Oppose H.R. 1746
German Ambassador to the U.S.
Klaus Scharioth
has written to
HSF stating unequivocally that Germany has no intention to
reduce welfare allocations or renege on commitments to survivors
if the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act passes into law.
The February 10th letter puts to rest the
scare tactics used by the Claims Conference, its
Treasurer Roman Kent, and other organizations that opposed the
legislation in 2008.
January 30,
2009
HSF seeks President Obama's support
President David Schaecter and
HSF Executive Board members have written
this letter to President Barack
Obama on January 30th asking his support for efforts to achieve
justice on Holocaust-era insurance claims.
January 13,
2009
 "Record
Time"
Is the Holocaust museum
helping survivors research their families' fates? Yes, but not
fast enough for Leo Rechter.
HSF Board member Leo Rechter
is featured in Washington City Paper's January 7, 2009
cover story on the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum and it's handling of Holocaust records
from the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany.
More information
here.
November 26,
2008
"Justice for Holocaust
Survivors"
"[M]aybe at long last, all
survivors will be afforded the dignity they deserve in their
last years"
Holocaust Survivor Herb
Karliner published an op-ed in the November 26th edition of the
Miami Herald.
November 12,
2008
"Battle for Holocaust Assets
Roils Israel"
A
front page feature in the
Wall Street Journal
describes the bureaucratic resistance & legal hurdles faced by
survivors and heirs in Israel trying to claim land investments,
bank accounts and other assets owned by their families in
pre-war Palestine. Unclaimed assets absorbed by the State and
private institutions have not been fully accounted for.
More details are found in
Ha'aretz, including
this
tough editorial calling for justice and transparency.
October 28, 2008
HSF opposes proposal to
subsidize European insurers with financial bailout funds
Companies with unresolved
Holocaust claims now seeking piece of the $700 Billion pie
HSF has
submitted a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department in response
to
news reports that European-based insurers are seeking to
benefit
from the largest government rescue in U.S. history,
part of the
"the hottest lobbying game in town."
The Financial
Services Roundtable, an industry lobbying group whose
members include European insurers Allianz, AEGON, ING, AXA &
Zurich, has
urged the Treasury Dept. to expand the size of the
government's planned stock purchase program designed to provide
emergency financial support for banks, and to broaden
eligibility to include foreign-based insurance
companies and banks.
In the letter, HSF states
that "[u]ntil the culpable insurance companies all disgorge
their records and their unjust profits from the Holocaust, we
believe it would offend basic notions of justice and integrity
for Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars to subsidize their
rapacious and immoral behavior." |
Full Letter here
The Treasury Dept. collected
public comments in October on a proposed
Guaranty
Program for Troubled Assets, part of the recently-passed
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA).
October 20,
2008
Vast sums devoted to
defeat H.R. 1746
Several Jewish Organizations, German
Embassy join effort
Through September 30, 2008, the
insurance industry -- led by Italian insurer Generali, Swiss
Reinsurance, and the
Association of Dutch Insurers -- spent over ONE MILLION DOLLARS on
lobbyists opposing H.R. 1746. See the detailed and up-to-date breakdown
here. This figure does not include the
unidentified portion of time and resources expended by European-based
insurance giants Allianz, Zurich, AEGON and ING, along with two
leading U.S. insurance trade associations in opposition to H.R. 1746
as part of their ongoing multi-million dollar lobbying programs.
The industry trade group, the
American Insurance Association, hired
Mara
Rudman, the former Chief Operating Officer of the International
Commission on Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), to represent their
interests on the matter in Congress. See filing for
1st Quarter 2008
and 2nd Quarter
2008.
Three Jewish organizations also
spent lobbying resources to oppose the bill:
American Jewish Committee,
World Jewish Congress, and
the Anti-Defamation League.
Unreported lobbying expenses
were also incurred by German Embassy officials, and officers and
employees of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against
Germany, opposing the legislation.
September 22,
2008
"Upstart" HSF among activists
challenging the establishment
In its
year-end review, the JTA news service highlights HSF's
leadership in battle to pass Holocaust insurance legislation.
September 22,
2008
110th Congress winds down
with action on H.R. 1746 unlikely
Latest
news in Roll Call
|
Background and additional archived news coverage
here.
September 13,
2008
Nazi-linked German insurer
abandons bid for New York stadium-naming rights
Germany's leading insurance conglomerate, Allianz AG, has
abruptly dropped its efforts to negotiate naming rights for a
planned New York-area football stadium after a spontaneous
public outcry led by local Holocaust survivors. HSF Executive
Board member Leo
Rechter was quoted in the New York Times citing
Allianz as one of the insurers "still preventing ...survivors
from fully collecting on valid policies — or from finding them
at all." See full
coverage
here.
August 12,
2008
Ten years after the
historic agreement, only 60% of the deposited assets
settlement, about $489 million, has been paid out.
Detailed distribution statistics as of June 30, 2008 here.
The fate of the remaining hundreds of millions remains
undecided. The decision rests with Federal Judge Edward
Korman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of New York, who oversees the settlement.
UPDATE: $21
million in additional payments to 27 claimants were made
during the three month period July 1-September 30, 2008,
bringing the total payouts to date to $510 million, about
64% of the amount originally earmarked for the Deposited
Assets category.
Details here.
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