Holocaust Survivor's Assistance Office
The deadline for filing a claim with the International Commission on Holocaust-Era Claims (ICHEIC) for unpaid insurance policies dating from the Holocaust Era (1933-1945) was December 31, 2003. ICHEIC recently announced that it had completed its work and closed its last remaining office in Washington D.C. on March 30, 2007.
Despite the end of ICHEIC, consumers can still obtain information on the Commission and its past activities on their website at www.icheic.org. In addition, key documents from the Commission, including decision memoranda and meeting minutes, are being maintained by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org). The Office of the Washington State Insurance Commissioner is also preserving historical documents from our Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program by sending them to our state archives. Researchers can contact the archives by calling (360) 586-1492 for information on how to access the records.
If you are a Washington State claimant and want to check on the resolution of your ICHEIC claim(s), please call the Office of the Insurance Commissioner at 1-800-562-6900.
If you have not filed a claim yet and know the name of the company with which your family was insured, you still may have another option. The companies involved with ICHEIC (Generali, Allianz, AXA, Winterthur, Zurich, and their affiliated companies, as well as other German companies, etc) have agreed to accept post-deadline Holocaust-era claims directly from claimants who know the name of the company with which their family was insured, and to process those claims using ICHEIC valuation guidelines, standards of proof, etc.
In addition, the Austrian General Settlement Fund (GSF) is still processing claims already filed with them. You can access information about the ongoing GSF process on the web at www.en.nationalfonds.org.
Background
Washington state's 1999 Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act
Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act, signed into law on April 15, 1999 Summary:
In April 1999 the Washington State Legislature unanimously passed, and Governor Locke signed into law, the Holocaust Victims Insurance Act of 1999. Major provisions of the law include:
- The establishment of a Holocaust Survivor Assistance Office to assist Holocaust survivors and/or the families and heirs of Holocaust victims in Washington State recover proceeds from insurance policies and other assets that were improperly denied or processed.
- Complete text of Law
Reports
- Update on Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program (July 2007) (PDF 96Kb)
- ICHEIC Legacy Report: Finding Claimants and Paying Them (June 2007) (PDF 291Kb)
- Update on Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program (June 2006) (PDF 101Kb)
- A report of the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Office on outstanding insurance claims. (April 2006) (PDF 249Kb)
- The View from Washington State - Work of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC): the "Value" of Memory "Discounted." (October 2004 ) (PDF 619Kb)
- "Holocaust - Era Insurance Claims: Washington State Experience Update and a Review of the Work of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC)." (June 2002) (PDF 1.5Mb)
Also, Appendices/documents (PDF 1.2Mb) - A status report on Holocaust Era insurance claims (December 2000) (PDF 1Mb)
News Releases
Hearings
- Transcript of November 20, 2000 Rule-Making hearing (PDF 160Kb) before Insurance Commissioner on extension of "safe harbor" provision of the Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act of 1999.
- Transcript of May 1, 2000 investigative hearing (PDF Kb) before Washington State Insurance Commissioner on compliance of European carriers with Washington State law regarding Holocaust Era insurance claims.
- Transcript of January 13, 2000, investigative hearing (PDF 161Kb) before Washington State Insurance Commissioner on compliance of European carriers with Washington state law regarding Holocaust Era insurance claims.
- Transcripts of hearings before the NAIC working group, 1997-98
Policyholder Names
- Fact sheet on Publication of Policyholder Names
Links to Policyholder Names:
- The following is a list of 2,301 names of policyholders from throughout Europe (PDF 76Kb), arranged by country.
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The following is a list of 17 French policyholders of Holocaust-era insurance policies with Riunione Adriatica di Sicurita (RAS) (PDF 5Kb), now a subsidiary of the German insurance company Allianz
All questions regarding these names may be addressed to the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Office, Office of the Insurance Commissioner, toll free number 1-800-562-6900.
NAIC Working Group
In April 1998, a nine-state NAIC task force was formed to succeed the NAIC Holocaust Insurance Issues Working Group, which was appointed in 1997 to investigate Holocaust survivors' allegations that their insurance claims had been ignored by European insurers during the Holocaust and at the end of World War II. The Task Force's assignment was to complete the NAIC's work outlined by the investigation of the Working Group, which held hearings around the nation in 1997 and early 1998. Washington Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn, who chaired the Working Group, was selected as a member of the Task Force.
Other information and links
- International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC)
- How to contact your state Insurance Commissioner
- Registered Holocaust survivors populations, by state
- US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Archived information
An open letter from the Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies urging genealogists around the world to help locate beneficiaries of the so-called "heirless" claims.
Information on Swiss Bank claims
Other resources
- A Guidebook for Holocaust Insurance Claims Outreach (PDF 323Kb)
- Guidebook Addendum (PDF 58Kb)
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