The Jewish Claims Conference and German government agreed Wednesday to
increase pensions for Eastern European Holocaust survivors and include
some 1,500 more Western Europeans in the payment scheme, the Claims
Conference said.

Under the agreement, the 1,500 new claimants will be paid a total of
US$65 million (euro48.37 million) over the next decade, the Claims
Conference said in a statement.

Additionally, the Claims Conference successfully argued that the cost of
living in Eastern Europe has gone up, and secured an increase for
Holocaust survivors there. Payments for people in Eastern European EU
countries will go from euro175 (US$235) to euro200 (US$269) monthly, and
in non-EU countries from euro135 (US$181) to euro165 (US$222) as of Oct.
1.

“These breakthroughs will help survivors in many countries,” said Gideon
Taylor, Claims Conference Executive Vice President, in a statement.
“They are important both financially and morally. Particularly
significant are the increases in pensions for survivors in the countries
of the former Eastern bloc, who are facing steep rises in the cost of
living.”

Phantom Rule’ May Have Limited Holocaust-Era Awards To Claimants
Former arbitrator says policy that should have favored survivors and heirs was not applied in many cases.
Stewart Ain - Staff Writer

When a commission investigating Holocaust-era life insurance policies ended its work in March after nine years, it boasted that it had awarded more than $300 million to survivors and their heirs.

Now, a former commission arbitrator is criticizing the group’s work, alleging that a “phantom rule” was used by some of the dozens of arbitrators, accounting in part for the denial of 84 percent of all claims filed.

The arbitrator, Albert B. Lewis, who is also a former New York State insurance superintendent, is calling for a reopening of these cases.

The “phantom rule,” as Lewis described it, was that without an actual insurance policy in hand, either from the company or the claimant, the onus was on the claimant in seeking financial redress.

In fact, though, when the commission was established, the actual rules called for a more sympathetic stance toward the survivors and their heirs, specifying that there would be “relaxed standards of proof” favoring the claimant in determining the awards.

MORE.

The Claims Conference is approaching its annual meeting in July, during
which the board of directors explores the search for additional
restitution assets to alleviate the physical and emotional problems of
aging Holocaust survivors. The board also determines policies concerning
the allocation and distribution of available funds, among other items.

Recently, the Claims Conference has been subject to some criticism in
the media, most of it based upon myths that persist about this
organization despite all evidence to the contrary. The topic of
Holocaust restitution and the distribution of compensation funds is an
understandably emotional issue, but that does not excuse statements
about the Claims Conference that are simply wrong and that can be easily
disproved by a look at the facts.

The Claims Conference goes to extraordinary lengths to be open and
transparent, more so than virtually any other major Jewish organization.
We take our fiduciary and moral responsibility seriously. Accountability
and oversight are central to who we are and what we do.

The Claims Conference posts on its Web site every year, the full
financial statements resulting from its yearly audit by Ernst & Young,
www.claimscon.org/audit. Accompanying the financial statements are
summary charts, www.claimscon.org/financials, of Claims Conference
revenue, expenses, and liabilities and net assets as of Dec. 31 of the
preceding year. As soon as the independent auditors sign off on the
financial statements for 2006, they, too, will be posted on our Web
site.

Also on the Claims Conference Web site you will find the following:
A complete list of allocations made by the Claims Conference:
www.claimscon.org/grants
A description of the allocations process:
www.claimscon.org/allocations-process

* The guidelines for allocations: www.claimscon.org/guidelines

* Data on needs and demographics regarding Jewish victims of Nazi
persecution, including reports regarding current and projected needs of
Nazi victims, a significant basis for allocations decisions:
www.claimscon.org/demographics.

* An overview of the Successor Organization, which recovers unclaimed
property in the former East Germany: www.claimscon.org/successor

* A description of the Successor Organization process:
www.claimscon.org/successor-process

* A report on current assets and pending claims:
www.claimscon.org/sucessor-assets

* A chart showing revenue 1993-2005: www.claimscon.org/successor-revenue

Information on the Independent Review Authority for individual survivors
regarding compensation programs: www.claimscon.org/appeals

This is just some of the information available to the public concerning
the Claims Conference. There is plenty more to be found on the Web site.

All kinds of numbers have appeared in the media regarding the assets of
the Claims Conference. The following is the reality. As detailed in the
2005 financial statements, the Claims Conference had $900 million in
total assets at the end of the year. This amount falls into two
categories, funds that are committed for specific payments and those
that are not, all of which is detailed in the audit:

A. Funds with commitment: $587 million

* $253 million for payments to identified heirs of property in the
former East Germany that the Claims Conference has recovered under
German law.

* $47 million in reserve generally for specific heirs of property in the
former East Germany who are in the process of producing documentation
and/or may be eligible for such payments.

* $238 million in grants payable, which are funds already allocated to
programs for survivors but not yet disbursed by the Claims Conference to
the agency that is implementing the program.

* $20 million designated for contractual obligations: funds exclusively
for distribution to designated survivors and heirs (which was done in
2006).

* $29 million is designated as “other,” which are 2005 accrued expenses
that were paid in 2006.

B. Funds Not Yet Committed: $313 million

* Of this $313 million, $38 million was designated for allocations to be
made in 2006.

* The remaining $275 million is set aside for the long-term needs of
Nazi victims as they age.

Additionally, East German properties that the Claims Conference has
recovered but not yet sold are described in the financial statements.
While we have estimated a value of $50 million for these properties, we
recognize that they are the remainder of the properties we have put up
for sale and, as expected, will be the most difficult to sell. The
number of pending claims is available on our Web site.

The Claims Conference allocates approximately $100 million of Successor
Organization funds every year. Demographic studies (available on the
Claims Conference Web site) show that there will be extensive needs on
the part of survivors over the next 10 to 15 years. As survivors who are
currently around age 75 get older, their needs will become greater. Yet
the sources of restitution funding that are supporting current Claims
Conference allocations for social services will not last nearly that
long.

Those who know the Claims Conference know what we have accomplished and,
more importantly, our devotion to what still needs to be done. The time
is short and work monumental. Read our Web site to see what we do and
why. Together, let’s help those who suffered so much while we can.

Julius Berman is chairman of the Conference on Material Claims Against
Germany.

Groundbreaking set for tomorrow
By Vanessa Gera, Associated Press | June 25, 2007

WARSAW — An empty lawn in the heart of what was once the Warsaw Ghetto will soon become a place not only of mourning, but of celebrating the Jewish life that flourished in Poland before it was destroyed in the Holocaust.

MORE.

NIS 240 million in Bank Leumi shares belong to Holocaust victims

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent

One percent of the shares of Bank Leumi, equal to NIS 240 million, are still in the name of tens of thousands of Jews who were killed during the Holocaust, according to a report submitted last week to the Custodian General. It had previously been estimated that thousands of Jewish Holocaust victims held accounts in Leumi, but it is now apparent that about 20 percent of the shares of the Jewish Colonial Trust (JCT), Bank Leumi’s parent company, are in the name of Holocaust victims.

A law passed last year stipulates that stocks in the name of Holocaust victims are to be transferred to a state company, the Organization for the Restitution of Assets of Holocaust Victims, which is to transfer it to the heirs. The chairman of the company’s board of directors, Avraham Roth, proposes selling the shares and using two-thirds of the proceeds for immediate aid to needy Holocaust survivors. He proposes keeping the remaining third for heirs, since he believes heirs will not be found for more than one-third of the shares. He proposes the company and the state seek out the living and deceased owners of the stock, and at the same time sell the shares on the open market; two-thirds of the JCT stock is now worth more than NIS 300 million.

MORE.

Kibbitz and Kulture
Friday, July 6, 10:30 am – noon, at Jewish Family Service of Bergen County

The Living Room at Jewish Family Service of Bergen County presents Kibbitz and Kulture, a monthly social and cultural gathering for Holocaust survivors. Rabbi Amy Bolton, Director of The Living Room, will present “A Celebration of Israeli Poetry.” Rabbi Bolton was ordained from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. She has been a lover of Israeli poetry since high school, and had the privilege of studying with Yehudah Amichai, z”l. Jewish Family Service, 1485 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ. For questions and to RSVP please call Laura at (201) 837-9090 or e-mail thelivingroom {at} jfsbergen(.)org.

CAFE EUROPA

Tamara Freeman, Holocaust music scholar, educator and performer will once again perform on her viola. Holocaust survivors are invited to join Café Europa on Tuesday July 10, 11-1, at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center. Dr. Freeman’s great passion for music of the Holocaust era is a moving experience. A light lunch will be served. We encourage those who were young children during the Holocaust to attend. Reservations are required, and should be made by July 5. Call 973-595-0111.

Café Europa is sponsored by Jewish Family & Children’s Service of North Jersey, and is open to all Holocaust survivors. This program is supported by the Claims Conference, the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement, and private donations.

Confronting the Perpetrators: A History of the Claims Conference

Wednesday, July 18, 8:00 pm, at JCC on the Palisades

Marilyn Henry, a local author, will present on her newly published book chronicling the story of seeking a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors through compensation from Germany and Austria for their persecution of the Jews. Henry, a journalist for more than 25 years, is a specialist in German reparations and in the recovery of Jewish properties looted and displaced in Europe during the Nazi and communist eras. She is a contributing editor at ARTnews magazine in New York and a former staff reporter for the Jerusalem Post. She is the author of the monograph “Fifty Years of Holocaust Compensation” in the 2002 American Jewish Year Book, and a contributor to the new edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica. Her work also has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, the Religion News Service, the Forward and Aufbau, and in newspapers and magazines in Germany, Switzerland, Britain and the Netherlands. For questions and to RSVP please call Laura at (201) 837-9090 or e-mail thelivingroom {at} jfsbergen(.)org.

Cosponsored with The Living Room: A Health, Healing and Wellness Center at JFS of Bergen County

The decision was announced Wednesday after annual negotiations with Germany led by the Conference for Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

According to an announcement by the Claims Conference, negotiators also secured an additional 1,500 pensions for survivors who are or were citizens of certain Western European countries.

“These are very important breakthroughs, which will benefit Holocaust survivors in many countries,” said Claims Conference Executive Vice President Gideon Taylor. “We are continuing to negotiate with the German government over a range of other critical issues.”

The cost-of-living increase will take effect Oct. 1, 2007. Under the new plan, the German Ministry of Finance will increase monthly payments from $235 to $268 for eligible Holocaust survivors living in the European Union. About 14,500 survivors in non-E.U. former Eastern bloc countries, including Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, will see their payments increase from $168 to $221.

The Claims Conference delegation was co-chaired by Taylor and the treasurer of the conference, Roman Kent. It was the first annual negotiation session in several years to take place without Israel Singer, who announced recently that he would not seek reelection as the organization’s president

Hello, please dedicate a couple of minutes to read this message. It is extremely important to me. It is my last hope of attaining my wish. I am a 72 year old Holocaust survivor. Now that all my daughters and some of my grandchildren are married and, thank G-d, having lived to defy the Nazi plot by having a large family who lives in Israel, I feel a need to seek a final closure to my life history.

I was a young child during the war, and I don’t remember much from that period. In spite of carrying out an in-depth and protracted research, there are still many holes in my story - the story of a little girl who lost almost all her family. True, one of many, but for me they were my entire world and all that encompasses it.

I am looking for people who crossed with me the border from France to Switzerland via Anemasse on Oct 20th 19.43 Once in Switzerland, I arrived at Croppets, apparently the place where all children who crossed the border were gathered and looked after by the OSE. From there I was transferred to the ‘Henry Dunant’ orphanage centre in Geneva. The children who crossed with me should be today in their 70s.
Please try to remember. Do you know a neighbour, a distant relative, a friend of
your mother/grandmother, or someone else who was there or might know someone who was? These women, if still alive, can be anywhere in the world now, and their family names have probably changed since.

The names of those I am searching for are:

Palestrant Lizette , daughter of David and Hanna, born 29th of Oct, 1936 in Poland
Sobelman Suzanne daughter of Albert and Celine, born 18th of April, 1936, Paris
Rosenberg Liba born 26th of April, Poland, and her brother Paul, born on the 20th of February, 1935, in Paris to Wolf (Zeev) and Rivka (Rebecca)
Issack Mylan (I’m not sure which is his surname) born the 26th of May, 1937, in Milano. Son of Herbert and Hinda.
Dora Israel-Menasse (I’m not sure which is her maiden name) and her children - Robert, born in 1929, and Fortuni, born in 1940 .
For any details, please contact me :
was.jenny {at} gmail(.)com

In hopes of finding some clue - thank you very much !
Jenny .

Claims Conf. Reverses Course On Audit
Restitution group now says it will probe questionable March of Living outlays.
Larry Cohler-Esses - Editor At Large

In a change of course, the organization that disperses Holocaust restitution funds has decided to review the past financial practices of March of the Living, a Holocaust education group dogged by allegations of financial impropriety.

The Conference on Material Claims Against Germany confirmed Monday that it had instructed its chief auditor to examine allegations that March of the Living wrongly dispersed $709,000 to a politically connected consultant from 2002 through 2005.

The new mandate to the conference’s auditor expanded the scope of a previously ordered audit. After a May 4 article in The Jewish Week raised questions about March of the Living’s outlays to public relations consultant Curtis Hoxter, the conference ordered an audit of the group, one of its major grant recipients — but not for the period in question.

Claims Conference spokesperson Hillary Kessler Godin said at the time that the audit would look only at “procedures of March of the Living that are currently in place.”

MORE.

June 19, 2007

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has released a report on the activities of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC).

Authored by ICHEIC Chairman Lawrence S. Eagleburger and Vice Chairman Diane Koken, former Pennsylvania insurance commissioner, the report details ICHEIC’s history, from the commission’s inception in 1998 to the conclusion of its work in March 2007.

ICHEIC has distributed $306 million in awards to more than 48,000 Holocaust survivors and their heirs, according to the report.

Established in 1998, ICHEIC was charged with addressing, at no cost to claimants, the issue of unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the Holocaust. It conducted a worldwide outreach campaign to encourage claimants to file, and more than 70 European insurance companies and partner entities participated in the process.

“Finding claimants and getting them paid was our mission,” Eagleburger said. “This report describes the process through the individual stories of claimants, whom the commission was designed to serve. I believe that ICHEIC has brought some measure of justice to those who have been denied it for so long, though I fully recognize that no amount of compensation can redress the suffering inflicted during the Holocaust.”

Koken noted that ICHEIC created an “unprecedented opportunity” for claimants to have their claims matched against information compiled from insurance companies, insurance associations, and public archives.

“I am particularly gratified by the results of ICHEIC’s archival investigations and matching processes,” Koken said. “This work has led to awards on thousands of Holocaust era insurance policies, which never would have been identified without ICHEIC’s efforts. A significant number of ICHEIC’s offers and awards were made to claimants who would have had no other recourse to compensation.”

ICHEIC was established in 1998 by the National NAIC in conjunction with several European insurance companies, European governments, representatives of several Jewish and Holocaust survivor organizations, and the State of Israel. Through close cooperation with European insurance companies and partner entities, the Commission resolved more than 90,000 claims. In March 2007, Chairman Eagleburger announced the conclusion of ICHEIC’s claims and appeals processes.

To view a copy of the report, entitled “Finding Claimants and Paying Them: The Creation and Workings of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims,” click HERE, or visit www.naic.org or www.icheic.org.