21 March 2007
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), comprising insurance companies, regulators and Jewish groups, has concluded its task. After its final meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the commission said in a statement that more than US$ 300 million had been paid out to nearly 50,000 Holocaust survivors or their heirs. This action completed ICHEIC's work and closed the claims process regarding World War II era insurance policies. The commission was established as a means of processing insurance claims at no cost to claimants. ICHEIC ceased accepting new claims in March 2004. It received 91,558 claims before the deadline, two thirds of which did not name the insurance company where the policies were supposedly held. "I fully recognize that no amount of compensation can redress the suffering inflicted during the Holocaust," ICHEIC chairman Lawrence S. Eagleburger said, but he added: "Nevertheless, I believe that ICHEIC has achieved its goal of bringing a small measure of justice to those who have been denied it for so long." ICHEIC also extended US$ 30 million in awards through its Eastern European humanitarian claims process, for claims on policies written by companies that were nationalized or liquidated after World War II and for which no present-day successor could be identified.
