Benefits for Holocaust victims

last updated 8 January 2015

Berlin

German insurance companies said this week they would publish the names of more than 360,000 victims of the Holocaust who were covered by life insurance policies. Relatives of policyholders murdered by the Nazis—many of whom now live in California, New York, and Florida—will be able to file claims for benefits that could total tens of millions of dollars. European insurers sold billions of dollars worth of coverage before World War II, but refused to pay benefits after the war. The German companies are releasing the names as part of a $5 billion agreement the U.S. and Germany hammered out in 2000 on a range of Holocaust issues. Other European companies, though, still refuse to reveal any information about outstanding claims from the era.