Nevada joins insurance alliance to get compensationfor Holocaust victims

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 8:18 a.m.

Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman and 38 other members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners back the formation of an international commission to unlock funds and property of Holocaust survivors or their heirs.

"Some of the members of my own family perished in the Holocaust and I cannot in good conscience stand by and allow the victimization of those who survived to continue," Molasky-Arman said Wednesday.

She said there are about 100 Holocaust survivors in Nevada, including six who have made claims for property confiscated during World War II.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis and their allies seized property from persecuted groups of people, including Jews, artists, scientists, writers, Freemasons and others.

When they or their survivors made claims after the war, many were not honored by European insurance companies holding their policies.

The agreement signed by Molasky-Arman and others calls for a process to investigate unpaid insurance policies and establish a fund to pay victims and their heirs.

Molasky-Arman has been working with Holocaust groups in Las Vegas and Reno to assist potential claimants.

"Although we don't expect many of these victims or their relatives to have retained actual insurance policies or other documents proving their losses, we believe there are those who can recall their parents or grandparents having property that was confiscated or destroyed," she said.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners may establish a database for survivors and their relatives to match potential claims with records of insurance companies in Europe.

People with potential claims should call the Division of Insurance office. "One of the concerns I have is that many of the victims are aging, and this may be our last chance to help them recover their losses," Molasky-Arman said.