Holocaust survivors protest Allianz-backed golf tourney

NEW YORK (JTA) — Holocaust survivors for a third straight year protested outside a golf tournament in Florida sponsored by Allianz because of what they deem the insurance firm’s restitution failures.

The survivors gathered outside the Allianz Golf Championship in Boca Raton over the weekend demanding that Allianz pay some $2 billion that the survivors say is owed to Nazi victims in unpaid claims, the Sun Sentinel reported.

“Not only haven’t I seen any money, this is already 70 years,” said David Schaecter, 83, a Holocaust survivor from Miami who is the president of Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA.

The Germany-based insurance group had Nazi connections during World War II, insuring Nazi facilities such as death camps like Auschwitz, the survivors say.

Allianz has acknowledged its connections to the Third Reich and vowed to resolve any unclaimed settlements. As part of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, the company paid more than $306 million to some 48,000 claimants by 2006, but survivors say the insurance group still owes money from insurance policies purchased by Eastern European Jews during the Holocaust.

“A few thousand Holocaust survivors are in need. They have to live out their lives in misery,” said Jack Rubin, 84, a survivor from Boyton Beach. “We got a certain amount from the Claims Conference, but it’s not enough.”