In response to the complex nature of restitution claims, which range from the purely anecdotal to partially or even fully documented, the IHCC has a systematic method to handle cases. After assessing the viability of a claim, the IHCC strives to document the prewar ownership, wartime loss and a claimant’s postwar entitlement to an asset, this being a major hurdle faced by all parties in the restitution process. To accomplish this task, IHCC staff members undertake three types of research: (1) genealogical; (2) archival research for prewar, wartime, and postwar records; and (3) the search for the missing objects, provenance research being one component of this effort.

• The Art Claims Process
• International Claims Resources
• The International Claims Process

Once all of the IHCC’s research is complete, and the missing asset has been located, our role changes from that of detective to advocate and facilitator. At this stage the IHCC submits claim information to the appropriate companies, authorities, museums, or organizations with the request that a complete and thorough search be made. By sharing all supporting documentation and through open and amicable discussion the IHCC facilitates cooperation between parties. Our successes repeatedly demonstrate that candid dialogue between parties can lead to the mutually beneficial resolution of these disputes.

The continued success of the IHCC’s work demonstrates that the non-litigious and fair resolution of Holocaust-era asset claims is possible.

The efforts of the Department of Financial Services to recover dormant or seized deposited assets (accounts or safe deposit boxes) of Holocaust victims grew out of an investigation into the wartime activities of the Swiss Bank Corporation(SBC), Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), and Credit Suisse’s New York Agencies. The goal of the investigation was to identify all the accounts held by those banks and determine to what extent assets held there belonged to victims of the Holocaust. Information uncovered was ultimately integrated into the work of the International Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP) in Switzerland.

Not only did the investigation uncover dormant assets but it highlighted the need for an agency to assist claimants with unresolved claims against Swiss financial institutions, and so in 1997 the IHCC was established. Before the August 1998 announcement of the Global Settlement in the Holocaust Victims Assets Litigation case (United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Chief Judge Edward R. Korman Presiding (CV-96-4849)), the IHCC worked in close cooperation with the Swiss banks, enabling payment of dormant accounts of the heirs of Holocaust victims.

The IHCC’s efforts, however, did not stop with Swiss financial assets. In the late 1990s the ever increasing number of class action law suits, settlement negotiations, investigative commissions, and the creation of compensation organizations related to European financial institutions during the Holocaust, resulted in the IHCC receiving claims for assets deposited in Austria, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Insurance Claims

Shortly after the IHCC commenced operations, it became apparent that claimants also needed help with other types of claims, most notably insurance claims. In September of 1997, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) established a Holocaust Insurance Issues Working Group to examine the issue and to make a recommendation as to the appropriate role for the NAIC and state insurance departments. Early in 1998, the New York Insurance Department, the California Department, four European insurance companies, as well as the World Jewish Restitution Organization, the World Jewish Congress and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, entered into a Memorandum of Intent that set out criteria for the resolution of unpaid insurance claims.

Immediately following, the NAIC established the International Holocaust Commission Task Force (NAIC Task Force) to succeed the NAIC Working Group. The New York Insurance Department assumed a leadership position in negotiations which resulted in the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by various European insurance companies and the members of the NAIC Task Force. The MoU established the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) which was charged with investigating and resolving unpaid insurance claims of Holocaust victims, survivors and their heirs.

As one of the original members of ICHEIC, the New York Insurance Department, through the IHCC, was integral to New York’s and the NAIC’s participation in developing ICHEIC’s claim investigation and resolution process. On March 30, 2007 the ICHEIC officially closed. At ICHEIC’s concluding meetings, every company that was a member of the commission as well as companies of the German Insurance Association, through its partnership agreement with ICHEIC and the Sjoa Foundation reaffirmed their commitment to continue to review and process claims sent directly to them. Since ICHEIC closed, the IHCC resumed dealing with insurance companies directly to resolve outstanding claims.