Swiss insurance firms agree to open Holocaust-era records

ZURICH, March 31 (JTA) — Two Swiss insurance companies have agreed to open their records to U.S. examiners probing allegations that Holocaust survivors and their heirs were denied benefits after World War II. The insurers, Winterthur and Basler Leben, reached the decision after American officials belonging to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners formed a task force earlier this month to review the records of European insurers suspected of withholding long-overdue claims dating back to the war. Winterthur and Basler Leben, which have been hesitant to open their files until now, have subsidiaries in the United States that could fall under the regulatory powers of the American officials. Another European insurer being scrutinized by the American officials, Assicurazioni Generali of Italy, agreed earlier this month to open its files to U.S. auditors. Last year, a group of Holocaust victims and their families filed a class-action lawsuit against seven European insurance companies, alleging they withheld, concealed or converted the proceeds of policies sold before 1946. The experiences of many of the claimants parallel those of depositors trying to collect on dormant Swiss bank accounts, but the sums at stake may be much larger. Lawyers for the survivors estimate that the class-action lawsuit, now pending in New York federal court, could affect 10,000 claimants and involve billions of dollars in damages.