German firm offers settlement

FRANKFURT, March 25 (JTA) — A German insurance firm has announced that it wants to reach an out-of-court settlement with Holocaust victims. The chairman of Allianz AG’s board of directors, Gerhard Rupprecht, said the settlement would cover claims from Jewish customers whose policies were confiscated or terminated during the Nazi era. The company opened a hotline last year to handle claims and has launched an independent investigation of its remaining wartime records to help locate unpaid policies. So far, the investigation has only located a handful of open cases. Last year, a group of Holocaust victims filed a group action suit in a New York court against 16 European insurance companies, including Allianz. After World War II, many companies claimed they were no longer responsible for paying uncollected premiums. Complicating the issue of compensation, many Holocaust victims have been unable to document their policies.