(JTA) — Holocaust survivors are set to picket a golf tournament in South Florida sponsored by the international insurance company Allianz.
The company still owes an estimated $2 billion in unpaid claims to Holocaust survivors, say the protesters, who plan to picket Monday at the Boca Raton course of the $1.8 million Allianz Championship. The survivors also plan to return on the final day of the tournament.
This is the fifth time the Champions Tour event is coming to Boca Raton, but the first time a protest has been planned, according to the Orlando Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
Holocaust survivors have filed lawsuits against Allianz in an effort to reclaim insurance payments on thousands of life insurance policies that the company sold to Jews in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. Survivors who attempted to file claims with Allianz after World War II were refused due to a lack of documentation.
Having paid off on about 50,000 claims at a cost of $300 million, Allianz believes it has fulfilled its obligation, according to the Palm Beach Post.
"Is any amount of money going to alleviate the pain?" said Alliance spokeswoman Sabia Schwartzer in the Post. "We’ve never denied any of the allegations. What else should we be doing?"
