Attorney General Lockyer and Insurance Commissioner Harry Low Deliver $4.2 Million Check to Foundation for Holocaust Survivors

Thursday, May 10, 2001
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

(LOS ANGELES) - Attorney General Bill Lockyer today with Insurance Commissioner Harry Low presented a check for $4.2 million from three Dutch insurers to the California Humanitarian Foundation to benefit Holocaust survivors in the state.

"While there are many insurance claims still to be resolved, this voluntary payment from the Dutch insurers is the first received for a humanitarian fund from Holocaust-era insurance companies," Lockyer said at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. "This is an important precedent that other insurance companies should follow for the sake of our aging Holocaust survivors."

The check was presented to Arthur P. Stern, chairman of the California foundation who pledged to begin making payments to needy Holocaust survivors by Labor Day in September. The foundation will make cash grants based on specific eligibility criteria, including financial need determined in consultation with community social services agencies.

The donations by the Dutch insurers were made voluntarily and do not preclude the pursuit of any other claims against Aegon USA, Inc., ING America Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Fortis, Inc.

Included among the distinguished members of the board of directors for the Foundation are: Chairman Arthur Stern, Jewish Federation of Los Angeles; William Lowenberg, San Francisco Jewish Community Federation Endowment Fund; Rabbi Marvin Hier, Simon Wiesenthal Center; Mark Schickman, Northern California Holocaust Center; Lisa Tabak, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco; and, Steven Koff, B'nai B'rith.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 Holocaust survivors currently live in California.

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