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Shirley Rubin, left, kisses holocaust survivor Morric Jusovic after he spoke at a news
conference in support of Boca Raton’s decision to drop German insurance giant Allianz as
sponsor of a professional golf tournament, Monday, April 24, 2017, in Boca Raton, Fla.
Survivors say that this could renew momentum for their years-long effort to gain the right to
sue the company over stolen Jewish policies during the Nazi era. (Lynne Sladky/Associated
Press)
By Terry Spencer and Curt Anderson | AP By Terry Spencer and Curt Anderson | AP
National
April 24
Survivors, their heirs and Jewish groups for seven years have protested the
company’s sponsorship of the PGA senior tour’s Allianz Championship in Boca
Raton, saying it failed to pay off policies of tens of thousands of Holocaust
victims and other Jews who died under Nazi rule.
They say the company has demanded death certificates, which the Nazis didn’t
issue to concentration camp victims, and copies of policies lost during wartime
upheaval.
He and his brother, Jacob, spent nearly two years at Auschwitz and then were
sent to Buchenwald, forced at both death camps to clean the railcars that
transported other Jews. His brother died in 1944. He later learned his father
had spent the war doing forced labor at an Austrian salt mine, dying in 1945 of
typhoid soon after being liberated.
“Survivors everywhere are relieved that our voices have been heard and in at
least one place Allianz will no longer be able to pretend it has acted
honorably,” said Schaecter, 87.
His group led the tournament protests, which included about 200 people last
February.
He said that years ago when an Allianz representative demanded his family’s
death certificates, he responded, “Where should I go? Where should I get it?”
Samuel J. Dubbin, the group’s attorney, said Allianz has copies of the policies
in its archives but has refused to cooperate with survivors.
Allianz said the protests had nothing to do with it no longer sponsoring the
tournament. The company has acknowledged collaborating with the Nazi
regime in the 1930s and 1940s, but has said it paid off most of the policies
through the International Commission on Holocaust Insurance Claims and
will pay any other legitimate claims.
“While none of us can undo the past, we must confront it,” spokesman
Christian Kroos said in an email. “Allianz began its compensation efforts in
the 1950s by working in close cooperation with the German government, to try
to make certain that restitution was made to those who lost their properties
during the Nazi period. Anything else would be enormously disrespectful —
especially to those who suffered unspeakable violence at the hands of Nazi
Germany.”
Hollis Cavner, CEO of tournament organizer Pro Links Sports, said Allianz
told his firm years ago it would not renew its contract when it expired after the
2017 tournament. A new sponsor is expected to be named soon.
Florida’s senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, along
with Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, have unsuccessfully
pushed legislation that would allow survivors to sue Allianz in U.S. courts.
Survivors are currently blocked by an international agreement limiting claims
to the Holocaust insurance commission, an accord upheld by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
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