In 1999, ICHEIC initiated the most extensive project ever conducted to investigate and record information on insurance policies from Holocaust-era archives from around the world. The ICHEIC potential policyholder list was made available during the claims filing period in order to encourage potential claimants to file with ICHEIC. Additionally, the ICHEIC research database has been matched against claims filed with ICHEIC, providing some claimants with additional evidence to support their claims. Please select one of the following options to learn more about ICHEIC's research efforts:

1. ICHEIC potential policyholder list

2. ICHEIC reports on archival research

3. Description of research and matching

4. Related organizations

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1. ICHEIC potential policyholder list: available at www1.yadvashem.org/pheip/

Please note: ICHEIC's claims filing deadline of December 31, 2003 has passed, as has the late filing deadline of March 31, 2004 for accepting claim forms requested by December 31, 2003. Since ICHEIC is not accepting any new claims or claims information, and already incorporates into its own internal research work all information provided by the list of potential Holocaust era policyholders previously published by ICHEIC, that list is no longer available on this website.

ICHEIC does recognize however that individuals may be interested in accessing the list for research purposes, and that such interest is likely to exist far beyond the lifespan of ICHEIC. For this reason, ICHEIC has worked with Yad Vashem to make the list publicly available for research purposes. The list can be accessed through Yad Vashem's website at www1.yadvashem.org/pheip/.

In 1999, ICHEIC initiated the most extensive project ever conducted to investigate and record information on insurance policies from Holocaust-era archives from around the world. ICHEIC has been largely successful in acquiring lists of policyholders from participating insurance companies, which have been matched against an existing database of Holocaust victims in Israel (Yad Vashem). The ICHEIC lists include more than 500,000 policyholder or policyholder-related names. In April of 2003, ICHEIC published a list of more than 360,000 German Jewish policyholders. This resulted from an unprecedented cooperative effort involving ICHEIC, the German Insurance Association and the German Foundation. These combined efforts have yielded substantial information regarding thousands of insurance policies in effect prior to and during World War II. This information was made available to ICHEIC claimants during the claims filing period, potentially providing them with additional evidence to support their claims.

Claimants who filed with ICHEIC based on this list should understand that the fact that a name appeared on the published list is not a guarantee that the individual named or his or her heirs or beneficiaries are entitled to payment. These lists were compiled from insurance companies, insurance associations, various public archives and other sources. Names found here were those of individuals most likely to have had a life insurance policy of any kind (including education, dowry, endowment or pension/annuity policies) during the relevant period (1920-1945) and who are thought likely to have suffered any form of racial, religious or political persecution during the Holocaust. An insurance company's investigation of a claim (where a claimant found a name on the website and filed a claim with ICHEIC during the claims filing period) may reveal that the claim was previously completely settled or paid -- which according to ICHEIC guidelines precludes this claim from being reconsidered. Additionally, there may be instances where policies were issued to individuals with common names that multiple claimants might mistake as the holder of their particular policy.

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2. ICHEIC reports on archival research

ICHEIC has published three reports detailing its archival research efforts. These are available in the Research Reports section of the Documents Center.

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3. Description of research and matching

Please refer to the ICHEIC Quarterly Reports, particularly those of October 2004 and March 2005, for a description of the matching work conducted by ICHEIC.

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4. Related organizations

ICHEIC has compiled a list of related organizations, several of which provide opportunities for research. Yad Vashem, for example, publishes the "Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names".