80 Illinois banks agree to waive fee for Holocaust survivors

By Elizabeth Tenety

Medill Reports, Chicago, IL                       
Published Tuesday, January 22, 2008

For information about the reparations paid to Holocaust survivors Nazi Germany inflicted its genocidal reign an ocean away, more than 60 years ago. Today, 5,000 Holocaust survivors reside in Illinois and many qualify for restitution from the country they left behind.

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced Tuesday an initiative asking Illinois banks to voluntarily waive international wire transfer fees on payments from the German government to Holocaust survivors. These payments are comprised of several programs to pay victims for their suffering or material loss.

The wire transfer fee, Giannoulias said, “amounts to a tax on these reparation payments and cause unnecessary hardship to the recipients, many of whom are elderly and are living on fixed incomes.”

According to Allan J. Reich, president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, wire transfer fees deduct up to 10 percent of the reparation payments, which average $350 per month. That fee amounts to $10 to $40 per payment.

"Waiving these fees will have a small impact on the banks’ bottom line, but speak volumes about their commitment to the well-being of Illinois residents,” Giannoulias said.

More than 80 banks have agreed to participate in the program. Giannoulias hopes that more of Illinois’ nearly 700 banks will choose to waive the fees.

“Reparations are designed to provide a small measure of justice to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. The fees take away that justice,” Giannoulias said.

Frank Cerrone is president of one participating financial institution, Pan American Bank, which is located on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Cerrone said that he is “proud to be a part of a program that will be helping many of the Holocaust victims.”

Chicago resident Klauss Hellmann escaped to the United States in 1934 and collects his recently deceased wife’s restitution payments from Germany. Speaking as a representative of the reparation recipients in Illinois, Hellman thanked the treasurer for his efforts on their behalf.

“I full well know how much effort and tedious, detailed work it took the treasurer of Illinois” to initiate the program, Hellmann said.

“While it is never possible to fully repay those who have suffered the atrocities of the Holocaust, this simple act pays homage to survivors, their lives and their hardships,” Giannouilias said.