Treasurer: Wave $10 fee for Holocaust survivors

By Ben Goldberger                                                 

Sun-Times, Chicago, IL
Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008

It may only be a $10 fee, but for Holocaust survivors, many of whom are on fixed incomes, that’s $10 too much, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said Tuesday.

Giannoulias asked all Illinois banks to voluntarily waive international wire transfer fees on reparations paid to Holocaust survivors by the German government. At a news conference with the American Jewish Committee and the consul general of Germany, Giannoulias urged nearly 700 banks that do business with the state to waive the fees — as much as 10 percent of each payment — as a gesture of support.

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

It’s not known how many of Illinois’ 5,000 Holocaust survivors qualify for reparations. The average payment is $350 a month, and the wire fee is $10 to $40, according to American Jewish Committee-Chicago President Allan Reich.

Some national banks, including Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC, already waive the international wire transfer fee for reparations. Giannoulias is following the lead of California, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, which have asked banks doing business with their states to waive the fees.

Tuesday’s event was an attempt to exert public pressure on Illinois banks in the hopes of achieving universal compliance. A letter sent to the nearly 700 banks by the Treasurer’s office in December yielded only 85 positive responses (viewable online at www.treasurer.il.gov).

Since 1951, nearly one million Jews have received over $60 billion in Holocaust compensation, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which negotiated many of the payments.