How Florida helps Holocaust victims’ families get back ill-gotten gains

The state of Florida this past fiscal year was able to help victims of the Holocaust and their families recover $10 million in restitution for assets stolen from them by the Nazis, according to CFO Jimmy Patronis. The Holocaust Victims Assistance Program, under the Florida Department of Financial Services, helps survivors and their families to recover proceeds from insurance policies, among other things. 

It also gets restitution for Nazi-confiscated bank accounts, art, property, and payments from European Settlement Funds. Since it was created in 1998, the program has helped recover almost $98 million. The department also helps survivors and their heirs learn and navigate the restitution programs from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Austria, Hungary and other countries. 

Patronis said in a statement about the program’s results this year that he is proud to support Florida’s Jewish community, which is the third largest in the country. The emphasis on the program comes as antisemitic incidents are surging in frequency across the state and country: Such incidents in 2022 more than doubled from 2020. 

“The Holocaust was one of the darkest times in world history, and Florida’s Holocaust Victims Assistance Program is ensuring that we never forget all the innocent lives lost to unspeakable hate and intolerance,” Patronis said. “We must do everything within our power to help make survivors whole again.”