State looking for Holocaust recovery help

May 27--TALLAHASSEE -- Florida is looking for companies to help Holocaust victims and their families recover restitution for the loss of life and property at the hands of the Nazi Germany.

Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater's department issued a request earlier this month seeking bids to assist Holocaust survivors in receiving payments from insurance companies and foreign governments as part of a state program.

Florida's Holocaust recovery program, which has been in place since 1998 and has an annual budget of $300,000, has recovered $21.4 million on behalf of survivors and victims' families, including $1.5 million in the 2015 fiscal year. Under state law, anyone who lost their life or property under the Nazi regime or its allies between 1920 and 1945 is eligible for assistance.

Current contracts with five firms are set to expire June 30. Prior contracts were not put out through an extensive bid process because the scope was limited to providing survivors and relatives help in recouping unpaid insurance claims, bank and property claims, and health care and emergency financial assistance.

But thanks to a change made by lawmakers in 2013 to the Holocaust Victims Recovery Act, services were expanded to include help in applying for settlement funds from Poland, France, Germany and Hungary.

The state will award new three-year contracts by July 5.

"We firmly believe that these proceeds belong with the families from which they were stolen, and we're proud to offer this program to the people of Florida," Atwater spokeswoman Ashley Carr state in an email.

Current vendors include Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, Goodman Jewish Family Services of Broward County, Jewish Community Services of South Florida, Ferd and Gladys Alpert Jewish Family and Children's Services of Palm Beach County and Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services Inc.

The state also works with the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center, which maintains a database of survivors used to identify potential claimants, and the Maitland-based Holocaust Memorial and Education Center of Florida, which helps identify Central Florida survivors and aids restitution claims.

According to a state report, there are 13,000 Holocaust survivors living in Florida, and about 30 percent of them live below the federal poverty level. In 2014, more than 1,000 Florida residents received more than $5 million in pension payments from the German government.

"As these victims continue to age and become more vulnerable, the importance of seeking assistance to help ease the burdens they face and enable them to age in place is vital for health, well-being, and dignity," the report states.

[email protected] or (850) 222-5564

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