‘Bitter Holocaust Battle Plays Out on Capitol Hill’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Holocaust survivors, and their children and grandchildren, strongly support legislation to hold insurance companies accountable for the policies they sold to European Jews who became victims of the Holocaust [National, “Bitter Holocaust Battle Plays Out on Capitol Hill,” July 23, 2008].
The Sun’s story quotes others as saying that the bill is being driven by the financial motives of our attorney, Sam Dubbin. Aside from the fact that Mr. Dubbin has represented us for years at our behest with almost no compensation, you imply that survivors are incapable of making decisions for ourselves. These companies collected premiums from our parents and grandparents and then, after WWII, demanded death certificates and other documents none of us could possibly have after Auschwitz. We are entitled to the truth, and we are entitled to recover the money they looted from our families. Anyone else would demand the same.
Instead of having a real discussion about insurers’ conduct, your paper fell into the trap set by all who continue to profit from our misery — blame lawyers. Luckily, members of Congress such as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Robert Wexler, and dozens of others understand that we should have the right to control our families’ legacies.
At least 33 survivor and second generation groups from throughout the United States are certainly not divided; we want and deserve to have our rights restored by Congress.
DAVID SCHAECTER
President
Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA
Miami, Fla.
I am the attorney cited in the article about the Holocaust survivors’ insurance legislation. It is true that a number of other lawyers received millions of dollars in the settlements of litigation against German and Swiss businesses. My firm was not one of them.
Since 1997, I have employed my own blood and sweat to represent the interests of survivors and survivor groups. My firm’s only significant fee was awarded by the Court in the Hungarian Gold Train case. We were one of three firms that successfully battled overwhelming odds — including the staunch opposition of the U.S. Department of Justice — for nearly five years. That case was uniquely successful because the survivor plaintiffs actively participated, helped negotiate the settlement, and class members were fully informed about what they would receive before being asked to approve the settlement. I have also worked for 10 years in grinding litigation against Generali and other insurers who have spent tens of millions of dollars in legal, lobbying, and public relations fees to thwart survivors’ interests. My firm’s compensation for this work has been minimal.
SAMUEL DUBBIN
Miami, Fla.