APM, CNBC Asked By Congresswoman To Reject Allianz Underwriting, Ads

Under Scrutiny

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R-FL) has called for AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA, NPR affiliates, and CNBC, among others, to reject underwriting and advertising from German insurance giant ALLIANZ, which collaborated with the Nazis during World War II and has been accused of failing to make restitution to Holocaust survivors the claims of whom the company paid to the Nazis instead.

The MIAMI HERALD reports that ROS-LEHTINEN said in a letter to the networks, "ALLIANZ is no ordinary insurance conglomerate.  This company was involved in one of the greatest atrocities in recent history and has gone to great lengths to dodge acceptance of responsibility for its actions.  It is far past time for ALLIANZ to repay its debt to the survivors and families that suffered as a result of the Holocaust."

The company claims that it has cooperated with plans to pay unpaid claims coordinated by an international claims commission, but critics note that the commission, which ended in 2007, got $250 million in payouts from ALLIANZ and others when claims owed by the companies are estimated to be worth a present value of $18 billion.  ALLIANZ's negotiations to buy naming rights for what is now MET LIFE STADIUM in the NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS were scuttled due to public pressure.

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