JERUSALEM, April 12 (UPI) -- Israel is looking for heirs to $216.3 million in assets that belonged to victims of the Holocaust, officials say.
Real estate, bank accounts, corporate shares and other assets have been held in Israel since the death or disappearance of their owners during World War II. Since the Israeli Knesset established the Holocaust Victims Assets Restitution Co. in 2006, it has restored about $10.8 million to thousands of heirs.
The company is looking for more heirs outside Israel, with the United States considered a potentially fertile country to concentrate its efforts, particularly the state of Florida, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday.
The company has begun an advertising campaign in Jewish newspapers throughout the United States and on Jewish Web sites with an American audience. The firm also is contacting Jewish federations and synagogues in its search for heirs.
"Even if you have only the tip of a thread, we will investigate it," Zvi Kanor, a former air force general and businessman who heads the company, told the Post.
"Usually, organizations working in Holocaust restitution achieve a 10 percent success rate. We range from 13 percent to 15 percent," depending on the year, he said.
