The German government has agreed to provide €9 million for homecare for Holocaust survivors around the world, following negotiations with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference). This is the second year that the Claims Conference has brought up this issue in talks with Germany, following last year’s government agreement to provide €6 million.
With the health needs of aging Holocaust survivors becoming increasingly urgent, the Claims Conference was pressing Germany to provide funds. The funds from last year’s agreement were allocated by the Claims Conference to 43 agencies assisting needy Jewish victims of Nazism in 17 countries.
Also during Claims Conference talks, the German government agreed to include survivors incarcerated for at least six months in certain labor camps in Hungary, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria in the Article 2 Fund and Central and Eastern European Fund (CEEF) pension programs, provided they meet the other German-mandated eligibility criteria.
The negotiations also led to an increase in the amount paid to recipients of payments from the Central and Eastern European Fund, who live in countries that have joined the European Union, from €135 (approximately $175) per month to €175 (approximately $228) from January 1, 2006.
CEEF payments are less than payments from the Article 2 Fund, and the Claims Conference has been pressing the issue of increasing the amounts.
The cost of living in Eastern Europe, especially in countries that joined the European Union, has increased dramatically in recent years, leaving many elderly survivors without resources to pay for adequate medicine, food, and housing. Holocaust survivors living in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia will benefit.
Furthermore, it was agreed that there will be certain arrangements put in place to improve the speed of processing claims filed by the Claims Conference under the Property Restitution Law.
The Claims Conference will continue to negotiate with Germany for inclusion of Holocaust survivors in these compensation programs who were in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps not currently recognized as such by Germany; were subjected to persecution for periods of time less than currently stipulated and were confined in open ghettos; and have income in excess of the current income ceiling (for the Article 2 Fund).
In addition, the Claims Conference is pressing the issue of applicants to the Hardship Fund who had not been able to meet eligibility criteria at the time of application and wish to re-apply for payment, and the establishment of a Hardship Fund for residents of Eastern Europe who did not emigrate to the West like current recipients of payments from the Hardship Fund.
The Claims Conference delegation was chaired by Israel Singer, president; and was composed of Noach Flug, chairman of the Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel; Roman Kent, chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors; Ben Helfgott, of the Board of Deputies of British Jews; Gideon Taylor, Moshe Jahoda, Saul Kagan, Karen Heilig and additional staff of the Claims Conference. The German ministry of finance delegation was led by State Secretary Karl Diller.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) represents world Jewry in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. The Claims Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the Shoah.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Thursday, May 19, 2005