For the first time:
monthly allowances will be awarded to some 6,500 Holocaust survivors, including survivors of the siege of Leningrad (today: St. Petersburg), survivors who lived in hiding in France and survivors of Nazi persecution in Romania.
The Conference on Material Jewish Claims against Germany (the Claims Conference) declared an important achievement for Holocaust survivors, when for the first time, their entitlement to monthly pension benefits was recognized by the various Holocaust survivors, who to date have not received a monthly allowance.
In practice, the new benefit plan, based on the above geographical areas (France, Romania, Leningrad), is already open for applications. The amount of the payment will be 375 euros ($ 443) per month. In addition, payments from the Holocaust Children Fund, in a single Symbolic times of 2,500 euros ($ 2,930), will be paid to those who meet the criteria of persecution who were born in 1928 onwards.
The Claims Conference's negotiating team includes the Special Representative, Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt;
Joint Chairman, the late Roman Kent; Leaders of Holocaust Survivors' Organizations - Ambassador Colette Avital, Sir Ben Helfgott, and Marian Torsky; Ambassador Reuven Merhav; Rabbi Andrew Baker; and Senior Vice President of the Claims Conference, Greg Schneider.
Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, said: "Every year, the results of the negotiations become more critical than ever. As the last generation of Holocaust survivors reaches more advanced ages, their needs increase. "For close to 6,500 survivors. Even after 75 years, these symbolic payments provide recognition and restore some of the self-respect that was stolen from the survivors in their youth."
Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt, a special representative on the negotiating team of the Claims Conference, said: "As a special representative on the negotiating team, I have the commitment to Holocaust survivors to continue the work of achieving justice, in every way possible. I had the honor of sitting next to some of these Holocaust survivors, as part of the negotiations we devote to every year in order to achieve an additional degree of justice. Emphasizes the over-urgency of our work and motivates us to obtain additional compensation. "
Senior Vice President of the Claims Conference, Greg Schneider, said: “Every year, as we sit down at the negotiating table, we work to locate, recognize and achieve a certain degree of justice for every Holocaust survivor, and so we will continue to do so as long as one survivor lives among us. "It is an honor for us to bring this achievement to the Holocaust survivors, who have been waiting a long time for this recognition. These achievements are unparalleled important symbols for Germany's recognition of suffering and for many of these survivors these funds will alleviate the deep poverty that compels them to choose between food, medicine or rent." Schneider added: "These days, as many Holocaust survivors around the world face severe difficulties due to the corona plague, we are proud to have managed to offer little hope, with close to $ 767 million of compensation plans being transferred to survivors around the world."
As you may recall, last year's negotiations (2020) yielded two additional payments of € 1,200 (approximately $ 1,400) each to be granted in two installments, for some 200,000 Holocaust survivors worldwide who are eligible for payments from the Hardship Fund.
Holocaust survivors will receive the second payment starting December 1, 2021.
In practice, Holocaust survivors who previously received one-time payments of € 2,556 or more, who are now entitled to the aforementioned monthly allowance, and therefore were not entitled to additional payments, will now also be entitled to additional payments from the € 1,200 aid fund in 2021 and 2022. It is estimated that this relief will benefit some 1,700 Holocaust survivors worldwide.
The Conference on Material Jewish Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), a non-profit organization with offices in New York, Israel and Germany, works to obtain material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world.
The organization, which was established in 1951 by representatives of 23 international Jewish organizations, conducts negotiations and distributes funds to individuals and organizations, and works to restore Jewish property looted during the Holocaust.
Following negotiations with the Claims Conference in 1952, the German government has since paid personal compensation of about $ 90 billion to survivors for suffering and losses caused to them as a result of Nazi persecution.
In 2021, the Claims Conference will distribute close to $ 625 million in personal compensation to more than 260,000 survivors in 83 countries and allocate about $ 640 million to grants to more than 300 aid organizations around the world that provide essential services to Holocaust survivors, such as home care. Food and medicine.