Germany has agreed to provide an additional monetary support of $1.4 billion for Holocaust survivors worldwide in 2024, according to the organization responsible for handling their claims. The negotiations with Germany’s finance ministry resulted in $888.9 million allocated for housing care and supportive services for vulnerable survivors.
Greg Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, emphasized the increasing importance of these negotiations as the last generation of Holocaust survivors ages and their needs grow. The New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany announced increases of $175 million to symbolic payments through the Hardship Fund Supplemental program, benefiting over 128,000 survivors globally.
Direct payments to survivors, along with expanded social welfare services, are crucial in ensuring comprehensive care for every survivor. Originally intended as a one-time payment during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the Hardship Fund Supplemental payment resulted in three additional payments for eligible survivors. Germany has agreed to extend this payment, set to expire in December 2023, through 2027.
For each additional year, the amount per person is set at approximately $1,370 for 2024, $1,425 for 2025, $1,480 for 2026, and $1,534 for 2027. The recipients of this aid are mainly Russian Jews who did not experience concentration camps or ghettos and are ineligible for pension programs. Many of them fled the Einsatzgruppen, Nazi killing units responsible for the murder of numerous Jewish communities.
The survivors who managed to escape are among the poorest in the survivor community, having endured immense loss and trauma. The German government’s expansion of payments to these survivors recognizes their ongoing suffering, both emotionally and financially. While symbolic, these payments offer financial relief to aging Holocaust survivors worldwide.
As the number of survivors decreases, the Claims Conference also negotiated continued funding for Holocaust education, which has been extended for two more years with annual increases of $3.3 million. The funding for 2026 and 2027 is set at approximately $41.6 million and $45 million, respectively. This commitment aims to ensure that the memory and lessons of the Holocaust are perpetuated for future generations.
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