Israeli Holocaust survivors to receive war grant from German fund

(JNS) – The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) announced on Tuesday that it is giving a war-related emergency grant to Holocaust survivors living in Israel.

Survivors residing in the Jewish state are to receive a one-time payment of €220 ($238) as they endure the country’s longest war since 1948 following the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7.

The money is coming from a €25 million ($27 million) dedicated fund, called the Solidarity for Israel Fund, provided by the German government after talks with the Claims Conference and Israel’s Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority.

Payments to the 113,000 survivors recognized by the German government started last month and will continue over the next few months until all eligible recipients are covered.

“Supporting Holocaust survivors is always our number one concern,” said Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor. “Immediately following the horrific attacks of Oct. 7, we began working to ensure every survivor was first safe, then secure in a location where they could be comfortable, and to ensure that they have financial support while the conflict continues.”

There are about 245,000 Holocaust survivors still living, according to a January Claims Conference report. They are dispersed in more than 90 countries, with 49% residing in Israel.

As a result of the Claims Conference’s negotiations with the German government over the years, nearly 40% of survivors receive monthly payments while the rest are eligible for one-time or annual payments.

Since 1951, the Claims Conference has secured more than $90 billion in indemnification for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis, including through one-time payments and, for those most in need, life-sustaining services such as home care, medicine, hot meals and friendly support networks, the Claims Conference said.

The Claims Conference earlier this week launched the Survivor Speakers Bureau (SSB), with more than 250 Holocaust survivors willing and able to tell their critical stories to students around the world.

“At a moment of dramatically rising antisemitism, this program tells the history and educates for the future,” said Taylor. “A Holocaust survivor speakers bureau of this scale and reach is unprecedented. Holocaust stories remain as important as ever, for both ends of the generational spectrum. Survivors continue to feel the enormous need to share their harrowing stories, and, encouragingly, schools continue to want to fill their rooms with living, eyewitness testimony.”