Last Chance to Help Many Holocaust Survivors

Most holocaust survivors in Israel live in abject poverty. We, as members of the human race, have a moral obligation to care for them, so that they can live out their years in dignity.

While in 2005 there were nearly 400,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel, by 2007 according to figures presented by the National Insurance Institute and other Israeli agencies, there were only 250,000 Holocaust survivors left in Israel. Thousands of the survivors die annually, with 70% of them older than 76, and 20% older than 86. The state stipends amount to barely $300 a month, not enough to pay for basic necessities. Moreover, the medical and financial needs of the population are growing, as even the youngest of the survivors are now well over 60. The problem is particularly acute for about 170,000 who moved to Israel from the former Soviet Union over the past decade, and are now living in poverty. They are entitled neither to the monthly pensions sent other survivors by the governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, nor the pensions supplied by Israeli and international Jewish organizations. All of them arrived past the age of 65, and many are living alone in a nation whose inner workings are difficult to contend with even for the native-born and the young.

According to figures presented by the National Insurance Institute and other Israeli agencies, out of the 250,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel in 2007, 20,000 receive reparations from Germany and another 40,000 are paid stipends by the state. The overwhelming majority, however, receive no support whatsoever. Under Israeli law, those survivors who arrived in Israel after 1953 are ineligible for government benefits. For example, Abraham Berkowitz, a survivor who immigrated to Israel from Romania, came to a medical committee because of dental problems. The panel told him he could “receive money only for teeth he lost in the Holocaust.”

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has distributed warm blankets to Holocaust survivors and elderly for three consecutive years already. We have considered many new ideas of how to help those neglected by state institutions. This year, JIJ has decided to give them double-layered warm fleece jackets and hats for the harsh winter months, since many of them can not afford to use heaters to warm their houses. We have received an offer to provide high-quality fleece jackets and hats to 5,000 Holocaust survivors, for which we need to raise $30,000 for an immediate down payment. The whole project will cost $100,000 and will reach approximately 3% of the neediest contingent.

Now is our opportunity to show these courageous survivors that they have not been forgotten. We are your representatives of love and compassion here in the land. Please partner with the Jerusalem Institute of Justice to bless the elderly population of Israel this coming winter season.

Thank you.

Survivors who arrived in Israel after 1953 are ineligible for government benefits

JIJ has distributed warm blankets to Holocaust survivors for three consecutive years