Survivor Welfare
November 9,
2008
English Translation of Dorner
Commission Report
HSF has obtained an
UNOFFICIAL English translation
of the report of the State Commission of Inquiry into the
Israeli governments' treatment of Holocaust survivors. The
Commission was chaired by former Supreme Court Judge
Dalia Dorner. The hard-hitting report was
issued in June 2008, and has resulted in
increases in monthly pensions paid to needy survivors in
Israel. It also helped focus attention on the way
funds from the Claims Conference are allocated in Israel.
(NOTE: The translation is in Microsoft Word document format.)
April 29,
2008
"Holocaust Remembrance is
About Honoring the Living Too"
Anita Friedman, executive
director of
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco,
writes in the May 3rd edition of j. - The Jewish News Weekly of
Northern California, "What would entitle us to call ourselves a
community if we allow our most vulnerable members to live in
loneliness and poverty?" See her column
here.
April 29,
2008
"Marking Annual Holocaust
Memorial Day, Survivors Turn Anger Inward" - Claims Conference
the target of wide criticism
An Associated Press story highlights opposition among survivors
to the policies, priorities and secretiveness of the Claims
Conference, the main source of funding for survivor programs &
services. Jack Rubin, a survivor and HSF leader, states, "There is
nothing more important than the Holocaust survivors, and in the few
years they have left they should live in dignity. That is all I ask
of the Claims Conference."
A
new documentary by journalists Guy Meroz & Orli Vilnai-Federbush
has been broadcast on Israeli television. The film, "The Morality of
Payments - the Battle Continues," which aired in conjunction with
the annual observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, is critical of
the Claims Conference's allocations and raises charges that its
constituent organizations are engaged in 'self-dealing.'
Israeli parliamentarians are calling for an investigation.
More coverage in
JTA,
Ha'aretz
and the UK-based
Jewish Chronicle.
Earlier, the Claims Conference unsuccessfully
attempted to block the film's broadcast.
Under growing public pressure, the
Claims Conference has announced it will for the first time
publish data on former Jewish properties in eastern Germany it has
acquired and sold since the early 1990s.
April 28,
2008
DOCUMENTARY
FILMS OF
INTEREST
"Paying for Justice: The
Struggle Continues" (2008)
This documentary by Guy Meroz and Orli Vilnai-Federbush aired on Israeli
television on April 30, 2008. A sequel to the 2007 film "Paying
for
 Justice"
(see below), it focuses on the Claims Conference. The
film's website offers a synopsis and excerpts of press
coverage surrounding the Claims Conference's efforts to prevent
broadcast. A short trailer has been posted on YouTube.
SEPTEMBER 2008 UPDATE: The Claims Conference
has filed a lawsuit against the documentary filmmakers to block
the film's circulation. See the story
here.
 Meroz and Vilnai-Federbush's
original "Paying
for
Justice,"
broadcast on
Israel's Channel 2 in April 2007, helped spur a political
response to that nation's shameful treatment of its own aging
and poor Holocaust survivors. A
short clip is available on
YouTube.
More details and reviews on the film's
website.
"In the Name of The Victims"
This 2007 documentary film by award-winning director Ilan Ziv focuses
on the role played by
the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, its decisions regarding the distribution of
money to survivors of the Holocaust, and the shocking prevalence
of poverty among aging survivors.
UPDATE: The film is
no longer available for free online viewing. Click below for
a preview:
Also at this link are
background materials detailing how the
 Claims Conference has reacted to the film,
and a
video
interview with the director. See also Ilan Ziv's
weblog
about the controversy over the film.
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