Claims Conference ups funding for Holocaust survivors

The Claims Conference will raise its allocations to social service organizations serving Jewish Holocaust victims by 21 percent over last year.

The allocations for 2015 will total $365 million, an increase of $80 million over 2014, Julius Berman, president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, announced in a statement. The allocations are used primarily for home care, as well as for hunger relief, medical care, winter aid, and transportation for Holocaust survivors in 47 countries.

“All Shoah victims should be able to receive the help and support that they need to live the rest of their lives in dignity, after having endured indescribable suffering in their youth,” Berman said. “Holocaust victims deserve all the aid and comfort that it is possible to give them in the twilight of their lives.”

The increase is possible due to an increase in allocations from Germany, according to the Claims Conference. Allocations also come from the recovery of Jewish properties in the former East Germany, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Austrian government and the Swiss Banks Settlement.

The Claims Conference also distributes individual compensation payments to Holocaust survivors.