Germany gives each Holocaust survivor in Israel a wartime $238 solidarity grant

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany is giving out a one-time grant of €220 ($238) to Holocaust survivors living in Israel as part of an emergency response to the war with Hamas and the conflict with Hezbollah.

The grant comes from a dedicated fund, titled the Solidarity for Israel Fund, which totals €25 million ($27 million) and was provided by the German government following talks with the Claims Conference and Israel’s Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority, the Claims Conference says in a statement Tuesday.

The extra cash is necessary because, for Holocaust survivors who came to Israel because it’s a haven for Jews, “to be unsettled is retraumatizing and requires additional support and services,” says Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, which represents the Jewish people in compensation negotiations with Germany for the Holocaust.

Nearly half of all Holocaust survivors, whose number is estimated at 270,00, reside in Israel, according to a 2023 report based on the Claims Conference records of all living Holocaust survivors around the world who have received compensation through its mechanism.