Little time left for Holocaust survivors

I n five to 10 years, the remaining survivors of the Holocaust will have died. We will stand to honor their memories when the siren blows on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and many of us will weep. Schools will continue taking teenagers through Auschwitz. Yad Vashem will go on documenting the Holocaust and Jewry's unimaginable suffering at the Nazis' hands. Yet at present, a full quarter of Israel's living Holocaust survivors exist on so little money that they can't afford to both eat and buy medications, or get dental treatment, or pay for house repairs, or put installments down on a washing machine. Many are childless. Many are their families' sole survivors, with no supportive network to see them through their last years. Decades of lukewarm government response to their plight have finally culminated in new legislation approving monthly stipends and increased stipends to former slave laborers, inhabitants of ghettos, adult children deprived of normal futures, people deported from their homes to concentration camps, survivors of the cattle trains. But it's too little and, for many who have already died in wretched poverty, too late. Legislation changes frequently, both in Israel and in the European countries that offer stipends to victims of the Holocaust. Romania, for example, began offering a stipend to Jews persecuted in that country between 1940 and 1945 only this past July. How can elderly people, perhaps living in a senior citizen's home, know what survivor's benefits they deserve, and how can they even get access to the money? Aviva Silberman, CEO of Aviv LeNitzolei HaShoah (Spring for Holocaust Survivors), told In Jerusalem how the organization grew from herself, one law student volunteering at a seniors' residence in Petah Tikva, to an NGO that has helped over 60,000 survivors obtain financial support from Israel and Germany. Silberman has received several awards for the NGO's services, the latest being the Sderot Conference Medal for Social Excellence in November 2016. “I was studying law at Bar-Ilan University,” recounts Silberman. “With free time during the 1992 students strike, I asked to volunteer at a seniors residence on Montefiore Street in Petah Tikva. I like working with old people, and I thought my mother tongue, German, would be useful there.” Silberman, born in Switzerland, made aliya at age 17. Her fluent German immediately proved useful. “The social worker at the residence told me that some of the seniors had received big brown envelopes from Germany, containing what seemed to be forms. They didn't know what they were supposed to do, or what it was about. The letters were notifications about Holocaust survivors' rights to a stipend from Germany. They included application forms. I translated the letters and helped fill out the forms. The elders started receiving a monthly stipend that made a significant difference to their lives.” Silberman kept her volunteer job throughout her years at law school and while she was getting married and establishing a family. Her work there allowed her to research the topic of survivors' financial rights, both from Germany and from Israel. It was clear that many who deserved compensation weren't aware of it, and that the social workers and other professionals working with them didn't know either. Many of the survivors who did know couldn't manage the intimidating red tape involved by themselves. “After having my first baby, I decided that ordinary law practice wasn't for me,” says Silberman. “By that time, I knew everything about survivors' rights. They can claim benefits from Germany, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, Israel's Finance Ministry, and the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel. From time to time, new benefits come up; the stipend from Romania, for example. I saw that helping survivors get those rights was going to be my mission. “There are private lawyers who help survivors to get their rights, but they take commissions – up to 40% of the money received. I decided never to take money from survivors.” Apart from those ignorant of their rights to reparation money, there are survivors who are afraid to put further claims forward, lest they lose the stipends they have already claimed. The NGO's trained volunteers explain to them that their benefits can only increase. And there are survivors who until now felt that the money was “dirty,” and refused to claim it. Most have realized that it helps no one to refuse compensation money. Silberman first joined an information center for survivors headed by former MK Rabbi Michael Melchior. During the Second Lebanon War, the center had a project helping housebound survivors who live in the North. Driving from one survivor's home to the next and dodging rockets, she conceived the idea of promoting survivor's rights information on the radio, in the press and on the Internet. However, when she proposed the plan, the center didn't pursue it. The center eventually disbanded, but Silberman moved on. “My husband encouraged me to forget established organizations and start an NGO myself,” she says. “At first, I thought, how can I? There I was with five small children,” she laughs. “On the other hand, it was, and is, a race against time. I didn't have the luxury of waiting till I was ready. Holocaust survivors die every day. I'd managed to help about 2,000 survivors claim reparation payments on my own. But with a team, I could do much more. I started Aviv LeNitzolei HaShoah in 2007.” Silberman began by recruiting two women lawyers, and set up an office in her home. “We organized materials and made a website. We set up an information hotline. I gave lectures, especially in northern kibbutzim, where many survivors live. I made folders containing pamphlets explaining who's eligible and what they can get, a sample application, and the NGO's contact information. I told the kibbutznikim, 'Now you're my messengers. Give this out to whoever you think will benefit.' One of them told me, 'These folders are like rocks you throw in the water – they will make ripples.'” And so it proved. Today, more than 60,000 Holocaust survivors have received their legal rights via the NGO. The compensations and benefits they have received amount to more than NIS 350 million. The NGO now operates out of an office in Nehalim and has a team of 25 professionals, 14 of whom are lawyers. In addition, there are 50 volunteers who attend survivors at 18 information centers throughout Israel. The centers, maintained together with Eshel Joint Israel and the Jew - ish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, are in the offices of local munic - ipal authorities and other accessible places. There, volunteers help applicants understand their rights and fill out their application forms in German or English. If needed, the survivor will meet with a lawyer. In addition, the organization trains social workers in various fields, professionals at local National Insurance Institute offices and profes - sionals at the social services offices. Volunteers also visit housebound survivors wherever they live. In all cases, the NGO stays with each case until the person's claim comes through and the survivor receives his or her monthly compen - sation, plus a retroactive sum dating from 1997. These retroactive com - pensation sums may amount to thousands of euros. Aviv for Holocaust Survivors takes no commissions from the survi - vors' benefits and charges no membership fees; all services to survivors are provided 100% free of charge. The organization runs entirely on donations, which are urgently needed, as its scope widens with suc - cessful outreach. For more information, go to www.avivshoa.co.il, or write to Aviv LeNitzolei HaShoah, POB 201, Nehalim 4995000.

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