Prague Holocaust Conference

The Conference on Holocaust Era Assets is scheduled to get underway in Prague, Czech Republic this Friday. Some early media coverage is beginning to appear and, as expected, reflects the priorities and desired spin of the main institutional players at the conference, primarily the Jewish Claims Conference, which has played a major role in shaping the goals and structure of the conference (and packing the speaker slots).

The priorities of the Claims Conference are art restitution and return or compensation of property -- particularly former Jewish communal property -- in eastern European countries like Poland and Lithuania, where open issues remain from six decades ago.

The formal sessions and speakers scheduled at the Prague conference reflect these priorities, but that really means issues of most direct concern to survivors are going to be given short shrift. The conference program does not bode well: a "special session" on survivor welfare was added relatively late in the process, without any working group of experts or stakeholders meeting over the last few months to consider ways to address the painful and tragic issue of survivor poverty, and to build consensus on practical solutions. It will likely mean symbolic talk, and no action.

Instead, we are going to hear a lot about stolen artworks and Judaica, and the need for more research and commemorative projects.

And many European governments, frankly, would like the conference to come & go with as little attention as possible, allowing them to duck potential public pressure to fulfill past promises or do more to address historic wrongs.

For most of the Holocaust restitution "establishment," survivors are a secondary concern, and even an annoyance at times. Just a handful have been granted speaking roles in Prague.

So, we will soon witness an international conference on the Holocaust play out with living survivors made to stand on the periphery, barely seen, with the pressing issue of survivor poverty relegated to the edges of the agenda.

It is a profound failure of leadership.

"Surviving Surviving"

An eighth grader from Long Island has made a remarkable documentary focusing on survivor poverty. The video, "Surviving Surviving" can be viewed here. As part of a thesis project, Joe Klein interviewed survivors and staff from several New York-area agencies providing services to survivors living in poverty.

The video is also the focus of a feature article in the Jewish Star (Long Island, NY).

"Surviving Surviving" is honest and outspoken, a call to conscience. Elie Rubenstein, the Executive Director of Blue Card, Inc. (a non-profit social agency serving survivors), boils it down to the basics:

"If we allow...Holocaust survivors to live in poverty, I think it tells something about us as a community...people would like to ignore and not talk about it."

In thirty short minutes, Joe Klein's film gives voice to survivors and raises more awareness about their plight than practically all Jewish media coverage on the issue over the past few years.

It's worth a look.

Breaking News on German Ghetto Pensions

(received from Leo Rechter)

In a case involving two Holocaust survivors, a German Court has ruled that survivors who worked in ghettos are entitled to German Social Security pensions, even if they cannot prove that they had worked for remuneration. This is a reversal of previous decisions.

90 percent of the 70,000 claimants who had previously applied had been rejected because of lack of proof. Now there is new hope. Details will follow.

Please note: These pensions are only for survivors who worked for remuneration, (ghetto money or extra rations, etc.) out of their own free volition. It is not for forced laborers or slave laborers.

HSF Statement to President Obama

Holocaust Survivors' Foundation-USA has issued a statement coinciding with President Obama's visit to the Buchenwald memorial in Germany urging the President to address the needs of living survivors. The text of the statement can be viewed here.

Why Me?

By January 1945, as the Soviet Army was getting closer to Birkenau, mentally and physically I felt better about myself and even dared to think that there was a possibility of leaving Birkenau normally (not through the chimney).
By the middle of January cannon fire was heard in the distance, this was more hope. A few days later, our barrack was awakened earlier than usual and each one of us were given 2 portions of bread, lined up outside of the barrack and camp “A” was evacuated (luckily prior to this time, I was able to acquire some additional food and winter clothing with boots while working on the scheise commando). We were joined by other camps in Birkenau and the “death march” started on a cold winter day in Poland.
For the next 27 hours, we marched on the snowy, windy roads stopping occasionally to relieve ourselves in the fields and swallowing snow as our liquid with a few bites of bread. If anyone could not walk others helped him for a while till they got tired. When someone fell to the ground, he was dragged to the side of the road and shot in the head. The following morning some of us arrived in Gleiwitz concentration camp. Immediately I found a barrack to rest, placing my back-pack as a pillow on the concrete floor and slept for a few hours.
I woke up in the afternoon and went looking for my friends. While walking, I met people from other camps and started to look closer for someone from Sobrance. For a while I had no luck . With thousands of people aimlessly walking around it was not an easy task. Just about the time I was ready to give up, I saw a group of people huddled together (apparently to try to keep warm), I walked toward them and as I got closer, someone’s back looked familiar to me. I circled around this person till I was in front of him, we made eye contact. Both of us recognized each other; it was my brother Zoltan. We hugged each other and cried, there was so much to say but neither one of us could find the right words. After a while we separated and I turned to the right and saw the face of my father (Josef). We hugged, kissed and cried; I could not believe in this miracle. After a while we settled down and made some future plans to stay close together, if possible. Everyone knew the war would probably soon be over.
A few days later, the three of us were placed in open coal cars. Twelve days later we arrived in Buchenwald, this was the beginning of February. In Buchenwald we stayed together in a men’s barrack. Unfortunately, about a month later, my father became very ill and was taken to the hospital. Sadly this was the last time we saw him.
Next, my brother and I were placed in Barrack #66 with over a thousand boys. At the beginning of April 1945, as the U.S. Army was getting close to Buchenwald another death march was planned. My brother (Zoltan) was picked to leave immediately on this march. I was younger and I was not picked to leave on that day.
Those of us who were left, were sent back to our barracks to await another death march. This second death march never materialized because Buchenwald was “found” by the 6th Armored Division of the 3rd U. S. Army on April 11, 1945.
The boys in Barrack #66 were placed in the Guards’ Barrack for seven weeks which was set up as a hospital. Each one of us was examined by a U.S. Army doctor, and appropriate medical treatment was provided as needed. At that time my weight was 66 pounds and I just turned 14 years old. We were fed cooked cereal with vitamins and cared for by the U. S. Army Doctors. Their aim was to make us well again in order for us to travel to our homes and other places.
After my return to Sobrance, I found out that from my extended and immediate family of 41, I was the sole survivor.
On July 3, 1946 I arrived in the United States.
My survival was a miracle. By immigrating to the United States I had many opportunities to rebuild my life. I married and had two sons, grandchildren and had a successful and gratifying career. I now focus on working on issues to help indigent survivors, and also speak in schools re: the Holocaust. My life is very fulfilling and I am grateful to have the health and energy that enables me to “give back”. Someone up there must have been watching over me!

The Last Survivors

Additional thoughts from Leo Rechter that appeared in the May issue of NAHOS newsletter:

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The distinguished scholar Michael Berenbaum wrote an essay in the ‘Forward.com’ April 24^th issue in which he gives credit to the contributions of survivors. [Link to article]

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We are grateful to Professor Berenbaum for his moving essay and his recognition. We hope other non-survivors will concur with his findings about our contributions.

There was only one sentence that we were wondering about. After the statement: “All too soon, there would be no survivors” professor Berenbaum reports: “The membership of every institution acknowledged the problem and dreaded that moment.”

Forgive us, professor Berenbaum if we question the all-encompassing reach of that statement. “Every (?) institution” and “dreaded” (?).

Undoubtedly, most museums and memorials will deplore the loss of valuable input, but the sentiment among the survivor population is that most American Jewish non-survivors organizations are not overly concerned with the fate of Holocaust survivors.

They were not overly concerned when we first came to these shores (especially in the larger cities); they do not seem concerned with the current obscenely high level of poverty among survivors; they are not concerned that the rights of survivors - of deciding over their rightful restitutions - are being usurped by the Claims Conference’.

The USHM Museum is not concerned that most survivors will have passed from this world before the Museum will have put valuable information about the fate of their murdered relatives on the Internet; the large Jewish Foundations who give away sizable funds to all kinds of fashionable causes while ignoring the plight of destitute survivors who cannot afford their medications, seem also not concerned.

Let’s face it: There are numerous Survivor voices who refused to be treated like sheep; who object to have non-survivors decide over their fate and their restitution-funds; who resent seeing the deprivation of many of their fellow survivors. Their voices have been and are a constant irritation to the conscience of the “machers” of many Jewish institutions. They do not actually wish the passing of the last survivors, but – judging by the belief of most survivors -- it is unlikely that they would “dread the moment.”

Shameless Coercion

Leo Rechter, a Survivor and President of The National Association of Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors (NAHOS), as well as a founding Board member of HSF, recently penned the following commentary in the May 2009 NAHOS newsletter. (NOTE: The entire newsletter & previous issues are available at this link.)

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The Haaretz of May 8th reports that the ‘Claims Conference – JCC’, “the world’s richest Holocaust restitution organization” has offered to give funds to Israeli Survivor organizations provided they stop criticism of the JCC. The umbrella group ‘The Centre of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel’ has rejected the offer and called it: “an insulting bribe meant to silence legitimate criticism.” Apparently. the ‘Centre’ had financial difficulties and the “Claims Conference offered a no-interest, 12-month loan of $200,000 to the Centre of Organizations in an internal, unsigned contract, obtained by Haaretz. The loan, intended ‘to prevent the Centre’s economic collapse,’ is conditioned on the Centre ‘aligning itself’ with the Claims Conference and refraining from voicing any criticism.”
The Haaretz further reports:
“The final clause in the proposed contract stated that, should the umbrella group take the money and then criticize the Claims Conference, it would be required to repay the debt immediately, and the Claims Conference would halt future funding.” And:
“Welfare organizations in Israel are on the brink of bankruptcy and the Claims Conference is trying to take advantage of this. Is worse than offering a bribe: It’s a dictatorial attempt to silence opposition.”
The Claims Conference does not deny having made this conditional offer, but contends it was necessary because of “irresponsible and damaging behavior” by people from the ‘Centre of Organizations’. The JCC also asserts that the ‘Centre’ had not asked for funding of welfare projects, as usual, but for funding of ‘operational costs’. A board member of the ‘Centre’ refutes this assertion and reveals that the JCC “had funded operation costs for years, before pulling the plug two years ago.” “Now it’s conditioned on servility” he said.
A spokesperson for the Claims Conference complains: “People from the Centre of Organizations have recently lashed out at the Claims Conference, damaging both bodies. It’s unthinkable for the Claims Conference to be expected to fund a body which behaves like this without making sure it acts responsibly for the common goal of helping survivors.”
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Editor: We applaud the board-members of the ‘Centre’ who rejected the debasing offer. In our opinion any attempt a stifling criticism is an outrageous affront to the survivor community. We believe in free, democratic expressions of opinion and in a free marketplace of ideas. We scorn and challenge the JCC’s attempts at authoritarianism and dictatorship. Today’s adults are quite capable of discerning where the truth lies and what to believe.
Furthermore, these funds are not private funds that the JCC magnanimously provides from its own pockets. These are funds that were merely entrusted to them – for the benefit of survivors – from German and other restitutions and compensations and from the sale of properties of other Nazi-victims that did not survive.
In our opinion, there never was as justification to use these entrusted funds according to the whims of the JCC. There is no justification to cover ‘operational costs’ of other organizations. How does the JCC record these expenditures? As Welfare benefits? As educational expenditures?
This practice of providing ‘operational funds’ has led to the formation of a number of small and servile survivor groups; afraid of expressing their honest beliefs; afraid of openly and effectively struggling for survivors’ rights; afraid of demanding full and transparent oversight over all financial expenditures. Now the JCC is attempting to extend its control over the entire survivor community; is arrogantly trying to stifle all voices of dissent. We must not, we will not let this happen! Never!