his Week

.44
4e,
•10,

No Lawyers
Needed

Help with Holocaust era insurance claim forms
available at no charge from Jewish Family Service.

T

HARRY KIRSBAUM

Staff Writer

hey've suffered enough.
When local Holocaust
survivors faced the latest
round of applying for com-
pensation in March — this time for
claims on unpaid insurance policies
from World War II — Jewish Family
Service in Southfield trained volun-
teers to help them for free. As usual.
The survivors have also heard from
attorneys and investment companies,
offering assistance in filling out the
forms for a fee. As
usual.
Rachel Yoskowitz,
JFS director of citi-
zenship and immigra-
tion services, wants
these survivors to
know they needn't be
victimized for their
suffering again.
Rachel
"Untold numbers of
Yoskowitz
pre-World War II
insurance policies
held by Jewish families have gone
unpaid or unclaimed," she said.
"People who think that their deceased
relatives may have had insurance poli-
cies before the war are encouraged to
file a claim, and we can help them."
In cooperation with the
International Commission on
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, JFS
has trained staff and volunteers to prop-
erly complete the documents required
by the international review panel.
Although the claim application
requires a great deal of biographical
information, according to the ICHE-
IC, there is no need for survivors to
seek legal assistance in this process,
Yoskowitz emphasized.
The Commission will investigate
all claims and, if payment is due
from a participating company, see
that it is made. Companies partici-
pating in the settlement are Allianz,
AXA, Generali, Winterthur Leben
and Zurich.
All costs will be borne by the com-

panies that are members of the com-
mission.
"Survivors shouldn't be paying any
type of fee," said JFS board member
Micki Grossman of Farmington Hills.
Grossman said she's been told of sur-
vivors contacted by lawyers who have
offered help for up to 30 percent of
the settlement.
"Who knows how long it will take
to get the money and what amount
of money we're talking about," she
said, `but that anyone should prey on
that is just unconscionable." El

additional information or
e a confidential c o st-
ptment, contact Jewish
Mee at (248) 559-1500.

Guide Assists
Temple Managers

New York
"If ever there was an
institution demanding dynamic vol-
unteer leadership, it is the syna-
gogue," writes Daniel S. Schechter in
Synagogue Boards: A Sacred Trus. The
book, published by the UAHC Press,
is a guide to synagogue leadership.
Schechter sets out to explain how
temple boards can better define and
accomplish their goals in a distinctly
Jewish manner. "Jewish values should
be at the heart of all congregational
decisions," he writes. "It is important
that boards understand the signifi-
cance of what is Jewish in their her-
itage and what Judaic values are at
stake in their trusteeship."
Allowing these values to inform
board decisions, Schechter argues,
provides building blocks for a success-
ful synagogue. He considers syna-
gogue board performance, trustee
burnout, working relationships with
religious leaders, development and
-long-range planning, and budgeting.
The former synagogue trustee and
president, Schechter is a temple

—

administrator who has served as vice-
chair and executive committee mem-
ber of the UAHC. He has served as
editor and publisher of Trustee maga-
zine and served as co-director of the
Central Conference of American
Rabbis' liturgy development project.
UAHC Press is the publishing arm
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, the central body of
Reform Judaism in North America.

S. Korean
Envoy Recalled

Jerusalem/JTA — South Korea's
ambassador to Israel was summoned
to Seoul because of a gambling prob-
lem, Israel Radio reported.
The report said the ambassador
would be brought before a discipli-
nary board. According to the radio
report, during the 1980s the diplo-
mat was recalled from his position as
an adviser to South Korea's U.N. del-
egation in New York due to a similar
problem.

U.S. Chides
Israel Test

Jerusalem/JTA — U.S. Defense
Department officials criticized an
unannounced Israeli missile test in
the Mediterranean, saying the mis-
siles came too close to American
navy ships, the Washington Post
reported.
The officials claimed the incident
marked the third time during the past
two years that the Jewish state has
conducted a "no-notice" missile
launch in the vicinity of a U.S. war-
ship.

Internet Spreads
Antisemitism

Jerusalem/JTA
The Internet is play-
ing a key role in spreading anti-
semitism, according to Israeli
researchers.
Professor Dina Porat, whose
research team compiled the annual

—

Tel Aviv University report on anti-

Israel Marks
Yom HaShoah

Jerusalem/JTA
The wail of a two-
minute siren brought Israel to a
standstill, as the nation stood in silent
tribute to the 6 million Jews who per-
ished in the Holocaust.
Ceremonies were held at the Yad
Vashem Holocaust Memorial and
the Knesset in Jerusalem. In Poland,
Israeli President Ezer Weizman and
his Polish counterpart, Aleksander
Kwasniewski, led thousands of
young people in the annual March
of the Living from Auschwitz to
Birkenau.

—

Terrorists

Moving East

Washington/JTA
Terrorists are find-
ing a new base in South Asia, accord-
ing to the U.S. State Department.
Focusing on nations such as
Afghanistan and Pakistan, the depart-
ment's annual report on international
terrorism said the eastward shift of ter-
rorist centers occurred after most
Middle East governments strengthened
their methods of responding to terror-
ists.

—

semitism, said the Internet has
become "an easy, so far legal, cheap,
convenient and accessible vehicle" for
disseminating antisemitism.

Israeli Housing
Hinders Peace

Jerusalem/JTA
Israel's decision to
build new housing units in a settle-
ment near Jerusalem undermines the
peace process, the U.S. State
Department said in a statement.
The comment regarding Israel's
plans at Ma'aleh Adumim was made
as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators
continued to work in the Israeli
resort of Eilat on a blueprint for a
final agreement.

—

Australian Leader
Visits Israel

Jerusalem/JTA
Australia's prime
minister welcomed Israel's offer to
pay one-third of the compensation to
the families of Australian athletes
killed or injured in a bridge collapse
at the opening of the 1997
Maccabiah Games.
John Howard was told of the offer
at the start of his three-day visit to
Israel.

—

5/5
2000

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