obituaries
Obituaries from page 85
Aiding Survivors
Israeli group helps get reparation payments.
I
Renee Ghert-Zand
Times of Israel
L
ast June, the Knesset approved the
"National Plan for Aiding Survivors
of the Holocaust:' an increase of 1
billion shekels ($290 million) each year in
benefits to Israel's Holocaust survivors. It's a
welcome, but also a necessary, boon for the
200,000 survivors in Israel, especially the
one-third of them living in poverty.
Under the new plan, survivors, especially
destitute ones, will see their monthly sti-
pends increase significantly. In addition,
medical insurance co-payments for drugs
will be eliminated for survivors, and spouses
of deceased survivors will see their stipends
extended beyond the current three years.
The money may be there, and streamlined
bureaucratic processes may be built into the
plan, but the question remains as to whether
all elderly survivors will be able to easily
access the benefits. After all, many repara-
tion payments and allowances that have been
available to Holocaust survivors since 1992
have gone unclaimed because of daunting
red tape.
"It's true that the government has gotten
better with customer service, but survivors
still need help filling out forms and such:'
said Aviva Silberman, founder and director
of Aviv (Spring) For Holocaust Survivors, a
nonprofit organization that assists survivors
in accessing benefits due them from Israel's
Finance Ministry, Germany, the Conference
on Jewish Material Claims against Germany,
the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust
Victims in Israel, and other agencies.
Silberman founded Aviv For Holocaust
Survivors, which provides services free of
charge, in 2007 after she realized that survi-
vors did not know their rights. Moreover, the
people working with and helping them also
did not know what pensions and reparation
payments survivors were entitled.
"When I was a law student several
decades ago, I volunteered in a residence
for the elderly. Envelopes would arrive
from Germany for the residents who were
Holocaust survivors, and because I speak
German, I was able to translate the forms
"I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT NEVER
IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I
EXPECT TO BE REVIEWING WEB
STATS FROM MY FATHER'S
FUNERAL. HAVING SAID THAT,
IT IS GRATIFYING TO SEE THE
INTEREST FROM SO MANY
STATES AND COUNTRIES."
WE APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK WE
RECEIVE FROM THE FAMILIES WE SERVE.
THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL
Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community
18325 W. 9 Mile Rd Southfield, MI 48075 • 248.569.0020 • IraKaufman.com
86 October 30 • 2014
Obituaries
and docu-
ments and help
the survivors
apply for their
Aviv For Holocaust Survivors founder Aviva Silberman consults with
payments:'
Silberman said. a Holocaust survivor.
"I learned
more about this as I continued my studies.
the governments of Israel and Germany.
There are laws on the books, but survivors
"We have gotten even busier since the new
didn't know how to exercise their rights and
plan was announced earlier this year. I have
get what they deserved:' she said.
eight to 10 new clients a day," said Linda
In fact, there are currently 15 different
Levy, one of the organization's volunteers.
"rentas," or reparation payment or allowance
"If you can help a survivor double their
programs, available to survivors living in
monthly income, it can make a huge differ-
Israel. The fine print as to who is eligible for
ence to their quality of life Levy said.
which payment, and what application forms
Survivors are stepping up to ask for help
need to be completed and supporting docu-
not only because of heightened outreach to
ments must be provided for each, can be
them, but also because they are increasingly
mind-boggling.
realizing that they deserve to live in dignity
That's where Aviv For Holocaust Survivors' and comfort in their final years.
five lawyers and hundreds of volunteers step
"In the past, Holocaust reparations and
in to provide free advice and assistance to
allowances were considered by many to be
the survivors. In seven years, the organiza-
`dirty money,'" said Silberman.
tion has helped 40,000 survivors realize their
"But now survivors, so many of them liv-
rights and access more than NIS 150 million
ing in poverty, realize they are not helping
($40 million) in payments due them from
anyone by refusing the money:"
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