metro >> on the cover

Claims Conference

JFS gains funds to expand budget for Holocaust survivor services.

Shari S. Cohen I Special to the Jewish News

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Appreciative Survivors

Ella Baker, 90, who survived Auschwitz-
Birkenau concentration camp, moved to
Detroit during the 1950s. She now lives at
Hechtman Apartments in West Bloomfield.
Because her only relative, her daughter,
lives in England, assistance from JFS is
especially welcome.
"It is a two-way street:' Baker said. "In
the early 1970s, I was a JFS volunteer. So
now I enjoy the privilege of knowing that I
am not being left alone
Baker praises her caseworker, Missy
Lewin, "as one of a kind — the caring per-
son in charge who keeps me up-to-date on
what is available
Baker relied on JFS for escorted trans-
portation during chemotherapy treatment
for cancer several years ago. Now she
receives housekeeping help twice a month
although Lewin said Baker is eligible for
more assistance. For now, Baker says, that

is sufficient although "you never know
what tomorrow will brine
Another JFS survivor client, Mrs. R.,
is a 90-year-old widow who lives in Oak
Park. She was born in Kiev and worked in
a ghetto during the war. Mrs. R. has ben-
efited greatly by having 25 hours a week of
home care through JFS, which has allowed
her to live with dignity and as indepen-
dently as possible in her own home. Claims
Conference funding enables JFS to provide
housecleaning, laundry, meal preparation
and assistance with personal care. Mrs. R.
has also benefited from emergency finan-
cial assistance to help maintain her home.
According to Berris, the Claims
Conference definition of a Jewish victim
of Nazism is a broad one, including not
only individuals who survived concentra-
tion camps but also Jews who were in slave
labor camps and those who fled to many
countries during the war, as well as child
survivors who were hidden during the
Holocaust. She said that most survivors

Our impact begins with
challenges that ignite the mind.

Academically, gifted children seek complex solutions, delve
deeply into topics of personal interest, learn rapidly, and are
able to comprehend a broad range of ideas and synthesize
commonalities. At Roeper, the curriculum and learning
environment are designed for these needs.

Lower School Open House: Tuesday, January 27 at 9am

Middle/Upper School Open House: Thursday, January 29 at 1pm

Personal Interviews & Tours daily by appointment

THE ROEPER SCHOOL

I M PACT YOU R WORLD

WWW.ROEPER.ORG • 248.203.7317

THE ROEPER SCHOOL IS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION

12

January 22 • 2015

meet the financial guidelines for Claims
Conference assistance.
With the expanded funds, JFS is reach-
ing out to notify all local Jewish survivors
about the services available to them. A JFS
VISTA worker, Michael Eisinger, has held
town hall meetings to reach survivors and
their families, identifying 35 new potential
clients for the survivors program.
Many Holocaust survivors receive
individual reparation payments from the
German government, but that compensa-
tion is separate from the grant for social
services. In 2015, total Claims Conference
allocations to social service organizations
worldwide will total $365 million, a 21 per-
cent increase from the 2014 amount, and
will help Holocaust victims in 47 countries.
The additional funds are derived from
the German government, proceeds from
recovered Jewish property in former East
Germany, the Austrian government, the
Swiss Banks Settlement, and the Harry and
Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

The Claims Conference, representing
25 international Jewish organizations,
was established in 1952 to negotiate
reparations from the German govern-
ment — both for suffering and loss by
Jewish survivors as well as stolen prop-
erty and other possessions. Since then,
the German government has issued $60
billion in lifetime pensions and one-
time payments to Jewish Holocaust sur-
vivors and their heirs.
The Claims Conference has its head-
quarters in New York City with offices in
Germany, Austria and Israel. In addition
to its own board, the American, German
and Austrian governments provide finan-
cial oversight for the Claims Conference's
allocation of funds for Jewish Holocaust
victims.

❑

For information about eligibility for survivor-
ship assistance, call the JFS Resource Center

at (248) 592-2313.
See a related story on page 22.

