Jews in the D

12 | DECEMBER 12 • 2019 

JUDY GREENWALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I

n keeping with its dedication to pro-
vide compassionate, personalized 
services to help thousands in the 
Jewish community and its vitally import-
ant role in assisting Holocaust survivors, 
Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan 
Detroit (JFS) has been named Midwest 
Administrator for the Holocaust Claims 
Conference. 
Since 1951, the Conference on Jewish 
Material Claims Against Germany (the 
Claims Conference) has been providing 
care for Jewish Holocaust victims through 
negotiating with the German government 
for millions of dollars in payments to 
victims, promoting Holocaust education, 
documentation and research, and funding 
social services that aid communities in 

looking after elderly survivors.
JFS CEO Perry Ohren noted JFS has 
been working with the Claims Conference 
for decades, and with 
Holocaust survivors for more 
than 70 years, and this part-
nership is crucial to the work 
JFS undertakes: helping sur-
vivors to age with dignity and 
respect. 
“The Claims Conference’
s 
purpose is to be the worldwide centralized 
entity that helps us help survivors locally,” 
said Ohren, who’
s served as CEO since 
2011. “This happens at JFS through the 
provision and facilitation of services for 
survivors as well as helping them access 
restitution.”
According to Ohren, the Conference 

decided the way it was helping survivors 
who weren’
t close to places like JFS wasn’
t 
effective, so a handful of providers across 
the country were asked to take on a region. 
“Helping survivors both in Michigan 
and in a multi-state area is sacred work, 
so, of course we agreed to partner in this 
endeavor,” Ohren said.
“JFS Detroit is one of four hubs respon-
sible for multi-state coverage,” he con-
tinued. “Our designated area includes 15 
states: Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, 
North and South Dakota, Nebraska and 
Kansas. 
“We’
re currently working on starting 
services for a survivor in Petoskey and 
are working with Flint and Ann Arbor to 
qualify their communities’
 survivors for 
services. Also, services are being provided 
to the last-known Holocaust survivor in 
Iowa.”
The aid JFS offers includes facilitating 
non-skilled homecare services such as per-
sonal care, cleaning and grocery shopping. 
Survivors are directed to New York-based 
agency Blue Card Inc. for emergency 
financial assistance.
There’
s much involved in handling the 
duties as the Midwest Claims Conference 
administrator, Ohren explained.
“
Administrative responsibilities include 
receiving referrals from agencies and 
individual prospective clients, completing 
paperwork to qualify prospective survi-
vors for services, collecting supporting 
documentation, identifying, screening 
and training potential homecare service 
providers, training social workers at vari-
ous referring agencies, obtaining monthly 
documentation for services, paying service 
providers and obtaining reimbursement 
from the Claims Conference,” he said.
Yet Ohren and everyone at JFS under-
stand how necessary this work is — and 
how critical this program is to help victims 
of Nazi terror. 
“There’
s nothing more important in all 
we do than helping Holocaust survivors,” 
he concluded. “We at JFS are mindful of 
values such as tzedakah and tikkun olam, 
creating justice and working to make the 
world right and whole, and the concept of 
chessed, compassion and caring for others. 
We’
re honored to provide these services 
because if we see each person as created 
in the image of God, we can see humanity 
and dignity in all people.” 

Perry Ohren 

‘Sacred Work’

Jewish Family Service named administrator 
for Holocaust Claims Conference.

JFS staff member 
Shelby Patterson 
spends time with 
survivor Mrs. Weiss 
of Oak Park.

COURTESY OF JFS

