In a letter to German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, signed by Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) and 12 colleagues in the NYS Assembly and NYC Council, Hikind called on Germany to expeditiously release monies in the new compensation fund. Those eligible for the “one-time symbolic payment of 2,000 euros” are Holocaust survivors who were “unable to receive a pension for work performed in Holocaust-era ghettos.”
“The German Government’s recent decision to establish a new fund of approximately $140 million to pay symbolic compensation for voluntary work performed in specific Holocaust-era ghettos, is being stalled by vexing and cumbersome protocols and criteria,” Hikind stated in his letter.
In response, German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth said, “I fully agree with you about the need to make the application process uncomplicated and to make payments quickly…It is virtually no longer necessary for the applicant to describe the nature of past persecution. It is personally very important to me that the one-time payments are processed and paid out quickly and easily. Germany owes that to the survivors. I would therefore be very grateful if you could let me know if your constituents report to you any problems in the application process.”
The individuals eligible for the modest one-time payments include those whose claims were previously rejected by the program under the Ghetto Pension Law. “Whatever restitution is to be made, will now be made expeditiously. Survivors in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s should not have to wait one extra day for this money,” Hikind added.
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3 Responses
Vis a vis Germany:
Too little, too late.
Most have passed on, and the damage that was done to both them and their future generations (ask any child of a Holocaust survivor) cannot be quantified with a million times that paltry amount.
Thank you, Assemblyman Hikind, for your effort.
Our new gadol hador – Dov Hikind, formerly with the JDL, down those mean Brooklyn streets.
Dov – take it easy. Mach zich nisht epes a velts tzaddik un teierer askan. Bist a poshter yung azoi vie alleh.
Lo miduvsheich v’lo meuktzeich.
dobre uta.
#2
your out of place speaking like that about dov hikind.he did well and we should thank him for his askonut.we all know that the retribution is small, however, that is another issue.