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 calls on Germany to expeditiously release monies in the new compensation fund. The 12 elected officials represent constituencies with one of the highest concentrations of Holocaust survivors in the U.S.
“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.
Hikind’s letter urged the German Government to “increase the small amounts which will be paid.” Furthermore, the elected officials requested that “given the age of the applicants and the modest payments survivors will receive, we are concerned that the criteria for eligibility and the claims procedures for the fund, as currently proposed, are unduly restrictive and burdensome. As a result, we urge the German Government to take all steps necessary to ensure that they are simple and non-bureaucratic.”
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, must be made expeditiously. Aging survivors have waited long enough,” Hikind added.
*Assemblymembers Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), Rhoda Jacobs (D-Brooklyn), Rory Lancman (D-Queens), Joe Lentol (D-Brooklyn), Nettie Mayersohn (D-Queens), Audrey Pheffer (D-Queens) and Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn)
Councilmembers Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), Jim Gennaro (D-Queens), Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn), David Weprin (D-Queens), and David Yassky (D-Brooklyn)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
I can’t believe this! Absolutely no one commented on this yet? Does anyone realize that the Holocaust are slowly dying out R”L and there may not be anything left for them and their descendants? And no one blogged on yet. For shame!