Child survivors of the Kindertransport to receive compensation 80 years later
Julius Berman, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), announced Monday that as a result of ongoing negotiations between the Claims Conference and the German government, an agreement was reached on the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport, to provide compensation payments for child survivors of the Kindertransport. “Our team has never given up hope that the moment would come when we could make this historic announcement,” said Berman.
The Kindertransport started in 1938 when British authorities agreed to allow an unspecified number of children under the age of 17 to enter the country from Germany and German-annexed areas (Austria and Czech lands) (Source USHMM). It became evident after Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass), that the situation for Jews in Germany was reaching crisis proportions. Jewish families began urgently searching for any avenue to get their children to safety. Over 10,000 children were saved from death when parents, who were desperate to save their children from the horrors of life under the Nazis, found refuge for them in England – often tragically relinquishing their babies and infants to the care of older children for the possibility of getting them to safety. In heartbreaking scenes on train platforms, these children were often torn from their parents’ arms and, in virtually every case, never saw them again.
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, Claims Conference Special Negotiator, said of this achievement, “This payment comes at a time when we are commemorating 80 years since these children took their fateful journey from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain. After having to endure a life forever severed from their parents and families, no one can ever profess to make them whole; they are receiving a small measure of justice.”
Greg Schneider, Claims Conference Executive Vice President said, “We must all take a moment to commemorate this recognition and sacrifice. No one can imagine the pain on train platforms as the Kindertransports began and the extraordinary steps these parents took to give the opportunity for life to their children – a life those children led without mothers, without fathers, and in many cases, without family of any kind.”
The Kindertransport Fund will open January 1, 2019 and begin processing eligible applications. Although some survivors were provided a small payment in the 1950s, prior payments under compensation programs will not bar claimants from receiving this new benefit. The specific eligibility criteria were determined by the German government. — From Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
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Anwar Sadat to receive posthumous Congressional Gold Medal
On Thursday, December 13, 2018, President Trump signed into law, H.R. 754, the “Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act”, which provides for the posthumous award of a Congressional gold medal to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in recognition of his heroic achievements and courageous contributions to peace in the Middle East. The recognition is timely as the centennial of President Sadat’s birth will be commemorated on December 25, in addition to marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Camp David Accords.
At a reception, hosted by the Anwar Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Commission, and The Shafik Gabr Foundation, highlighted the importance of passing legislation to award the late President Sadat with a Congressional Gold Medal. The event took place at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington DC.
Remarks were delivered by Isaac Dabah, CEO of Delta Galil . Delta was the pioneer in establishing the first Israeli state of the art manufacturing facility in Egypt whose corporate philosophy firmly believes in fostering peace through regional economic cooperation.
The process of awarding the Sadat Congressional Gold Medal commenced with the introduction of bi-partisan legislation by Senators Orrin Hatch and Ben Cardin and Representatives Chris Stewart and Grace Meng. — From the Friedlander Group
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Israeli NGO providing assistance in Indonesia, wins recognition in Sierra Leone
Israeli humanitarian aid NGO IsraAID is working with community partners in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, to provide safe water and psychological support, more than two months after the area was hit by a series of devastating earthquakes and a tsunami.
IsraAID’s team in Central Sulawesi includes WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), mental health support, and disaster response management experts. They are working with community partners in rural areas hit particularly hard by the disaster. More than 2,250 people are reported to have died and at least 68,450 homes were damaged after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the area on September 28th.
This month, IsraAID’s team are working to restore access to safe water for an entire community of more than 300 families – over 1,400 people – which saw 206 homes destroyed and 140 severely damaged by the disaster. The team have also led hygiene promotion training at elementary schools, and distributed education and household supply kits in communities where many families lost their homes.
IsraAID’s planned psychosocial support activities include trainings in affected communities to strengthen mental health and reduce the long-term effects of trauma. These activities utilize the organization’s many years of experience responding to trauma after disasters and helping populations bounce back and rebuild.
Elsewhere, IsraAId’S team in Sierra Leone has been recognized as ‘Outstanding International NGO of the Year’ at the Sierra Leone Awards 2018. The award recognized IsraAID Sierra Leone’s “excellence, innovation and effectiveness in improving the lives of the poor and those most vulnerable in local communities in Sierra Leone.”
The prize was awarded last week at a ceremony in Freetown, with the mayor of Freetown, representatives of the Office of the President, senior government ministers, and other dignitaries from government, business, and the NGO community in attendance. The award was accepted on stage by Jinnah Gbanda, IsraAID Sierra Leone’s program manager. Jinnah has been working with IsraAID Sierra Leone since the very start of the organization’s activities in the country in 2014, rising from a Social Work Intern to lead the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support team.
IsraAID has been working in Sierra Leone since the 2014 Ebola outbreak, with a dedicated team including national and Israeli staff, focused primarily on mental health and psychological support. During the outbreak, IsraAID’s team provided training, mentoring, and supervision to Ebola survivors, frontline workers, and affected communities. Since the country was declared Ebola-free in 2016, IsraAID Sierra Leone has continued to focus on psychosocial support and protection. — From IsraAID
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Seed money provided for Jewish institutions in New York to upgrade their security
Jewish Communal Fund, one of the largest donor advised funds in the country, announced Monday that its endowment, the Special Gifts Fund, has made an emergency grant of $141,500 to UJA-Federation of New York to help secure more than 150 local synagogues, day schools, JCCs and other centers of Jewish life in the wake of the tragedy in Pittsburgh.
The funding will enable these Jewish organizations to conduct the security assessments that are necessary to apply for Department of Homeland Security grants. This grant will potentially leverage hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal security grants, and represents a fruitful collaboration between UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Communal Fund, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY), in a program seed funded by the Paul E. Singer Foundation, which has already earmarked $1 million to enhance security at Jewish institutions in New York.
“Jewish Communal Fund is proud to join forces with our partners at UJA-Federation and follow the lead of the Paul E. Singer Foundation to ensure that our community is safe and secure,” says Zoya Raynes, President of Jewish Communal Fund and a board member of JCRC-NY. “These security assessments are critical to helping our synagogues, day schools and other communal institutions access government dollars to address the very real security challenges we face.”
A leader in the world of Jewish philanthropy, JCF continues to be the largest and most active Jewish donor advised fund in the country with over $1.8 billion in charitable assets under management. In FY 2018, JCF distributed a record $435 million in grants to charities in all sectors—representing 26 percent of assets, well above the industry average.
A donor advised fund at JCF enables Fundholders to organize their charitable giving with ease and tax-efficiency. JCF’s educational events and webinars help Fundholders increase their philanthropic impact. In addition, JCF’s robust investment platform enables Fundholders to grow their charitable dollars tax-free, and thereby give more money to their favorite charitable causes. — From Jewish Communal Fund
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Anti-BDS test case lawsuit on free speech ground filed in Texas
The Intercept, an advocacy news publication, reports a test court case has been filed in Texas against that state’s anti-BDS law. According to The Intercept, the plaintiff is an Arab-American speech pathologist who was denied a new contract with an elementary school because she refused to put her signature to a document requiring her not to participate in any anti-Israel boycott activity. The lawsuit contends the Texas law, and others like it in other states, is an unconstitutional violation of the right to free speech. The Intercept’s lengthy article describing the case may be accessed by clicking here.
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Uber driver is also an emergency responder
Many times the network of emergency medical services operated by United Hatzalah is referred to as the Uber of lifesaving, but this is never more true than in the case of Hadad Ischak, one of the organization’s Muslim volunteers in Jerusalem.
Ischak drives a taxi for his profession and is hence always on the roads of the capital city. He carries his medical equipment in his trunk, and his vest on the passenger seat next to him. Ischak responds to any and all medical emergencies that take place in his vicinity. The volunteer EMT hails from the Arab Shuafat neighborhood, and seems to be the first taxi driver who is also a first responder.
Ischak spoke about how his volunteering and work jive together in harmony. “In most cases, it doesn’t conflict one with the other,” he said. “Taxi drivers have a lot of downtime waiting for customers. Instead of just sitting and waiting I respond to emergency calls whenever they happen nearby. I use this time to save lives,” he added with a smile on his face.
As with most volunteer first responders, the opposite is also true and sometimes, emergencies happen at the worst possible moments “When I do get a call and I have a client, they usually understand what is happening. I drop them off before we get to their final destination and I do not charge them for the ride.”
This magnanimous act of taking the financial hit for saving lives occasionally also works out in Ischak’s favor. “I one time had a client who insisted on coming with me to the location of the emergency, and he even paid for the meter.” — From United Hatzalah
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Preceding items culled from news releases. Please send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com