In History: Holocaust Survivors in Israel
Laying of the Trzebinia wreath at Yad Vashem on Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, 2005. (Credit: Yad Vashem)
Assistance to Holocaust Survivors
On August 19th, 2007, Israel’s government reached an agreement with Holocaust survivors about how the state would distribute living assistance to the survivors, increasing the monthly amount to those who were forced to survive the genocidal camps.
The History of Holocaust Survivors in Israel
After the Holocaust, nearly two-thirds of the survivors fled to the newly-created Israel, seeking the safety that the Jewish state brought. However, because they were often destitute and were forced to build entirely new social networks in a language that they didn’t speak (and often had to learn on arrival), as many as half of Israeli Holocaust survivors required food and other financial assistance, and one third living in poverty. (Source: PBS, Times of Israel)
"It is a group that has been deprived by the government and now the government has an opportunity to correct this," said Israeli Welfare and Social Services Ministry director-general Nahum Itzkovich.*
While the Israeli government has dedicated time and resources to preserving Holocaust survivors’ stories and commemorating their sacrifices and successes, it has not been as proactive about helping struggling survivors to live their lives comfortably. Instead, it has largely been left to Israeli nonprofits and charities to help Holocaust survivors. (Source: PBS)
Fixing an Injustice
Following lots of pressure, Israel’s government has increased the support it gives. In August 2007, the government agreed to give survivors of camps as much as 1,000 New Israeli Shekels a month, with other survivors given a smaller monthly stipend starting that December. While this hasn’t alleviated all of the issues survivors face, it was a step in the right direction: Uri Hanoch, a representative of the survivors, told the Jerusalem Post “an injustice has been fixed.”
Want to learn more about Holocaust survivors in Israel? Read coverage from Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust remembrance.