Seeking Child Survivors
There are officially less than 500 child survivors of the Holocaust registered with in Australia…but the Claims Conference has announced that financial compensation may soon become available through the Government of Germany and needs to make widespread contact with those eligible to claim.
Children at Borkenau – did they survive? Photo: Polish Central State Archive of Film, Photo and Phonographic Documents
Litzi Lemberg of the Sydney-based Child Survivor Group told J-Wire: “The Claims Conference in New York wants to hear from anyone born after 1929 who is a child survivor. They may have been in hiding, in concentration camp or living under a false name but if they survived and are living in Australia they may be eligible for financial compensation.”
The move was initiated by New York-based Stefanie Seltzer who heads the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors. Lemberg said that in the past, means tests had been used to identify where financial help was needed most but no guidelines had yet been established in the quest to find children who experienced hardships under Nazi regimes during WWII in Europe.
Lemberg added: “We know there are many more out there who do not identify with our groups and they are probably scattered throughout the country and not just in the big cities. We want to hear from them.”
If you feel you may qualify to register a claim, make initial contact through:
The Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne by phone on 03 9528 1985 or by email at [email protected]
In Sydney more information can be obtained from Lexie Keston at 9417 3354 or email at [email protected]
or Litzi Lemberg on 9331 6304.
Thanks Paul, I have a friend here in Bucharest who qualifies but has been unaware of his status. I emailed the World Federation of Holocaust Child Survivors in NYC and they told me that they ” are not involved in matters” related to compensations.
I need to know if someone, like my friend, who missed out on the last compensation payment, some 10 years ago, can receive that payment as backpayment.
I shall send the same request for advice to those two orgs. you mentioned.
keep well my friend
otto
It is not the easiest thing to apply.
I had to go to the claims conference site
http://www.claimscon.org/what-we-do/compensation/article2/
then go to a subsection under Article 2 Fund
Article 2 Fund: Eligibility, Application Forms and Instructions
and then download the 8 page form in English/German. (The form is also in Hebrew/Russian and German/French)
Once that is done and completed original documents need to be certified and those together with the form forwarded to one of
Claims Conference Article 2 Fund
1359 Broadway
Room 2020
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel.: (646) 536-9100
Fax: (212) 679-2126
E-mail: [email protected]
For residents of Western Europe:
Claims Conference Article 2 Fund
Sophienstrasse 44
60487 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone: + 49 69/970701-0
Fax: + 49 69/970701-40
Email: [email protected]
I’ll send my claim form and my wife’s to Germany (when I get around to completing it), but Lexie or JewishCare may give better advice.