Last update - 00:00 21/08/2007
The ins and outs of the deal
By Anshel Pfeffer
One of the main issues in the crisis involving stipends for Holocaust survivors is the exact definition of a survivor, and who is entitled to a stipend. Social Affairs Ministry Director General Nahum Itzkovich headed the interministerial committee that submitted a report to the cabinet on the issue, and was also involved in negotiations between the government and the survivors organizations over the past two weeks. Here, he answers questions about the definitions.
Q: Who is defined as a survivor of the "first circle" and will be entitled to a government stipend?
A: Those who lived under the Nazis or their allies and whose life was at risk, those who were in concentration camps, extermination camps, ghettos or in hiding at risk of their lives are defined as being in "the first circle."
Q: Who is defined as a survivor of the second circle?
A: Those who fled near the beginning of Nazi occupation from locales such as Babi Yar, and whose life or the life of whose family, or whose property, was at risk, and eventually reached the Soviet Union, is defined as a survivor. But based on Sunday's agreement with the government, these survivors will not be entitled to a stipend. A solution for these survivors is to be formulated by Rosh Hashanah as part of a solution for the elderly poor.
Q: Who is entitled to compensation within the framework of the original compensation arrangement between Israel and Germany?
A: Those who were in displaced persons camps on German soil as of January 1, 1947, are not eligible (because ostensibly they could have demanded compensation directly from Germany), and those who came to Israel after January 1, 1953, are not eligible. The survivors who "fall between the cracks" are mainly those who came to Israel after 1953 and were not eligible for compensation from the Israeli government according to the compensation agreement.
Q: Who received compensation through the German Article 2 Fund?
A: The Article 2 Fund was established in the 1990s as the outcome of discussions between the Claims Commission and the Germans. It disbursed stipends based on three criteria: those who were in a concentration camp for six months, in a ghetto for a year and a half, or a year and a half in hiding or at risk of their lives in Nazi-occupied areas. The government made these criteria more flexible.
Q: Is there special eligibility for those who were in the former Soviet Union and suffered during the war?
A: No. Those who fought in the Red Army against the Germans are eligible for a stipend based on the Veterans Law. There are 7,000 such individuals, and they receive stipends similar to those of Holocaust survivors. In keeping with a cabinet decision a month ago, approximately 120,000 seniors from the former Soviet Union have been added to the list of survivors defined by the committee.
Q: What is the eligibility of people from Tunisia and Libya who were under Nazi occupation?
A: The committee's report noted specifically that some 9,000 survivors from Tunisia and Libya would be defined as survivors. The final decision with regard to the receipt of a stipend is unclear.
Data: Anshel Pfeffer, based on an interview with the Social Affairs Ministry Director General Nahum Itzkovich.