Would Anne Frank even have wanted German money?

Would Anne Frank have made Aliyah?

The pathetic and morbid argument between the Prime Minister's Office and a number of Knesset members over whether Anne Frank would have been eligible for a Holocaust survivor's pension had she survived seems to have finally died down. (By the way, at least this once, Olmert is right, she would have received a pension). But it does leave us with two interesting hypothetical questions.

The debate assumes that had Anne survived the war, she would have immigrated to Israel, yet there is little, if anything, in her diaries to suggest an affinity with Zionism and the not-yet-established Jewish state. All we know about her aspirations is that she wanted to be a journalist and being a good writer she may well have succeeded as one. We also know she would be 78 years old this year.

With her vibrant nature, Anne would probably have been a success anywhere in the West. She could have stayed in Holland or returned Germany, where she was born and where she would have received a much larger pension than the one for which she'd be eligible had she made aliyah.

But there's another assumption: That she would have wanted a survivor's pension.

In the recent furor over the pensions there is one group that has been entirely overlooked. They are those who resolutely refused to accept any kind of reparation or pension, directly or indirectly from the Germans.

It's almost impossible to say how many there were and how many are still living today. Most survivor lists comprise those who receive some kind of pension. Apparently, some of the 8,500 Israeli survivors who "fell between the cracks" and didn't receive an allowance until now were those who could have applied in the 1950s under the controversial Israel-West Germany Reparations Agreement but chose not to - in protest.

As old age began to close in, some of them naturally and quite understandably changed their minds.

But what about those who still prefer to rely on their own resources rather than allow the Germans to clear its conscience by coughing up money? Who is looking out for them? How many of them are actually wealthy and therefore in no need of a pension, and how many prefer poverty to living on tainted money?

What would Anne Frank have done?

Previous entries:August 21, 2007: The truth about the Satmar 'victory'August 17, 2007: A few observations on the richest Jew on the planetAugust 12, 2007: Fuchs isn't the only 'bastard'August 10, 2007: Too tired to blog, but...August 8, 2007: 'You bet I'm going on this march'August 7, 2007: Training for the war that won't beAugust 6, 2007: 'The real change is that we're training at all'August 5, 2007: Olmert's own heritage is no excuse