Germany has announced its commitment to providing $1.4 billion in compensation to Holocaust survivors around the world over the course of 2024.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, a New York-based organization dedicated to securing compensation for Holocaust survivors and also known simply as the Claims Conference, played a crucial role in negotiating the latest annual agreement with the German government, according to the Associated Press.
The funds to be distributed in 2024 will provide financial support to survivors as they pay for medical expenses, home care, and other necessities.
Of the $1.4 billion total, $888.9 million will directly cover home care and other supportive services for elderly Holocaust survivors, the youngest of whom — born in the last days of the Second World War — will turn 79 in 2024.
“Being able to ensure direct payments to survivors in addition to the expansions to the social welfare services is essential in making sure every Holocaust survivor is taken care of for as long as it is required, addressing each individual need,” argued Claims Conference executive vice president Greg Schneider, per AP.
“Every year these negotiations become more and more critical as this last generation of Holocaust survivors age and their needs increase,” said Schneider.
Stuart Eizenstat, the Claims Conference special negotiator, echoed this sentiment.
“Every negotiation is a near-last opportunity to ensure survivors of the Holocaust are receiving some measure of justice and a chance at the dignity that was taken from them in their youth. It will never be enough until the last survivor has taken their last breath,” Eizenstat suggested, according to AP.
The compensation will be distributed among Holocaust survivors worldwide, given the international nature of the Holocaust and its effects. The recipients of the Claims Conference funds in 2024 are expected to be located in 83 countries and number around 200,000. Additionally, more than $750 million in grants will be distributed to about 300 social service organizations around the globe.
In addition to the supportive payments for survivors of camps and ghettos, the 2024 agreement includes an extension to 2027 of a Hardship Fund Supplemental payment first implemented during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The majority of these supplemental fund recipients are residents of Russia, per AP.
The latest agreement also provides for more than $40 million per year to fund Holocaust education through 2027.
The total amount paid to survivors by the German government since 1952 is more than $90 billion.
