June 1


UKRAINE:

Odessa Region Gets New Monument to Holocaust Victims


In Ukraine's Odessa Region, a new monument to victims of the Holocaust
has been erected in commemoration of this tragedy and a local incident in
this wave of malevolence the mass shooting of more than 770 Jews that
occurred at this site in March 1942.

The inauguration ceremony involved a good number of local residents and
members of the Jewish community of Odessa, including children attending
the Ohr Avner Chabad Day School, students of the city's Yeshiva, and
members of the Israeli Cultural Center. In addition to local and regional
officials, a number of dignitaries and state officials also participated
in this event, including the Second Secretary of the Israeli Embassy in
Ukraine, Lev Korits, representatives of the 'Yad Vashem' Museum in
Jerusalem, and Leonid Dusman, the Director of the Zaradi Zhittya
Charitable Foundation who also experienced the horrors of the Holocaust as
a ghetto prisoner.

A local resident who witnessed this tragedy, Ivan Cherevayko, also took
part, telling the crowd the ghastly tale of what he saw at that horrific
time. Rabbi David Feldman, the Director of the Yeshiva in Odessa, then
recited a commemorative prayer in memory of these victims.

Rinella Frumkina, the Vice-Director of the Ohr Avner Chabad Day School,
also spoke at this event. "This new monument wasnt the first erected in
the region to commemorate Holocaust victims. Five years ago, a memorial
stone was put up in the city of Odessa to pay tribute to the 25,000 Jews
burned to death there in 1941 by the Nazis," she explained. Participating
children feel that, while such facts are quite shocking to swallow, the
bitter taste they leave is necessary in order to ensure such a poison is
never again unleashed within society.

(source: The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS)






AUSTRIA:

Jewish Group Wins 12.5 Million Holocaust Compensation



Austrias Nazi compensation fund agreed today to pay 12.5 million to a
Jewish group that lost synagogues and community centres during World War
II a key deal that will clear the way for direct payments to victims.

Parliament created the General Settlement Fund in 2001 to compensate
Holocaust victims who were robbed of businesses, property, bank accounts
and insurance policies during the Nazi era.


The government and Austrian companies have pledged to pay 114.5 million to
endow the fund as long as any Nazi-related claims pending against Austria
in US courts are settled or dropped.

Members of a Viennese Jewish community group, the Israelitische
Kultusgemeinde Wien, are among those involved in lawsuits pending in the
US.

With the agreement today, the group pledged that the lawsuits would be
withdrawn. The 12.5 million payment to the group will come from money left
over from a fund that paid compensation to victims who were slaves or
forced labourers during the Nazi era.

This is in line with our repeated declarations that the ... (funds) money
must benefit Nazi victims and their heirs fully, the Jewish group said in
a statement. This should also make it possible to accelerate the
processing of the remaining claims and enable quick payments to the
victims.

The Jewish community group also said it would withdraw 770 applications
for compensation and withdraw its friend-of-the-court status in Whitman vs
Austria a case in which Holocaust survivors are suing for compensation
from Austria.

The withdrawal of the lawsuits clears all legal obstacles for Austrian
companies to make payments into the fund, Parliament Speaker Andreas Khol
said in a statement.

The fund will try to compensate victims as soon as possible, he said,
estimating that payments could be made starting next March.

The General Settlement Funds 120 employees are processing 19,000
applications that contain 200,000 requests for compensation, said
secretary general Hannah Lessing. Payments will begin once all claims have
been processed, she said.

We will do the utmost we can to have as many claims as possible ready the
moment theres legal closure, she said.

Lessing, who is Jewish, said the deal was important because it signals
that this Austrian government wants a Jewish community, wants it to be
alive and is willing to help.

Vienna was home to a vibrant Jewish community of some 200,000 before World
War II. Today, it numbers about 7,000.

(source: Scotland On Sunday, May 26)





GERMANY:

Germany to pay 9m more to Holocaust survivors


In talks with the Claims Conference, Germany also agreed to include
survivors from labor camps in Hungary, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.


The German government has agreed to provide 9 million for homecare for
Holocaust survivors around the world, following negotiations with the
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference).
This is the second year that the Claims Conference has brought up this
issue in talks with Germany, following last years government agreement to
provide 6 million.

With the health needs of aging Holocaust survivors becoming increasingly
urgent, the Claims Conference was pressing Germany to provide funds. The
funds from last years agreement were allocated by the Claims Conference to
43 agencies assisting needy Jewish victims of Nazism in 17 countries.

Also during Claims Conference talks, the German government agreed to
include survivors incarcerated for at least six months in certain labor
camps in Hungary, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria in the Article 2 Fund and
Central and Eastern European Fund (CEEF) pension programs, provided they
meet the other German-mandated eligibility criteria.

The negotiations also led to an increase in the amount paid to recipients
of payments from the Central and Eastern European Fund, who live in
countries that have joined the European Union, from 135 (approximately
$175) per month to 175 (approximately $228) from January 1, 2006.

CEEF payments are less than payments from the Article 2 Fund, and the
Claims Conference has been pressing the issue of increasing the amounts.

The cost of living in Eastern Europe, especially in countries that joined
the European Union, has increased dramatically in recent years, leaving
many elderly survivors without resources to pay for adequate medicine,
food, and housing. Holocaust survivors living in Hungary, Poland, Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia will benefit.

Furthermore, it was agreed that there will be certain arrangements put in
place to improve the speed of processing claims filed by the Claims
Conference under the Property Restitution Law.

The Claims Conference will continue to negotiate with Germany for
inclusion of Holocaust survivors in these compensation programs who were
in forced military labor battalions and in concentration camps not
currently recognized as such by Germany; were subjected to persecution for
periods of time less than currently stipulated and were confined in open
ghettos; and have income in excess of the current income ceiling (for the
Article 2 Fund).

In addition, the Claims Conference is pressing the issue of applicants to
the Hardship Fund who had not been able to meet eligibility criteria at
the time of application and wish to re-apply for payment, and the
establishment of a Hardship Fund for residents of Eastern Europe who did
not emigrate to the West like current recipients of payments from the
Hardship Fund.

The Claims Conference delegation was chaired by Israel Singer, president;
and was composed of Noach Flug, chairman of the Organization of Holocaust
Survivors in Israel; Roman Kent, chairman of the American Gathering of
Jewish Holocaust Survivors; Ben Helfgott, of the Board of Deputies of
British Jews; Gideon Taylor, Moshe Jahoda, Saul Kagan, Karen Heilig and
additional staff of the Claims Conference. The German ministry of finance
delegation was led by State Secretary Karl Diller.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims
Conference) represents world Jewry in negotiating for compensation and
restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. The Claims
Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish
property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare
services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the
Shoah.

(source: Israel Business News)