RSS
Austria increases Holocaust survivor payments for first time in decades
(JTA) — For the first time in more than 20 years, the Austrian government has agreed to pay every living Austrian Holocaust survivor an additional direct compensation payment of approximately 5,000 euros ($5,290) each in 2023.
The decision, which will affect an estimated 2,500 survivors living worldwide, followed extensive deliberations between the Conference for Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the Austrian Ministry of Finance. The total payout equals 12.5 million euros (about $13.23 million), and survivors who are determined to have special needs will be eligible for a second payment of about the same amount this year, along with additional annual payments.
Most Austrian survivors are living in the United States and Israel, but some also call Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South America and several Western European countries home. The Claims Conference already gives certain subsets of survivors monthly pension payments.
The organization made clear that this decision was made well before the start of the Israel-Hamas war and is not linked timing-wise to the conflict.
Before World War II, Austria was home to about 192,000 Jews, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. By 1939, about 135,000 Jews had fled Austria, which in 1938 was annexed by Nazi Germany. Approximately 65,000 Jews of Austrian origin were murdered in the Holocaust.
Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, called the decision “a substantial breakthrough with the Austrian government.” The payments will be administered through the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism.
“Austrian Holocaust survivors living globally deserve this recognition,” said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, in a press statement. While survivors from Austria have received support over the years through the Claims Conference for home care and other welfare services, the additional payments “will go a long way for some of the more vulnerable in that waning population,” he added.
Claims Conference special negotiator Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat called the additional payment a “gesture of responsibility” that acknowledges the suffering of those robbed of home and family.
In addition to the new payments, the Austrian Holocaust Survivors Emergency Assistance Program has been doubled to 3 million euros for 2024. The funds are distributed via social welfare agencies to eligible Austrian survivors in the form of emergency grants to cover medical needs, eviction prevention and other urgent short-term expenses.
—
The post Austria increases Holocaust survivor payments for first time in decades appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot
Justin Trudeau condemned for subsequently attending a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.
The post Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
RSS
Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut
Illustrative. Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
JNS.org – A massive explosion in a building in Beirut on Saturday killed 11 people and wounded dozens in what Arab media said was a failed Israeli attempt to kill Hezbollah’s head of operations, Muhammad Haydar.
Israel did not immediately claim responsibility specifically for the explosion early on Saturday in the eight-story building in the Lebanese capital’s Basta neighborhood. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said only that Israel struck an unspecified target in Beirut, the fourth strike in the city in a week.
Basta is situated in the city’s center. The bulk of Israel’s strikes in Beirut have been in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold in the city’s south.
Lebanese media reported that at least 63 people were wounded in the strike.
Avihai Edraei, the head of the Arabic-language department of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, posted a tweet on X on Saturday calling on residents of Dahiyeh to evacuate their homes. They are living near Hezbollah installations, he said, against which “the IDF will act in the near future.”
The targets of Saturday’s strikes “were located by Hezbollah in the heart of the civilian population. Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians,” the IDF wrote in a statement. A headquarters, a weapons depot, “and additional Hezbollah terror infrastructures” were attacked, the statement said.
According to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Israel has killed 2,450 terrorists in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese health authorities said that 3,365 people have died in strikes by Israel. Those data do not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. On the Israeli side, terrorists have killed 121 people, with 76 of them being soldiers.
The post Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities
Zvi Kogan. Photo: LinkedIn via i24 News
i24 News – i24NEWS learned chilling details about the disappearance of Chabad emissary Zvi Kogan, who went missing last week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kogan did not show up for scheduled meetings he had during the day. After he failed to make contact, his wife contacted the security officer of the Chabad house, who alerted the local authorities. Information about the incident was also shared with the Israeli authorities.
Kogan disappeared from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai. i24NEWS can report that complaints were made to both the Dubai Police and the Abu Dhabi Police on Thursday, yet no actions were taken by either.
i24NEWS also became privy to the information that although Kogan’s car got a speeding ticket on its way to Oman, in this case too the authorities in the Emirates and Oman did nothing.
i24NEWS can also confirm that there is tremendous anger in Israel at the Emiratis, who did not respond to the suspicious signs and did not act in time. In fact, actions were only taken after the intervention of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The story has troubling echoes of the abduction by Iranians of German-Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd; he was kidnapped from Dubai to Iran via Oman and was eventually executed.
The post Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login