Harsh words for organizations that purport to fight for Holocaust survivors. But Holocaust survivors panic when they hear news of the creation of yet another foundation set up in their name.

“We are being
treated like ignorant refugees who just
came off the boat,” said

Leo
Rechter, who heads up the New
York-based National Association of
Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors. “The
Nazis robbed us of our dignities; now
others seem to be doing the same
thing.”

Those are pretty harsh words for organizations that purport to fight for Holocaust survivors. But if the history of Holocaust restitution is anything to go by, Holocaust survivors seem to have every right to panic when they hear news of the creation of yet another foundation set up in their name.

In 1951, the Claims Conference was set up to handle the hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations paid by the government of West Germany to survivors of the Holocaust. Since its inception, the conference has been mired in nasty criticism and prolonged litigation in
American courts. Seven years after it was established, a Holocaust survivor sued the
Claims Conference for alleged mismanagement of funds.

In 1995, Holocaust survivors brought a class action suit against the Claims Conference also alleging mismanagement and embezzlement.
Plaintiffs sought US$40-billion in damages. Although the survivors lost their legal battles against the Claims
Conference, the accusations have created a climate of distrust, and made many wary of
Jewish organizations set up to oversee monies earmarked for restitution and compensation.

In their complaints against the World
Jewish Congress’s new foundation, which will be responsible for the disbursement of hundreds of millions of dollars from a total pool of US$9-billion in Holocaust reparations payments, many Holocaust survivors say they are bitter because much of the money has already been earmarked for educational and cultural endeavours.

There are plans to distribute money for
Holocaust educational programs, and to rebuild Jewish communities in places such as Poland, Russia and Hungary. While these all sound like worthy causes, many
Holocaust survivors would prefer that they are accomplished with someone else’s money, not their own compensation or restitution funds.

Survivors are also upset because the foundation will be administered by the World Jewish
Restitution Organization, the same bureaucratic body that oversees the Claims
Conference.

Perhaps anticipating the bitter controversy that the establishment of the
World Jewish Congress foundation would generate among his fellow Holocaust survivors, author and professor Eli
Wiesel recently noted in an interview with the Post, “I don’t like being involved with the money.”