The Holocaust is an unimaginable tragedy that must never be forgotten. The survivors among us are still carrying the feelings, memories, and pain in their hearts. That is why Beit Ahava VeTorah was established–to help every Holocaust survivor and provide him/her and his/her family with the support and compensation they deserve. They help survivors and their heirs obtain the compensation by helping them exercise their rights and get that to which they are fully entitled.
And they provide support wherever it is needed. As head of the organization, Rabbi Asher Vaknin does whatever it takes to assist the survivor and his loved ones. “This is our victory,” he declares. “We, the Jewish people, survived and raised families. Holocaust survivors went through hell, and they and their families are owed compensation and care. That is why Beit Ahava VeTorah was established and that is why we will do whatever it takes to provide them with the desired results.”
Fifty-seven years ago the German Compensation Act was enacted. Now, The Ghetto Workers Compensation Law (ZRBG) recognizes the work survivors conducted for the Germans while they were at forced labor in the ghettos, factories, and labor camps. German law now recognizes it as labor that entitles them to social insurance and therefore grants them eligibility under this law for social security pension.
The legal team working with Beit Ahava VeTorah throughout the U.S. and Canada is the firm of Eliahu Weber and Co., established in 1971. The firm focuses on the rights of Holocaust survivors and maintains a legal team in Israel and Germany. For decades, the firm filed thousands of cases forcing the German government to acknowledge the rights of Romanian Jews who were in Transnistria to receive pensions under the BEG from Germany.
As of the early ’90s, the firm continued to work on various legislations and compensation programs, such as the Swiss bank litigation, ICHEIC (life insurance policies), Article 2 Jewish Claims Conference fund, and the Israeli Finance ministry (the Israeli compensation arrangements). The firm was among the leading firms that sued to create the Slave Labor Fund in 2000.
Throughout this period, members of the firm acted as external consultants to both Members of Israeli Knesset and the government, assisting in clarifying complicated legal issues relating to German and Israeli law.
Due to several key Israeli Supreme Court decisions, over 30,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel were recognized as eligible to receive a monthly pension.
Furthermore, the firm led the largest ever retroactive case against the Israeli Finance Ministry resulting in a decision ordering the government to pay retroactive payments to some 20,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel.
In 1975, the treaty for Social Security recognition between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel came into being. This treaty was the legal basis for the creation of compensation for Holocaust victims under the General Social Security law.
It is important to note that these arrangements are external to existing compensation laws, and thus these are additional pensions that are paid to survivors.
Beit Ahava VeTorah, in collaboration with Eliahu Weber and Co., is now providing their services and expertise to American and Canadian survivors and heirs, and is confident that together they will acquire their well-deserved rights and compensation.
Through their work and experience they can help many survivors and heirs go through this detailed, long, and complicated process.
Due to the complexity of the Federal Social law, and the fact that these pensions are regulated under the General Federal Law, this legal advice for the claimants is essential and might result in the difference both in the size of the pension and the retroactive payments.
If a survivor has not filed an application for a German pension in the past but meets the requirements, he/she should fill out the pension application form and start the process as soon as possible. If a survivor has already filed an application in the past and was rejected according to the previous interpretation of the law, he/she can explore the case and possibly get a new decision. If a benefit has already been claimed or paid according to the ordinance of recognition, the claim for a pension under the ZRBG does not conflict with that.
By law, victims of national socialist persecution can receive a payment in recognition of labor in a ghetto that did not constitute forced labor. The claim, according to the ordinance of recognition, does not replace the pension application under the ZRBG.
The ZRBG defines the conditions for making pensions payable for the Holocaust survivors who labored in a ghetto that was situated in a territory occupied by the Germans or under Nazi influence.
Since the German Federal Social Court has now recognized the periods of contributions completed in the ghetto, the changes in the interpretation of the ZRBG law are allowing more survivors to claim their compensation.
The Federal Social Court decided by two other judgments that a persecuted person who was only in the ghetto can be recognized under the ZRBG. That was the first time ghetto workers were entitled for pensions. A survivor whose application had been rejected in the past or who waived an application can now receive a pension. Even someone who is already getting a pension might receive an increased pension.
A survivor who wishes to claim his compensation needs to prove that he/she was forced to live in a ghetto, in a territory that was occupied by the German Reich or under Nazi influence. The stay in a concentration camp or work camp is not covered by the ZRBG but these periods can be accounted for as substitute periods after reaching the age of 14.
The survivor will also have to claim that he had performed labor of his own will, or any kind of labor for which he received remuneration. This remuneration may be any kind of compensation paid for work, like money, food, etc.
While ZRBG was enacted during 2002, it was only fully implemented in 2011. Until this day, there are still many Holocaust survivors and heirs who did not even apply and claim their right for compensation.
Since an agreement was never signed between Germany and the U.S., most survivors who are U.S. citizens never received any compensation. That is why U.S. citizens will now be entitled to receive an increased payment of 5% per year as of their 65th year (the relevant year in Germany for an old-age pension).
The legal team, both here and in Germany, will strive to get the maximum award and use their experience and expertise to get survivors their well-deserved compensation as soon as possible.
On September 20, 2013, the German Bundestadt called upon the Federal government to submit legislation that would allow all applicants to receive a retroactive payment as of July 18, 1997.
Heirs who are entitled to inherit from a survivor who passed away after June 2002 (the date the law was entered into force), and that survivor received an old-age pension, will receive a retroactive payment from the time the pension should have been paid (the later of the time the old-age pension was applied for or July 18, 1997) until the time the survivor perished.
Please note that this is not a class-action suit, but each claim will be filed on behalf of the individual survivor.
Contact Information:
888-888-2180
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Dr. Wallace Greene has a long history advocating for Holocaust survivors. He taught Holocaust courses at Upsala College, was among the first to debunk the Holocaust deniers in an academic publication, and has been a distinguished member of the Holocaust Commemoration Committee of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey for over two decades. He is also a consultant to The International March of the Living and Beit Ahava VeTorah.
By Dr. Wallace Greene
