Claims Conference

The Claims Conference's Survivor Speakers Bureau - launched Thursday, April 4, 2024: “It is one thing to read about the Holocaust in a textbook, a few paragraphs about the global politics of World War II and the history of Europe. It is another thing altogether to sit with someone who was deported from their hometown, stripped of everything they own, made to live in hiding or to endure a concentration camp. "If speaking directly with the few remaining survivors makes an impact for even one person, I am more than willing to participate" - Holocaust survivor Hanne Holsten. 270 Holocaust survivors have joined the Claims Conference's international Survivor Speakers Bureau to share their histories with students during a time of rising antisemitism. “It is more important than ever that every student in every school, regardless of where they are, have the opportunity to hear directly from the Holocaust survivors who are still with us. "First-hand accounts are essential to maintaining Holocaust memory and go much further to ensure people understand the impact of bigotry, antisemitism, and unchecked hatred" - Greg Schneider, Claims Conference EVP. The Claims Conference's Survivor Speakers Bureau connects Holocaust survivors with students in person and virtually - the latter ensures first-hand testimony is accessible globally and allows communities that have never had the opportunity to hear a Holocaust survivor share their stories. To request a survivor speaker, a school or social group must register their institution on the bureau’s website: www.claimscon.org/Speakers. Once registered, they can fill out an event request which includes forms for audience size, average audience age and venue, as well as any special requests and requirements. The Claims Conference considers each request before connecting institutions or groups with survivors. #HolocaustEducation #NeverForget #NeverAgain

#PartnersInCare #HolocaustSurvivors #NowMoreThanEver JDC (The Joint)

Claims Conference-supported films have premiered at top festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and have been screened and streamed around the world. If you have any questions about the application guidelines and/or grant policies, please contact us at film@claimscon.org. The deadline for this period is March 15, 2024. #HolocaustEducation #FilmMaking #Grants

"Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population. Now is when they need us the most" - Gideon Taylor, Claims Conference President. Today, the Claims Conference released the Global Demographic Report on Jewish Holocaust Survivors. Key Findings: ·      There are an estimated 245,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors globally, living in 90+ countries: Nearly half (49%) of all survivors reside in Israel; 18% in Western Europe and 18% in North America, with 16% in the United States and 12% (approx) in countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU). ·      The median age of Jewish Holocaust survivors is 86. ·      The majority of Jewish Holocaust survivors (95%) are “child survivors” who were born between 1928 and 1946. ·      20% of Jewish Holocaust survivors are 90+ a period of life characterized by an increased need for care/services. ·      The majority of Jewish Holocaust survivors are female (61%). ·      Nearly 40% of survivors receive monthly payments through Claims Conference programs negotiated with Germany the remaining population is eligible for one-time or annual payments. ·      40% of survivors are currently receiving or have received in the past year social welfare services #PartnersInCare - services are provided by 300+ agencies that receive grants administered by the Claims Conference. To read the demographic report in its entirety, please visit: https://lnkd.in/dkyRvpiX #HolocaustSurvivors #NeverForget #NeverAgain #PledgeToRemember

Please join the Claims Conference on Monday, Dec 11 at 2 PM ET for International Holocaust Survivors Night. The streamed event, co-hosted by Katy Tur, host of MSNBC's Katy Tur Reports, and CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil, will feature messages from dignitaries and celebrities honoring Holocaust survivors and a global collection of words of remembrance from survivors. View the live stream here: https://lnkd.in/ejewMRav International Holocaust Survivors Night (#IHSN) began in 2017 as the only date on the calendar celebrating Holocaust survivors. Initial IHSN ceremonies were held in Israel, the United States and Germany. In subsequent years, the celebration has become virtual and grown to include participants from more than 15 countries across six continents. The 2023 event features greetings from Barbra Streisand Streisand, Billy Crystal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Debra Messing, Rob Reiner, Paul Reiser, Jason Alexander, Mayim Bialik, Adam Arkin, Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Steve Guttenberg and Tovah Feldshuh and more with a musical performance from Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer Barry Manilow. Dignitaries participating this year include President of Israel, Isaac Herzog; German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz; German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner; and Austrian Federal Minister of Finance, Dr. Magnus Brunner. #Survivors #PledgeToRemember #Holocaust #HolocaustSurvivors

The interactive, virtual reality experience "Inside Kristallnacht" – produced by the Claims Conference in collaboration with the USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education - will feature Holocaust survivor Dr. Charlotte Knobloch as she shares her memories of the moments before, during and after the events of Kristallnacht, and help users understand the Holocaust from inside the historical moments in a manner never before possible. Kristallnacht represents a pivotal moment in humanity; a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews when the Nazis killed at least 91 people, vandalized 7,500 Jewish businesses, burned more than 1,400 synagogues and arrested up to 30,000 Jewish men - the first mass arrest of Jews based solely on their religion. The events of November 9 and 10, 1938 eventually led to the murder of six million European Jews during the Holocaust.   Dr. Knobloch: "It is imperative at this moment in history that we do everything in our power to elevate Holocaust education and to get it into the hands and minds of future generations. Antisemitism is on the rise throughout the world – it exists today as it always has. If we do not continue to keep the memory of the past alive and push the lessons of the Holocaust, they will soon be forgotten, and we will be doomed to repeat our history. As those of us who survived pass on, these tools, this technology will continue to be our voice and our testimony.” The complete mixed reality project - done in partnership with Meta, World Jewish Congress and UNESCO, with a special thanks to makemepulse - and its accompanying education materials will be released in 2024. Linked article by Kirsten Grieshaber of The Associated Press. #HolocaustEducation #VirtualRealityExperience #NeverForget #NeverAgain

The Claims Conference has established a call center to better understand the situation for Holocaust survivors in the Gaza periphery. What we know right now is that survivors need food support, medicine and psychological trauma treatment. We are working with our partners in Israel to provide those services. #HolocaustSurvivors #PartnersInCare For more information:

The German government will pay more than $1.4 billion next year to Holocaust survivors with nearly $890 million going toward home care services — a vital aspect of the Claims Conference's work on behalf of survivors. Stemming from annual negotiations between Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance and the Claims Conference, the funds will help Holocaust survivors live in dignity decades after they were persecuted. "Every year these negotiations become more and more critical as this last generation of Holocaust survivors age and their needs increase" - Greg Schneider, Claims Conference Executive Vice President. The money for 2024 includes $535 million in direct payments to survivors (monthly pensions and one-time annual payments). Since 1951, the Claims Conference has secured more than $90 billion in payments from the German government through negotiations. In 2023, the Claims Conference will distribute (projected) hundreds of millions in compensation to more than 200,000 survivors in 83 countries and allocate more than $750 million in grants to 300+ social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors, such as home care, food and medicine. The Claims Conference also negotiated continuing funding for Holocaust education, which has been extended for two more years and increased each year by $3.3 million. The newly negotiated funding amounts are approximately $41.6 million for 2026 and $45 million for 2027. #Holocaust #HolocaustEducation #HolocaustSurvivors #PartnersInCare #PledgeToRemember #SocialWelfare

#PartnersInCare for 70+ years. #HolocaustSurvivors

As the largest funder of welfare services for Holocaust survivors in the world, the Claims Conference was proud to have sponsored and participated in the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (NJHSA)'s #PowerNet 2023: Mission Possible. Our shared sacred mission, on behalf of survivors, grows stronger through conversations with our partner agencies - our #PartnersInCare. #HolocaustSurvivors #Holocaust #HolocaustEducation #SocialWelfare #ClaimsConference