More than 20,000 Holocaust survivors worldwide now receive compensation payments from Germany under a program set up in 1992, said Saul Kagan, executive vice president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The conference, a non-profit group representing more than two dozen Jewish organizations, officially administers Holocaust survivors’ compensation from the German government.
The group, whose board of directors met here earlier this month, was involved in the creation of the German fund in 1992, known as the Article 2 program.
Immediately after the meeting, Israel Miller, president of the Claims Conference, made the announcement about the 20,000 people receiving compensation.
Because of the Article 2 fund, these survivors will get about $350 a month for the rest of their lives, Kagan said.
Of the 20,000 survivors, 55 percent live in Israel and 33 percent live in the United States.
The Claims Conference continues to receive applications for compensation, Kagan said, adding that the group expects an additional 10,000 people to be approved in the next year to receive payments.
“The conference is pressing the German government to liberalize the guidelines so that additional groups of survivors can get compensation,” according to a Claims Conference statement.
The Claims Conference was established in 1951.
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