J.D.C. Arranges Life Grants for Aged Refugees Through Insurance Co.

A new arrangement, under which aged persons will be cared for in their own homes in Italy, has been worked out by the Joint Distribution Committee, with the cooperation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United States escapee program, it was announced here today by Moses W. Beckelman, JDC director general.

Under the program, 30 aged Jewish refugees averaging 70 years in age will receive monthly grants of 10, 000 lira each from an Italian insurance company. The company had received $1, 600 in premiums for each person covered contributed by the three organizations involved. Ten of the beneficiaries had their premiums paid by the U.S. agency, because they were cared for under the escapee program’s provisions. The cost of the premiums for the other 20 was paid jointly by the JDC and the UN office. The 30 aged beneficiaries would receive their grants for life.

The new plan is an outgrowth of the permanent solution program for refugees worked out by the UN High Commissioner’s office. Mr. Beckelman pointed out that the plan does not meet the full needs of the aged recipients and that the JDC will, therefore, supplement the monthly grants. He expressed his gratitude to the High Commissioner and the administration of the escapee program and added that the project was a first step, which should be studied and improved upon in the future.

The 30 aged persons represented in the new plan are only a fraction of those left in Italy from the stream of refugees who poured in after the war, he noted, and the JDC will continue its other expenditures in Italy. These aged refugees “are not members of local Italian communities and continue to be our full responsibility,” Mr. Beckelman said.