A French widower with no children left about $14.5 million to the state of Israel to assist families who lost loved ones serving in the military or to terrorism.
Nicolas Bauman died in 2009; most of the inheritance was transferred to Israel last week, Keren Kayemet L’Israel-Jewish National Fund announced on the eve of Yom Hazikaron, or Israel’s Memorial Day.
The fund for bereaved families established in Bauman’s will will operate for 10 years under the trustee management of the Ministry of Justice Administrator General and KKL-JNF.
The trustees decided that the fund will support and assist bereaved siblings, who do not receive full support from the official commemorative bodies in the state of Israel. KKL-JNF said in a statement that it will soon form a team that will decide on clear criteria for areas of assistance and eligibility.
“The fact that Jews around the world are deciding to leave their life’s inheritance for the benefit of the state of Israel constitutes an example of the power of the Jewish people everywhere, and the importance the state of Israel holds for those in the Diaspora. In this case, we were given the privilege of memorializing the name of Mr. Nicolas Bauman Z”L and, at the same time, support a group that until now did not receive the full recognition and support that it needed. That will no longer be the case,” KKL-JNF World Chairman, Daniel Atar said in a statement.
Bauman was born in Hungary. It is not known where he was during the Holocaust or when he moved to France.
