It is surely a blessing to have been born a Jew, to relish a time in our history when we flourish as never before and reap the benefits of a resurgent people. But not everyone. There are Jews whose birth made them a target for bestial persecution, who survived the Shoah but could not prevail over their past. Many of them have lived their lives since the Holocaust sunk in poverty.
As matters stand now, save for a few remarkable individuals and organizations in our communities, the vast majority of us are ignorant of the destitute Holocaust survivors who live in our midst. We visit Yad Vashem, commemorate Yom Hashoah and yet never give a thought to visit a destitute victim of Nazi depravity. Moreover, tens of thousands of Holocaust victims from the former Soviet Union (FSU) hardly figure on our radar, as though the Iron Curtain was never lifted
We have launched highly successful campaigns to assist and support our fellow Jews. And yet, the plight of the poor survivor is rarely promoted as a central feature of our fundraising campaigns. It begs the question: why the difference? Could it be for the subversive reason that impoverished survivors embarrass us by their presence, to the point where we simply look the other way?
Many survivors of the Shoah have escaped the horrors of the past to build splendid lives. They instil a sense of pride even awe. The destitute survivor, on the other hand, is a depressing sight, an unheroic figure whose shadow falls across our self-image, the very antithesis of how we see ourselves as a renascent people.
This same mindset stalked survivors in the early years of the State of Israel. Some of them felt as though they were seen as nothing more than sheep who went to the slaughter. They experienced contempt, and they remained silent.
The Joint Distribution Committee, which has done outstanding work helping destitute survivors, receives about 1.5 per cent annually from funds raised in annual UJA and CJA campaigns to assist the welfare of Holocaust victims in the FSU. Considering the dire state of these people, this meagre allocation should perplex everyone.
We’re at a juncture where we can choose to either continue with the status quo or take action. It’s a decision we must make following the seismic change of policy toward the destitute survivor made in Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day this year, when the Knesset approved an increase of 1 billion shekels ($300 million Cdn) each year to aid destitute Nazi victims. This did not happen in a vacuum – the sheer weight of the financial hardships facing survivors was conclusively set out in a survey published by the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel on the same day.
One survivor dies every 45 minutes, more than 1,000 every month, and some 13,000 every year. Their average age is 85. Of the approximately 193,000 survivors currently in Israel, 50,000 live below the poverty line, some in extreme conditions. Over the past two years, one-in-five survivors has been forced to choose between buying food and buying medication. In the FSU, the situation is even worse.
Israel is acting at last in a manner that brings credit to the Jewish state, but it can’t do so on a global scale. Faced with the evidence, dare we turn away from doing our share?
With a superb record of rescue, the Canadian Jewish community is well positioned to initiate a global emergency campaign for Holocaust victims in the FSU. Every hour is a lost opportunity to make a precious connection.
We must recognize the survivors as our brothers and sisters, and see ourselves as their keepers. Doing so will not only accord them the dignity they deserve, it will mark the beginning of a journey to retrieve our own.
Dov Harris, now retired, is the former director of financial resource development in regional communities for United Israel Appeal – Canada.