FRANKFURT: Germany said yesterday it is providing €25 million (RM128 million) for Holocaust survivors in Israel to help them cope with the impact of the attack by the Hamas and Gaza war.
Each of the 113,000 Jewish survivors in Israel will receive a one-off payment of €220, according to the Claims Conference, an organisation that seeks damages for Holocaust survivors and which worked with the German government on the scheme.
“Many Holocaust survivors were hit particularly hard by the Hamas attacks,” a German finance ministry spokeswoman said, pointing to the loss of homes or support systems in the form of care.
The additional funds were aimed at helping them “in this frightening war situation”, she said.
Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, praised the payout as a “message of solidarity” from Germany to Israel’s Holocaust survivors.
The payments are being distributed in Israel in cooperation with the Claims Conference and the Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority of the Israeli government, the ministry said.
Germany is a staunch supporter of Israel and its response to the Hamas attacks and ensuing conflict has been driven by its own dark past, and the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The war in the Gaza Strip broke out after Palestinian group Hamas launched an October 7 attack against Israel, which left 1,170 people dead, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,545 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
