The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany marks its 50th Jubilee

Rabbi Israel Miller (z''l) signs a special parchment during the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Historical Museum in May 2000 Yad Vashem mourns the recent passing of Rabbi Miller.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, founded by representatives of 23 national and international Jewish organizations in New York.

On 3 October 1951, former co-chairman of the Jewish Agency and President of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Nahum Goldmann (z’’l) , announced the establishment of a conference of Jewish organizations to discuss claims resulting from the persecution of the Jews by Nazi Germany. With the formation of the Claims Conference Goldmann assumed the role of President, and Saul Kagan, who today serves as Special Consultant, became Executive Secretary.

At the time of its inception the two main aims of the Claims Conference were: “to obtain funds for the relief, rehabilitation, and resettlement of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, and to aid in rebuilding Jewish communities and institutions that were devastated by the Nazis,” and “to gain indemnification for injuries inflicted on individual victims of Nazi persecution and restitution for properties confiscated by the Nazis.”

Although its original mandate was to negotiate with the German government, in 1953 the Claims Conference formed the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria to obtain compensation for Nazi victims from the Austrian government. Throughout the years, the Claims Conference has also pursued compensation for Jewish slave laborers.

Since its establishment, the Claims Conference has negotiated some 24 separate agreements with the German and Austrian governments and industry, which have resulted in the compensation for over 500,000 Holocaust survivors. Around 200,000 survivors are now receiving payments through programs negotiated by the Claims Conference—some of which are directly administered by the Claims Conference. Some 40,000 survivors in Israel receive pensions from the Israeli Ministry of Finance. The Claims Conference’s Representative in Israel is Avraham Pressler.

The successes of the Claims Conference—currently headed by its President since 1982, Rabbi Dr. Israel Miller, and its Executive Vice President since 1999, Gideon Taylor—have resulted in compensation of more than 100 billion Deutschmarks for Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. Eighty percent of its funds are allocated to organizations assisting survivors, and the remainder towards Holocaust education, research, and documentation.

The establishment of Yad Vashem was one of the first major contributions made by the Claims Conference in Israel. In 1953 it provided half of Yad Vashem’s funding, and was the decisive factor in the establishment of Yad Vashem’s first building in 1957. The Claims Conference has pledged to raise a third of the total cost of Yad Vashem’s multi-year development project, the “Yad Vashem 2001” masterplan, and within this framework is the main donor of Yad Vashem’s Archives and Library Building. A strategic partner, the Claims Conference has continued to fund Yad Vashem’s research, documentation, and education programs, thereby placing Yad Vashem as the Claims Conference’s single largest recipient.

The Claims Conference—which has supported and promoted Yad Vashem as the pioneer and leading center for Holocaust commemoration and documentation—will be honored at a jubilee event at the end of November. The event is being organized jointly by Yad Vashem, and three additional Israeli recipients of Claims Conference funding: the Ghetto Fighters’ House-Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum, Massua – The Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, and Moreshet-Mordechai Anilevich Memorial Study Center for Teaching the Holocaust.