A right of return
FAMILIES whose assets were confiscated during the Holocaust are being given a helping hand in reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.
FAMILIES whose assets were confiscated during the Holocaust are being given a helping hand in reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.
The recent launch of a worldwide effort to identify personal property taken from Jews by the Nazis, entitled Project HEART, is an initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), with the support of the Israeli Government.
The scheme is designed to provide the tools, strategy and information to bring about some form of restitution to victimsand their heirs.
“Many victims of the Holocaust returned to their homes to find that they had no ability to recover their own property,” JAFI chairman Natan Sharansky said.
“Project HEART is a general comprehensive program that was launched to gather information with the eventual purpose of receiving compensation for property that was looted, stolen or forcibly sold during the Holocaust.”
The project is urging affected people and their descendants worldwide to apply for compensation.
Those affected families would have owned movable, immovable or intangible personal property that was confiscated, looted or forcibly sold in countries governed or occupied by the Nazi forces or Axis powers during the Holocaust.
President of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Anna Berger is keen to see such a project in action.
“Monetary compensation obviously would aid some survivors who may be in difficult financial circumstances and I’d be delighted to know that they’ve been helped.
“But I think that it’s not only about quantum, it’s also about gaining acknowledgement that harm was done, having a sense of justice and recognition for survivors and their descendants.”
Bobby Brown from JAFI is eager for victims to apply for restitution, even if they don’t have evidence of property ownership.
“Because of the immeasurable damage that was done to Jewish individuals and communities from the time their property was confiscated, Project HEART was put together as an initiative to reach out to those whose pain we can never imagine, but who we can assist in the process of gathering data, which will hopefully and ultimately aid them in retrieving what is rightfully theirs,” Brown explained.
To be assessed for eligibility, fill out the questionnaire found at www.heartwebsite.org
CASSILEE KAHN
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