Holocaust survivors dismiss Israel's offer of €15 a month

Holocaust survivors in Israel demanded that the Jewish state raise what they consider a laughable new offer of €15 in monthly stipends.

At least 500 of the elderly survivors and supporters rallied outside parliament yesterday, carrying placards and wearing stickers reading “The Holocaust is still here” and “Forgive us for surviving”.

“The government of Israel has not recognised us. We don’t belong to them,” said Josef Charney, 82, who survived the Treblinka death camp.

Six decades after the Second World War and the Nazi killings of six million Jews, about 240,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel.

Many have long complained that Israel does not do enough to support them, and that they lack money for basics, sometimes even food. Some have said European countries treat them far better.

Last week, the government announced new stipends for 120,000 needy survivors – about half of them now in Israel.

The money works out at just 83 shekels – or €15 – a month for each survivor.

Existing Holocaust survivor benefits are calculated by complex regulations depending on country of origin, where claimants were during the war, when they arrived in Israel, whether they received German government reparations and other criteria.