Holocaust Fund to Pay Israeli Survivors

Needy Holocaust survivors in Israel can start applying next month for money from a $60 million humanitarian fund set up by Swiss banks and corporations.

The humanitarian fund was set up to assist poor survivors of the Holocaust and is separate from a fund of $1.25 billion dollars that Switzerland's two largest banks agreed in August to pay out to holders of dormant wartime accounts and their heirs.

Israeli survivors with a monthly income below $875 will be eligible to apply for funds at post offices between June and October, Rafi Pinco, a finance ministry official on the committee taking the applications, said May 2, 1999.

Some 150,000 survivors were expected to apply, Pinco said. Those who qualify could receive money by the end of October.

The humanitarian fund totals $180 million. Aside from the part of the fund distributed in the United States, more than 40,000 survivors in Eastern Europe have received payments. More were to be made in Britain and other European countries.

Source: AP, (May 3, 1999)