{"id":92704,"date":"2022-01-26T17:00:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=92704"},"modified":"2022-01-26T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T13:21:32","slug":"03-00-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=92704","title":{"rendered":"Holocaust survivors in the US still struggling to survive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Holocaust survivors in the US still struggling to survive<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

HALEY COHEN <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Survivors like Steigmann are having trouble affording necessities. So he reached out to Jewish organizations for help.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\n.
\nHolocaust survivors enter Auschwitz 73 years after its liberation on Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 2018<\/em><\/span>
\n(photo credit: KACPER PEMPEL \/ REUTERS)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

NEW YORK \u2013 More than 75 years after the Holocaust ended, survivors living in the United States continue to suffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York City is home to the largest community of Holocaust survivors and their descendants out of any city outside of Israel. As the world commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, the day Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated in 1945, 40% of the 36,000 survivors in the New York area live in or near poverty. Compared to the 10% of Americans 65 and older who live in poverty, as reported by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Holocaust survivors are a much greater risk group.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am part of the one-third of US Holocaust survivors in poverty,\u201d Sami Steigmann, who resides in Manhattan, said. \u201cWhen I speak about the challenges I faced in the Holocaust, I also speak about another challenge I\u2019ve overcome: homelessness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Steigmann, 82, was born in Romania. In 1941, he was taken with his parents to a labor camp called Mogilev-Podolsky. Being too young to work, Steigmann was subjected to Nazi medical experimentation in his early years. Although he doesn\u2019t remember that period of time, he said he still feels the side effects every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many New York organizations set up to help survivors, but for the most part they only provide a one-time allotment,\u201d Steigmann, who today lives alone in a tiny studio apartment and has no surviving relatives, continued.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that most of the foundations are unaware he is even in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t complain. I don\u2019t like to talk about how much pain I\u2019m in, not even to my closest friends. I come from a generation that was very stoic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Holocaust survivors at a Hanukkah candle lighting event, December 23, 2019. (credit: COURTESY CLAIMS CONFERENCE)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Steigmann, a motivational speaker who started his own foundation called Sami Speaks, added that he has become friends with other New York-based survivors through becoming a member of the second-largest Holocaust museum in the US, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in downtown Manhattan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The museum offers a variety of programs to help survivors preserve their stories, including The Speakers Bureau, which is comprised of Holocaust survivors, World War II veterans and descendants of survivors who present their or their family\u2019s experiences during the Holocaust to groups of 20 or more people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to COVID-19, the museum is offering testimony from members of the Speakers Bureau on Zoom. Additionally, the monthly Stories Survive features Holocaust survivors outside of the Speakers Bureau sharing testimonies that are recorded and added to their Survivor Testimony channel on YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jewish Federations of North America\u2019s Center on Holocaust Survivor Care and Institute on Aging and Trauma announced they will award 55 grants totaling $5,325,000 to organizations across the US. This represents the largest number of grants and the largest dollar amount in the program\u2019s history. Grantees will deliver social services to thousands of Holocaust survivors, diverse older adults with a history of trauma and their family caregivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic has shown what a difference we can make when we come together, especially for those older adults at the highest risk of COVID-19,\u201d said Mark Wilf, chair of the JFNA Board of Trustees. \u201cHolocaust survivors are our teachers and our heroes, and we are committed to empowering them to live with comfort in their communities. The Federation system is humbled and proud to help thousands of Holocaust survivors, as well as other older trauma survivors and their families during their time of need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s grantees include Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (NJHSA), which uses Uniper technology to prevent social isolation among older adults in more than a dozen communities; Bet Tzedek, which provides access to legal services for Holocaust survivors across multiple cities; and Habitat for Humanity International, a new subgrant for 2022, which will provide training for how to do home modifications in a person-centered, trauma-informed way in three cities.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to funds for direct services, Jewish Federations said they will provide intensive education and training to all grantees, working closely with NJHSA and other local and national service providers to implement the grant program.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 60 experts in aging and trauma volunteer their talents to help JFNA implement the program, train grantees and build capacity to employ the person-centered, trauma-informed (\u201cPCTI\u201d) approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

JFNA noted that its efforts are with strong bipartisan Congressional support backed by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH).<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, survivors like Steigmann are having trouble affording necessities. When he couldn\u2019t afford a hearing aid, Steigmann reached out to Jewish organizations for help. He pointed out The Blue Card as being particularly beneficial, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to survivors of the genocide that killed six million Jews in Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people who have suffered so much, they\u2019re proud people and it\u2019s not always easy for them to step up on their own and admit that they can\u2019t pay rent or medical bills,\u201d Masha Pearl, executive director of The Blue Card, said. \u201cOur goal is to help survivors preserve their dignity and stay safely and independently in their homes for as long as possible to avoid institutionalization, which is a big fear they have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The organization, which works through local social service agencies that refer survivors to them for financial assistance, is based in New York but assists survivors in 38 states across the US.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLife expectancy is longer these days and the survivors we\u2019re seeing in New York are all in their 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond,\u201d Pearl continued. \u201cI just spoke with a 105-year-old survivor in Brooklyn still living at home and very active and thriving. The survivors we\u2019re seeing are living on basic pensions from the government and reparations from Germany due to the suffering they endured, really just barely making ends meet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they have to decide between dentures or a hearing aid, they can\u2019t afford both. We hear very sad stories of survivors rationing their medicine, taking half a dose instead of a full dose, making food last longer than it should or choosing not to leave the heat on in these very cold days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pearl noted the foundation has seen an uptick in need since the start of the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly we\u2019ve seen more requests for appliance replacements since people are home more,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very challenging time and the lack of socialization has played a huge role, so we started sending battery-operated pets that with a press of a button wag their tails and bark like a real dog, providing survivors with a sense of companionship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She expressed the belief that more assistance to survivors should be offered by the state of New York. \u201cThe organizations like us have stepped up tremendously to meet the gaps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blue Card also assists in helping survivors share and preserve their stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe get requests from synagogues and both public and private schools for survivors to speak,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cWe make an effort to match them up with those opportunities, utilizing reporting, Zoom and conference calls for survivors to tell their stories, because the opportunity and window are slowing closely. This is really one of our last opportunities for younger generations to hear survivor stories firsthand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Holocaust survivors in the US still struggling to survive HALEY COHEN Survivors like Steigmann are having trouble affording necessities. So he reached out to Jewish organizations for help. . Holocaust survivors enter Auschwitz 73 years after its liberation on Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 2018 (photo credit: KACPER PEMPEL \/ REUTERS) NEW YORK \u2013 More than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92704"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92719,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92704\/revisions\/92719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}