They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous

“Righteous Among the Nations,” that is, non-Jews who helped Jews survive the Holocaust, if they face financial hardship, can receive regular payments from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR). The foundation was created in 1986 by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis and Dr. Eva Fogelman and seeks to fulfill the Jewish commitment to hakarat hatov, or searching out and recognizing goodness. The organization started by helping to support eight individuals. In 2003 the number of “righteous” receiving JFR support peaked at 1,750. Since then, the number has fallen to about 1,200 in more than twenty-five countries.When these rescuers showed courage by helping Jews, they did not do it for money, and as a rule they are reluctant to ask for financial help in their older years. Most rescuers receiving JFR help live in Eastern Europe. More live in Poland than in any other country. Rescuers use the funds to cover costs of food, heating fuel, medical care, medication, and emergency needs. JFR also awards small grants, on request, to help with funeral expenses. Depending on availability of funds, the foundation also provides onetime grants to cover food for the Christmas and Easter seasons to rescuers living in Poland and other Eastern European countries. The foundation recognizes that, as time passes, the number of aged and needy non-Jews who risked their lives to help Jews will continue to decline, so it is making a transition to put more emphasis on its educational programming. Already JFR runs programs that educate teachers and students about the history of the Holocaust and rescue. An important part of the foundation’s education program is a JFR publication called Voices & Views: A History of the Holocaust. This publication uses short selections from leading scholarship to introduce teachers both to the history of the Holocaust and to the scholarly literature in the field. The foundation is tax-exempt under section 501[c]3 of the Internal Revenue Code. JFR’s work is supported primarily through donor contributions. It does not receive or use government funds, although it continues to work closely with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (now known as the “Claims Conference”), which provides significant financial support to the foundation. Since 1951 the Claims Conference has worked in partnership with Israel to negotiate for and distribute payments to survivors and rescuers. 203 The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous 204 After the War The money comes from Germany, Austria, other governments, and certain industries. Closeto90percentof JFRexpendituresgotoprogramactivities,suchasrescuer support and education, with the biggest part going directly to the rescuers. In 2007, direct support for such persons amounted to $3.8 million. Rescuers receive a stipend three times a year. Stanlee Joyce Stahl, who spent twenty years working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the foundation’s executive vice president. JFR maintains offices at 305 7th Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York, 10001. More information is available at the foundation’s Web site, www.jfr.org, from which much of the information in this chapter is drawn. ...