Several Holocaust survivors from Ukraine have arrived in Germany in the past few days. According to the Claims Conference, four survivors arrived in Frankfurt/Main on Friday. Another 14 survivors were then taken to Würzburg or Munich, among other places. These are sick and infirm people who were transported in ambulances.
The synagogue community in Cologne announced that Ninel Denisenko had arrived safely on Sunday after a 30-hour flight from Kyiv. The 90-year-old arrived in an ambulance vehicle. She was accompanied by her daughter. Both of them stay in their parents’ home until their onward journey to Israel to visit their granddaughter is organized.
security According to the Claims Conference, survivors “arrive lightly, leave everything behind, endure the hardships of the long drive, and then are happy to be out of danger, to feel safe.”
The representative of the Claims Conference in Germany, Rüdiger Mahlo, founded a network for the rescue operation, which includes the Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany (ZWST) and the Foreign Office. According to the announcement, the transports were organized in conjunction with the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which, with the help of the Hesed organization, cares for Holocaust survivors in Ukraine. ZWST director Aron Schuster has secured a place in Jewish nursing homes for all survivors – or in facilities that are in contact with Jewish communities.
This is “an enormous effort” that can only be mastered together, says Mahlo. He also thanked the diplomatic missions on site. At the same time he announced that further transports are to follow. “The evacuations are the start of a larger campaign, in the context of which all those Holocaust survivors who are in need of serious care and are willing to leave their homeland are to be brought to Germany.”
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Anne Spiegel declared in the Bundestag on Friday that special attention should be paid to the elderly Holocaust survivors when supporting refugees: “I want them all to have a safe haven in Germany. That is our responsibility. More than that: This is our humanitarian obligation!« and
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