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Survivors in U.S. can apply to Swiss fund
JULIA GOLDMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Applications for payments from a Swiss humanitarian fund are now available for needy Holocaust survivors in the United States. Eligible individuals can receive application information by calling the special application processing center set up by the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which will be handling all claims in the United States with the assistance of the New York State Banking Department.
The toll-free number is (800) 549-6864. Interested individuals must request applications from the center by Nov. 17. The deadline for filing is Nov. 30. Instructions are available in English, Russian and Yiddish.
Since the Swiss humanitarian fund was established last year by Switzerland's leading banks, more than 18,000 needy survivors in Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia have received payments. In the coming weeks, thousands of survivors in the Czech Republic, Croatia and Poland will receive checks from the fund, according to Gideon Taylor, treasurer of the WJRO, the body that is overseeing the distribution of the payments.
Some $31.4 million from the $185 million fund will be paid out to survivors in the United States after Nov. 30.
The humanitarian fund is separate from the $1.25 billion settlement of Holocaust-era claims reached last week between Switzerland's two largest banks and negotiators for survivors. Anyone who receives payment from the humanitarian fund will still be eligible to participate in the proceeds from that settlement.
WJRO officials expect between 20,000 to 40,000 applications from the more than 110,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors living in the United States. Each qualified applicant is expected to get a one-time payment of about $500.
Applicants must be a Jew who lived in a country when it was either under the Nazi regime, Nazi occupation or the regime of Nazi collaborators; must now be a citizen or legal resident of the United States; and in need of financial support.
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