The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) has announced 2022 allocations totaling $720 million in support of home care and supportive services for frail and vulnerable Holocaust survivors.

During 2021, $653 million in funding was allocated to more than 300 social welfare organizations around the world where significant numbers of survivors live, to bolster services such as home care, medical care, emergency assistance, and food distribution. Funding provides a critical lifeline to Holocaust survivors in need, enabling them to live out their remaining days in dignity. The Claims Conference estimates that funding allocated in 2022—including nearly $47 million in social services in Ukraine—will reach approximately 120,000 Holocaust survivors.

“I cannot overstate how critical these lifesaving funds from the Claims Conference are to ensure the well-being of survivors in the former Soviet Union,” said American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee president Mark Sisisky. “As we see in Ukraine, and throughout the region, crisis can erupt at a moment’s notice and increase the plight and needs of survivors and other elderly. The services we provide them in partnership with the Claims Conference are a literal lifeline of care, dignity, and hope for better days.”

“We are proud to announce this significant allocation at a time when these funds are critical, due to the age, poverty, and increasing disability of our waning survivor population, and as they also continue to face the ongoing uncertainty and threat of COVID-19,” said Claims Conference president Gideon Taylor. “We know these funds provide vital support during these difficult times.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/SandraMatic)