Professor Yitzhak Kerem emails:
If you are still interested in publishing about the rampant cancer in the Jewish leadership of the world you can post my following reaction to Mariln Henry and the Cliams Conferene to whitewash the annual stealing of about 4 billion dollars by the Jewish leadership primarily in New York City. Not only do 30-40 Holocaust survviors continue dying a day of neglect and rejection by the Claims Conf. The Israeli govt. is giving an extra 100 plus Nis a month – ca. $35 to 25,000, but they keep on being denied by the Claims conference. Israel rejected increase for all those who made aliya after 1953. How many Jewish day school scholarships could be given out at the expense of what Jewish leadership around the world steals? Does Yom Kippur have meaning for the Jewish people if its leaders still steal billions on the backs of Holocaust survivors?
Dear Editor of the Jerusalem Post.
I was appalled that you published Marilyn Henry’s apologetic defense of the Claims Conference (“Metro views: If it ain/t broke, fix it”, August 31?, 2010). It’s hardly objective for someone paid by the Claims Conference to whitewash its skewed agenda and performance in the last fifty years to write the book Confronting the Perpetrators: A History of the Claims Conference about it in glowing colors. Her article in the Jerusalem Post was of the same genre.
Henry boasted that the Claims Conference initiated an investigation about 7 million dollars in more than 200 German pensions of bogus Holocaust survivors. The scam came out when NY Jews via the internet and a few Jewish newspapers exposed the scandal. Like in many of the scandals and mammoth fiscal corruption of the Claims Conference detected in the last 20 years, the Claims Conference only reacts after publicity. There is no internal scrutiny and no external surveillance. The US government and the State Government in Albany has been totally inept and apathetic in confronting Claims Conference massive corruption. In the meantime three senior Claims Conference executives defected back to Russia and enjoy anonymity since the Claims Conference lacks transparency and refused to publish their names (but they are known to the researchers and the activists). Not only would Chairman Julius Berman (never elected to represent any Jewish organization) not resign, but he attacked critics like Isi Liebler, Martin Stern, and others who have in-depth knowledge of the corruption of the Claims Conference and Jewish organizations (primarily in New York City) who have milked it for tens of billions of dollars since 1953 at the expense of the Holocaust survivors. Claims Treasurer and Chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants Roman Kent refused to comment on the role & responsibility of the Claims Conference leaders in this criminal activity, and together with his executive members Ilan Steinberg and Menachem Rosensaft, fired its veteran director for wanting to put his organization’s annual report and budget on the organization homepage.
Henry’s article presumes that the reader is ignorant of Jewish communal life and Claims Conference corruption. Henry conveniently blurs past corruption; i.e detection of Israel Singers illegal Swiss bank pension fund and his resignation followed by that of Chairman Edgar Bronfman, corruption of insurance reparations where lawyers received much more than survivors, corruption in distribution of Swiss gold money where Claims Conference and World Jewish Congress received most the money and not the survivors, and the aggressive attempts of the Claims Conference to confiscate looted art throughout Europe and former Jewish property in the former Eastern Germany.and deny these assets or their value to the heirs. In the latter case auctioneers, middle men, and an ex-Stazi lawyer are funneling somewhere beyond 6-8 billion dollars in recent years to their own pockets. Claims auditor Joseph Feuchtwanger, after learning about Claims Conference corruption at a colloquium at Bar Ilan University several years ago, did such a good job investigating Claims Conference corruption in Frankfurt, that his audit was shelved internally, never even presented to the 23 Jewish member organizations, and forced to resign.
The Claims Conferenece works on a basis of deflection and disinformation. Several budgets exist and the actual budget is not presented on the organization homepage. A difference of hundreds of millions of dollars can be found in a given year between budgets. The fact that Ernst and Young are their accountants adds no accountibility or credibility. The same known accounting firm fudged the books for Enron and the American people lost billions of dollars in the hoax. The corruption got so bad last year, that the executive board voted to oust Chairman Reuvain Merhav.
Claims Conference executives earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year; while Israeli Holocaust survivors have been dying 30-40 a day of neglect since 2006.
Much of the funding for commemoration is bogus and is based on organizations close to the executive. Agudat Israel rep Abraham Biderman sits on some 12-13 committees to fund his organizations and this past year 4 million dollars was alloted for a bogus Haredu ulta-religious Holocaust museum in Brooklyn. Julius Berman is there to make sure Modern Orthodox institutions get their take; most have no relation to the Holocaust. Saul Kagan, an amorphous old-timer, directing the organization for decades from the inside has never been called to explain his responsibility in the corruption from the inside. Some organizations like the Jewish Agency get as many as 3 allocations for the same project by giving in proposals from three different countries.
On numerous occasions, directives have been uncovered instructing workers not to recognize/recommend survivors for German pensions or benefits; or to secretly fund projects and organizations and not include these allocations in the books. Instead of prosecuting, the FBI, US Ministry of Justice, and other relevant branches of the United States government ignore the criminal activities and thus give legitimacy to the corruption and corrupt Jewish leaders.
Former Claims Conference vice-president Gidon Taylor has upgraded to the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) with a 600,000+ dollar a year salary (not public knowledge since the JDC opposes transparency) and assists his new organization with knowledge how to benefit from reparations in the former Soviet Union and the JDC rakes in millions if not billions at the expense of the survivors. For every survivor recognized in the former USSR, there are another 2-3 tricked or ignored by the JDC, and denied reparations and assistance. Zane Buzby started the Survivor Mitzvah Project in Los Angeles since Holocaust survivors are neglected and ignored by the Claims Confernce and JDC in seven countries in the territory of the former USSR.
Prof. Yitzchak Kerem
Member of Knesset Public Committee for Holocaust Survivor Rights
Jerusalem/Israel
Prof. Kerem adds: An additional update for those on my mailing lists.
Henry’s article presumes that the reader is ignorant of Jewish communal life and Claims Conference corruption. Henry conveniently blurs past corruption; i.e detection of Israel Singers illegal Swiss bank pension fund and his resignation followed by that of Chairman Edgar Bronfman, corruption of insurance reparations where lawyers received much more than survivors, corruption in distribution of Swiss gold money where Claims Conference and World Jewish Congress received most the money and not the survivors, and the aggressive attempts of the Claims Conference to confiscate looted art throughout Europe and former Jewish property in the former Eastern Germany.and deny these assets or their value to the heirs. In the latter case auctioneers, middle men, and an ex-Stazi lawyer are funneling somewhere beyond 6-8 billion dollars in recent years to their own pockets. Claims auditor Joseph Feuchtwanger, after learning about Claims Conference corruption at a colloquium at Bar Ilan University several years ago, did such a good job investigating Claims Conference corruption in Frankfurt, that his audit was shelved internally, never even presented to the 23 Jewish member organizations, and forced to resign.
The Claims Conferenece works on a basis of deflection and disinformation. Several budgets exist and the actual budget is not presented on the organization homepage. A difference of hundreds of millions of dollars can be found in a given year between budgets. The fact that Ernst and Young are their accountants adds no accountibility or credibility. The same known accounting firm fudged the books for Enron and the American people lost billions of dollars in the hoax. The corruption got so bad last year, that the executive board voted to oust Chairman Reuvain Merhav.
Claims Conference executives earn hundreds of thousnds of dollars a year; while Israeli Holocaust survivors have been dieing 30-40 a day of neglect since 2006.
Much of the funding for commemoration is bogus and is based on organizations close to the executive. Agudat Israel rep Abraham Biderman sits on some 12-13 commitees to fund his organizations and this past year 4 million dollars was alloted for a bogus Haredu ulta-religious Holocaust museum in Brooklyn. Julius Berman is there to make sure Modern Orthodox instititions get their take; most have no relation to the Holocaust. Saul Kagan, an amorphous old-timer, directing the organization for decades from the inside has never been called to explain his resposnibility in the corruption from the inside. Some organizations like the Jewish Agency get as many as 3 allocations for the same project by giving in proposals from three different countries.
On numerous occasions, directives have been uncovered instructing workers not to recognize/recommend survivors for German pensions or benefits; or to secretly fund projects and organizations and not include these allocations in the books. Instead of prosecuting, the FBI, US Ministry of Justice, and other relevant branches of the United States government ignore the criminal activites and thus give legitimacy to the corruption and corrupt Jewish leaders.
Former Claims Conference vice-president Gidon Taylor has upgraded to the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) with a 600,000+ dollar a year salary (not public knowledge since the JDC opposes transparency) and assists his new organization with knowledge how to benefit from reparations in the former Soviet Union and the JDC rakes in millions if not billions at the expense of the survivors. For every survivor recognized in the former USSR, there are another 2-3 tricked or ignored by the JDC, and denied reparations and assistance. Zane Buzby started the Survivor Mitzvah Project in Los Angeles since Holocaust survivors are neglected and ignored by the Claims Confernce and JDC in seven countries in the territory of the former USSR.
