# A benefit for Holocaust survivors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 15, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305 "2024-11-15T22:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/1 "2024-11-15T22:36:38Z")
Strange topic, I know, but I wasn’t sure how to word it. My parents just discovered that, as Holocaust survivors, they are entitled to free in-home care for the rest of their lives, as much as they need, paid for by the German government. This is new information to us, and it came at the right time as my parents are getting to the point where they need a lot of help. They’ve known about the pension program for Holocaust survivors, but not this. Apparently the German government sets aside a certain amount of money for survivors, and as they die off the same amount of money buys better and better benefits for those still alive. My parents are in their 80s and 90s, and they were children back then. So there can’t be many left. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/2 "2024-11-15T22:46:58Z")
Can you please provide a link? I wonder what their definition of Holocaust survivor is. My mother’s (Jewish) family fled Germany in 1939 and lived in Luxembourg for two years before coming to the US. My grandmother received reparations from the German government for the rest of her life, for the property the family lost during the war. My mother (now in her 90s) and her immediate family were never interred, but her aunt and grandmother were deported to the ghetto of Warsaw, where they perished. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/3 "2024-11-15T23:08:39Z")
I think it was this: > **[Supporting Our Survivors (SOS)](https://www.jfssd.org/center-for-jewish-care/jewish-community-services/supporting-our-survivors-sos/)** > > Care management, home care, and emergency assistance services for low-income Jewish Holocaust Survivors. That’s just for San Diego and Orange County, California. I presume there are similar organizations anywhere there are survivors. If she’s interested, your mother should contact her local Jewish community. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/4 "2024-11-16T02:37:19Z")
Haven’t posted here in ages but you’ve pulled me out of lurking. PM if you’d like. My survivor parents received benefits from Germany most of their lives and additional benefits as they aged for their care. My dad died in 2012 from COPD due to his forced slave labor in the coal mines, and my mom in 2020 from Covid. If you have questions about benefits, I might be able to help. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/5 "2024-11-17T17:06:01Z")
Dumb question, but do they have to be in Germany to receive the benefit? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/6 "2024-11-17T18:59:30Z")
No, my parents came to this country in the 1950s. They were in concentration camps in Poland. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-benefit-for-holocaust-survivors/1010305/7 "2024-11-17T22:48:24Z")
No, my parents live in California and receive benefits.