Claims Conference
@claims-conference.bsky.social
Since 1951, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany has sought acknowledgment from the German government by negotiating for compensation, restitution and home care on behalf of Holocaust survivors
The Mauthausen Memorial Path educational bus tour, facilitated by the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, will provide information specific to the Jews who were imprisoned at Mauthausen. By confronting history, the tour aims to foster a more humane civil society and combat antisemitism.
November 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The Mauthausen Memorial Path educational bus tour, facilitated by the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, will provide information specific to the Jews who were imprisoned at Mauthausen. By confronting history, the tour aims to foster a more humane civil society and combat antisemitism.
The Mauthausen Memorial Path launch: It is in the memory of those who were killed that the Claims Conference educates about the Holocaust. Education about concentration camps is meant to ensure the lessons of those places do not fade. Learn more about the tour here: mauthausenpath.at
November 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The Mauthausen Memorial Path launch: It is in the memory of those who were killed that the Claims Conference educates about the Holocaust. Education about concentration camps is meant to ensure the lessons of those places do not fade. Learn more about the tour here: mauthausenpath.at
The Claims Conference, through negotiations with the German government, provided over $167 million in grants in 2025 to our partner agencies in New York to fund home care assistance, allowing survivors residing in the state to live safely and comfortably in their homes as they age.
#PartnersInCare
#PartnersInCare
October 30, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The Claims Conference, through negotiations with the German government, provided over $167 million in grants in 2025 to our partner agencies in New York to fund home care assistance, allowing survivors residing in the state to live safely and comfortably in their homes as they age.
#PartnersInCare
#PartnersInCare
Meet the 18th cohort of the Claims Conference's #SaulKagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies: PhD candidates Lisa Storer, @alexorengog.bsky.social, Eliyau Klein, @harrylegg.bsky.social, Jovana Cveticanin, Alexandra Kramen, and postdocs Margaux Dumas & Borbala Klacsmann. fellowships.claimscon.org
October 17, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Meet the 18th cohort of the Claims Conference's #SaulKagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies: PhD candidates Lisa Storer, @alexorengog.bsky.social, Eliyau Klein, @harrylegg.bsky.social, Jovana Cveticanin, Alexandra Kramen, and postdocs Margaux Dumas & Borbala Klacsmann. fellowships.claimscon.org
We are grateful for the 25 years Rabbi Menachem Hacohen z”l devoted to the Claims Conference and our mission to provide for Holocaust survivors and to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten. May his memory be a blessing and legacy inspire us to carry on his vision of unity.
September 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
We are grateful for the 25 years Rabbi Menachem Hacohen z”l devoted to the Claims Conference and our mission to provide for Holocaust survivors and to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten. May his memory be a blessing and legacy inspire us to carry on his vision of unity.
Pinchas Gutter and his family witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, hidden in a bunker until being discovered in May 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where his mother, Chaya, his father, Menachem, and his twin sister, Sabina, were murdered. Pinchas was liberated from Theresienstadt on May 8, 1945.
August 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Pinchas Gutter and his family witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, hidden in a bunker until being discovered in May 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where his mother, Chaya, his father, Menachem, and his twin sister, Sabina, were murdered. Pinchas was liberated from Theresienstadt on May 8, 1945.
A Claims Conference supported film, Oscar-winning filmmaker László Nemes’s “Orphan” follows a boy's discovery of his mother’s survival during WW2 when a man claiming to be his missing father returns. The film will compete for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival.
August 21, 2025 at 7:43 PM
A Claims Conference supported film, Oscar-winning filmmaker László Nemes’s “Orphan” follows a boy's discovery of his mother’s survival during WW2 when a man claiming to be his missing father returns. The film will compete for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival.
“Freezing weather and epidemics – but these horrors were only details. The most significant thing was the gas chamber and the crematorium. This was the logical end for any Jew entering Birkenau” – Algerian-born Holocaust survivor Gabriel Bénichou, Dec 15, 1926 – Jul 23, 2025.
July 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
“Freezing weather and epidemics – but these horrors were only details. The most significant thing was the gas chamber and the crematorium. This was the logical end for any Jew entering Birkenau” – Algerian-born Holocaust survivor Gabriel Bénichou, Dec 15, 1926 – Jul 23, 2025.
“In every encounter with a survivor, I see a spark of the ability to rebuild life. Our partnership with the Claims Conference allows us to turn compassion into daily action" - Natali Zohar, Dir of the Department of Social Services in Netivot.
#PartnersInCare
#PartnersInCare
July 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
“In every encounter with a survivor, I see a spark of the ability to rebuild life. Our partnership with the Claims Conference allows us to turn compassion into daily action" - Natali Zohar, Dir of the Department of Social Services in Netivot.
#PartnersInCare
#PartnersInCare
“Every day we thought we might not survive" - Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, born July 17, 1925.
#ISurvivedAuschwitz: Anita was a cello player, and it helped save her life at Auschwitz. “They want music, they need the musicians; if they kill us, they won’t have it.” #RememberThis
#ISurvivedAuschwitz: Anita was a cello player, and it helped save her life at Auschwitz. “They want music, they need the musicians; if they kill us, they won’t have it.” #RememberThis
July 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
“Every day we thought we might not survive" - Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, born July 17, 1925.
#ISurvivedAuschwitz: Anita was a cello player, and it helped save her life at Auschwitz. “They want music, they need the musicians; if they kill us, they won’t have it.” #RememberThis
#ISurvivedAuschwitz: Anita was a cello player, and it helped save her life at Auschwitz. “They want music, they need the musicians; if they kill us, they won’t have it.” #RememberThis
Director Abby Ginzberg’s LABORS OF LOVE explores the enduring legacy of Henrietta Szold, one of the most influential American Jewish women who ever lived.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:
July 26 1130 AM - JCC San Francisco
July 29 100 PM - Piedmont Theatre
Tickets: jfi.org/sfjff-2025
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:
July 26 1130 AM - JCC San Francisco
July 29 100 PM - Piedmont Theatre
Tickets: jfi.org/sfjff-2025
July 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Director Abby Ginzberg’s LABORS OF LOVE explores the enduring legacy of Henrietta Szold, one of the most influential American Jewish women who ever lived.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:
July 26 1130 AM - JCC San Francisco
July 29 100 PM - Piedmont Theatre
Tickets: jfi.org/sfjff-2025
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:
July 26 1130 AM - JCC San Francisco
July 29 100 PM - Piedmont Theatre
Tickets: jfi.org/sfjff-2025
"Jewish Forced Labor in Romania" explores the internal logic of the Antonescu regime and how it balanced its ideological imperative for antisemitic persecution with the economic needs of a state engaged in total war whose economy was still heavily dependent on the skills of its Jewish pop - IUPress.
June 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
"Jewish Forced Labor in Romania" explores the internal logic of the Antonescu regime and how it balanced its ideological imperative for antisemitic persecution with the economic needs of a state engaged in total war whose economy was still heavily dependent on the skills of its Jewish pop - IUPress.
At the annual Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies Workshop, alumnus Dr. Dallas Michelbacher (2014-2016), an Applied Researcher at the @ushmm.bsky.social, an expert on the Holocaust in Romania and the author of the book "Jewish Forced Labor in Romania, 1940-1944," gave the keynote.
June 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
At the annual Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies Workshop, alumnus Dr. Dallas Michelbacher (2014-2016), an Applied Researcher at the @ushmm.bsky.social, an expert on the Holocaust in Romania and the author of the book "Jewish Forced Labor in Romania, 1940-1944," gave the keynote.
The annual workshop of the Claims Conference #SaulKagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies brought early-career scholars together to discuss their projects. It also allowed them to connect with former Fellows, including those currently working at the @ushmm.bsky.social. #HolocaustEducation
June 6, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The annual workshop of the Claims Conference #SaulKagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies brought early-career scholars together to discuss their projects. It also allowed them to connect with former Fellows, including those currently working at the @ushmm.bsky.social. #HolocaustEducation
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman, "Reckonings" recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. The film poses the question: How could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people?
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman, "Reckonings" recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. The film poses the question: How could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people?
Helena took up ballroom dancing in her 80s, where she danced at the Manhattan Ballroom Society, and became known as the “dancing angel.” The Claims Conference was honored that Helena shared the horrors that she endured in the film “Reckonings: The First Reparations”.
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Helena took up ballroom dancing in her 80s, where she danced at the Manhattan Ballroom Society, and became known as the “dancing angel.” The Claims Conference was honored that Helena shared the horrors that she endured in the film “Reckonings: The First Reparations”.
Following a lengthy recovery in Sweden, Helena immigrated to New York, she married Joseph Weinrauch in 1951. Their daughter, Arlene, was born in 1953. Arlene passed away in the 1990s from breast cancer; Joseph died in 2006. They have been married for 55 years.
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Following a lengthy recovery in Sweden, Helena immigrated to New York, she married Joseph Weinrauch in 1951. Their daughter, Arlene, was born in 1953. Arlene passed away in the 1990s from breast cancer; Joseph died in 2006. They have been married for 55 years.
Helena was discovered after being reported to the Gestapo by a former classmate and deported to Plaszów and then Auschwitz. From there, she survived a 500-mile death march to Bergen-Belsen and was liberated by the British Army, found underneath a pile of bodies, on Apr 15, 1945. She weighed 60 lbs.
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Helena was discovered after being reported to the Gestapo by a former classmate and deported to Plaszów and then Auschwitz. From there, she survived a 500-mile death march to Bergen-Belsen and was liberated by the British Army, found underneath a pile of bodies, on Apr 15, 1945. She weighed 60 lbs.
Helena’s parents and sister were forced into hiding under the Soviets. However, due to her age, Helena was able to attend school and work. The Weinstocks were reunited but after the Nazis returned and Helena’s parents and sister were rounded up. She would never see them again.
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Helena’s parents and sister were forced into hiding under the Soviets. However, due to her age, Helena was able to attend school and work. The Weinstocks were reunited but after the Nazis returned and Helena’s parents and sister were rounded up. She would never see them again.
Holocaust survivor Helena Weinstock Weinrauch was born to Gisela and Maximilian Weinrauch in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1924. She had a sister, Erna, who was six years older. The family moved to Drohobycz, Poland (today’s Ukraine), for her father’s work. In 1939, after a brief German occupation,
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Holocaust survivor Helena Weinstock Weinrauch was born to Gisela and Maximilian Weinrauch in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1924. She had a sister, Erna, who was six years older. The family moved to Drohobycz, Poland (today’s Ukraine), for her father’s work. In 1939, after a brief German occupation,
and acquaintances were also murdered in the pogrom. Following the war, Leonard fought for the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust, including generously giving his time to the Claims Conference months before his passing to record a video message to support our #VanishingWitnesses report.
May 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
and acquaintances were also murdered in the pogrom. Following the war, Leonard fought for the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust, including generously giving his time to the Claims Conference months before his passing to record a video message to support our #VanishingWitnesses report.
to urge Leonard to run away and not forget. His father would be forced onto another train where he would die from his injuries and asphyxiation, deprived of any help along with thousands of others on the Iași-Călărași “death train” route. Leonard’s grandfather, an uncle and many classmates, friends
May 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
to urge Leonard to run away and not forget. His father would be forced onto another train where he would die from his injuries and asphyxiation, deprived of any help along with thousands of others on the Iași-Călărași “death train” route. Leonard’s grandfather, an uncle and many classmates, friends
sealed “death trains” of the pogrom that transported Jews back and forth between railway stations, leading to the deaths of 2,650 people from thirst, suffocation and madness. The last time he saw his father was in the yard of the police station. He had been shot and was covered in blood, but managed
May 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
sealed “death trains” of the pogrom that transported Jews back and forth between railway stations, leading to the deaths of 2,650 people from thirst, suffocation and madness. The last time he saw his father was in the yard of the police station. He had been shot and was covered in blood, but managed
"Water! A drop of water! We are people too!"
When he was 14 years old, Romanian Holocaust survivor Leonard Zăicescu and his father were arrested and taken to the Iași Police Station, where he witnessed executions and violence. From there, Leonard was put on the Iași–Podu Iloaiei train, one of the
When he was 14 years old, Romanian Holocaust survivor Leonard Zăicescu and his father were arrested and taken to the Iași Police Station, where he witnessed executions and violence. From there, Leonard was put on the Iași–Podu Iloaiei train, one of the
May 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
"Water! A drop of water! We are people too!"
When he was 14 years old, Romanian Holocaust survivor Leonard Zăicescu and his father were arrested and taken to the Iași Police Station, where he witnessed executions and violence. From there, Leonard was put on the Iași–Podu Iloaiei train, one of the
When he was 14 years old, Romanian Holocaust survivor Leonard Zăicescu and his father were arrested and taken to the Iași Police Station, where he witnessed executions and violence. From there, Leonard was put on the Iași–Podu Iloaiei train, one of the
At a recent Claims Conference Survivor Speakers Bureau event, survivor Lawrence McColm shared how he was hidden in a Belgian orphanage as a child during the Holocaust. Now 85, he continues to speak out, preserving memory and fighting hate. #HolocaustEducation #ClaimsConference #VanishingWitnesses
May 23, 2025 at 1:44 PM
At a recent Claims Conference Survivor Speakers Bureau event, survivor Lawrence McColm shared how he was hidden in a Belgian orphanage as a child during the Holocaust. Now 85, he continues to speak out, preserving memory and fighting hate. #HolocaustEducation #ClaimsConference #VanishingWitnesses