Holocaust survivors get hope of reparations

Debra D. Bass

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

Time does not heal all wounds.

Nor do reparations, but they can ease the suffering.

Michael Witti, a German lawyer specializing in reparations, explained this to a gathering of about 100 Jewish residents curious about what the new strides German and Swiss governments are making to compensate indigent Holocaust survivors.

"You can never be compensated for what has happened. It is not possible to pay for what has been done to you. You can never be satisfied with what you will receive," said Witti, who has devoted his practice to helping survivors around the world.

Clocks can meter the decades, but they can't remedy the heart-piercing sting of dehumanization and oppression, Witti said. That, however, does not mean German and Swiss governments are not accountable for the aging Holocaust survivors now struggling with small social security payments, dwindling pensions and mounting medical bills.

It has been 53 years since the Allied forces liberated Germany of the Nazi regime, but that period has done little to sooth the savagery of that brutal episode in the minds and ailments of its victims -- ailments that are taxing their bodies and their savings and reminding them that they are still suffering from the Holocaust.

Survivors have not forgotten the atrocities perpetrated in concentration camps and on those who hid in self-imposed exile fearing the death sentence the camps imposed indiscriminately on inhabitants.

"Lest we forget" is the creed survivors live by, knowing that history has a tendency to repeat itself when the populace fails to remember its past. Besides, many consider forgetting to be tantamount to forgiving.

The rage that overwhelmed many Holocaust victims at the time may have subsided, as have the demands for reprisals, but the desperate need for reparations have surfaced with a renewed impetus. Sadly the motivator is time.

Time is running out for Holocaust survivors, most of whom were teens when the Holocaust began and the Nazi soldiers rounded up their relatives and their neighbors and burned their synagogues.

Alfred Dube was 17 when he was carted away to a concentration camp along with 34 family members. In the four years he toiled there, Dube was the only one to survive. Now having retired in Las Vegas, he has such a long list of afflictions that he needs a medical chart to fully detail.

And for his trouble, he was paid a lump sum -- a total of $1 for each day he was subjected to the heinous climate of the camps.

The German agencies handling compensation of Holocaust survivors have accepted no responsibility for his medical claims, but Witti, whose practice is based in Munich, has said that he may be able to help.

"This is what we need," he said of the support embodied by the gathering at Congregation Ner Tamid. "Only together we are strong."

Witti, who works in conjunction with the Marks Law Firm based in Washington, D.C., said that today he is handling the claims of 5,000 survivors.

"After over 50 years, things finally look optimistic," Witti said of possible reparations and increases in Holocaust pension payments.

He cautioned survivors, who clamored around him after his speech with questions on how to tap into the funds now becoming available, that everything takes time. Though he is fully aware that time is now the enemy for the aging group.

He warned survivors not to be swayed by the coming barrage of advertisements in Jewish papers from official sounding groups asking for money and information to pursue their cases. The best course of action, he said, is patience and working within a Jewish organization to get accurate information.

Witti promised to return and discuss individual cases with survivors in the coming months, and for those he can do nothing for, he promised a response.

"Sometimes, I can do nothing," said Witti, acknowledging that it is not fair but honesty is better than raising someone's hopes, only to feel victimized again.

Any Holocaust survivors interested in seeking an increase in their pension known as the Wiedergutmachung Health Pension, because they are plagued by new health conditions, or those applying to collect a pension should contact the local Holocaust Survivors Group for more information.

The group, composed of 150 local survivors and their relatives, is sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada. Organizers Henry and Anita Schuster can be reached through that office at 794-0090.