Young companions for Holocaust survivors in Israel
One year after its establishment, Bayer’s Hans and Berthold Finkelstein Foundation announces its first international sponsorship. The aid project "Choosing Tomorrow - La'ad" brings six committed students together with Holocaust survivors over a period of three years.
Israeli student talking to one of the survivors, participating in the project © Keren Hayesod
Together, they hold conversations and share individual everyday activities such as running errands. In addition to personal support, the participants receive monthly financial assistance for food or medication. In this way, the project aims to combat the widespread poverty of the elderly participants in Israel, provide them with emotional support and promote their social integration.
By curating and documenting their individual stories, the students also ensure that the survivors' life stories are preserved. They will be forwarded to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, where the transcripts will be stored, cataloged, and digitized.
Since 2017, the aim of the project "Choosing Tomorrow – La’ad", launched by the Israeli organization Keren Hayesod, has been to tackle loneliness in elderly Holocaust survivors and to preserve their personal stories. “The project addresses the urgent need of accompaniment for Israeli women and men,” explains Rafi Heumann, who represents the non-profit organization in Germany. “At the same time, it creates an inter-generational sense of community around topics such as remembrance, sense of belonging and social equality. We are glad to have gained the Hans and Berthold Finkelstein Foundation as a strong supporter for this important initiative.”
“We are coming to the point where many contemporary witnesses are passing away. At any moment, it could be too late to preserve their life stories and obtain insights for the future. The technical solutions help us to conserve these, but the sharing of authentic experience and emotions in a personal conversation is something irreplaceable. That’s why we decided to support „Choosing Tomorrow – La’ad“ as part of funding for culture of remembrance and to promote the project in Germany,” claims Annemarie Huehne-Ramm, managing director of Hans and Berthold Finkelstein Foundation.
About Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod is a registered association in Israel acting worldwide. It has been fundraising for different social projects in Israel since it was established in 1920. In Germany, Keren Hayesod is listed as a non-profit organization.
More information about Keren Hayesod and „Choosing Tomorrow – La‘ad“ can be found here www.keren-hayesod.de/holocaust-hilfsprojekte/ (in German)
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