Lawsuit: Recognize 2nd generation as Shoah victims
Many of the second-generation survivors told Fisher about the difficulties they were forced to experience as children to Holocaust survivors, difficulties which affect their lives to this day, and ...
More than 60 years after the Holocaust, the children of the survivors are demanding compensation from the German government for their suffering.
All this time they kept silent. Growing in the shadow of post-traumatic Holocaust surviving parents, they suffered from violence, over-protection and unrealistic expectations. Some of them succeeded and even became famous, while others collapsed.
Following an initiative to file a joint class action to second generation members from Israel, Germany and the United States, the Fisher Fund is holding talks with senior German officials in a bid to receive financing for mental treatments required by some second-generation Holocaust survivors.
The Fisher Fund was established seven years ago by Attorney Gideon Fisher, whose parents Mali and Yosef were Holocaust survivors. The fund, an independent body, grants scholarships and assists in places where other organizations are unable to help.
About a year and a half ago, after receiving a large number of requests, Attorney Fisher established a legal department in his office to deal with lawsuits filed by hundreds of Holocaust survivors and their children.
Many of the second-generation survivors told Fisher about the difficulties they were forced to experience as children to Holocaust survivors, difficulties which affect their lives to this day, and due to which they are in need of ongoing mental treatment.
This brought upon the initiative to form a class action against the German government, demanding that it bear the costs of the psychological and psychiatric treatment many of the survivors' children are forced to undergo due to their childhood in the shadow of the Holocaust.
According to data provided by the Amcha association, which offers mental and social support to Holocaust survivors and second generation members, about 4 percent of the 350,000 children of Shoah survivors living in Israel (about 14,000 people) are in need of mental treatment.
Amcha currently treats 878 members of the second generation who finance the treatment themselves. On average, each patient receives 80 hours of treatment a year, at the cost of NIS 300 (about $73.75) per hour.
According to the association, the annual cost of mental treatment for the second generation Holocaust survivors living in Israel amounts to approximately NIS 34 million ($8.35 million).
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