Christian and Jewish Ministry Issues Call to Help Poverty-Stricken Survivors ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day

Veronica Neffinger | iBelieve Contributor | Updated: Apr 21, 2017

Christian and Jewish Ministry Issues Call to Help Poverty-Stricken Survivors ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day

Monday, April 24th marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews believes should spur people on to action and not only observance.

The Fellowship is calling on people around the world to help Holocaust survivors who are living in dire poverty.

The numbers of survivors who are living with inadequate basic necessities such as shelter and food is astounding. CBN News notes that 400,000 Holocaust survivors are still alive today and at least one in three survivors in the U.S. and one-third of survivors in Israel are living below the poverty line. Additionally, about 200,000 Holocaust survivors in the former Soviet Union are living without enough food, medicine, heat, and other necessities.

One such woman is Olga. In a video released by the Fellowship, Olga’s heartbreaking story is told. She was hunted by Nazis as a child and had to hide in a wood stove. Now, she lives alone in a shack in the Ukrainian countryside, freezing and starving. Her only daughter died years ago.

The Fellowship is starting a $15 billion fundraising campaign to help Olga and those like her. The organization is calling on others to join the effort in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Business leader and philanthropist Haim Saban has already donated $1 million to the effort.

"It is a privilege for me to help these poor, elderly survivors," said Saban. "I urge others to join us. We must remember -- but we must also act now."   

 

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: April 21, 2017



Christian and Jewish Ministry Issues Call to Help Poverty-Stricken Survivors ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day