Life as we know it today is a far cry from the values and morals of yesteryear. There are, however, some things that are beyond the tolerance of even the most hardened and jaded minds: The exploitation of the most vulnerable of all – the victims of the Holocaust.

One thing that comes to mind is the outrageous behavior and diversity of some people entrusted with the distribution of Holocaust reparation funds.

Most survivors of the Holocaust are now in their 70s and 80s. Those who found haven in the U.S. had the opportunity to build new lives out of the shattered and broken fragments the Holocaust left behind. Some have been fortunate enough to be able to live out their lives in comfort, but others were not as lucky. Reparations agreed to by Germany and Switzerland, however, could and would make the lives of all somewhat easier and secure.

There are those responsible and understanding legislators, such as New York Gov. George Pataki, former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (NY), and former California state treasurer Matt Fong (interestingly, none of them Jewish and all of them Republicans), who made sure that the reparations imposed on Germany and Switzerland to be paid to the survivors for numerous crimes – murder, extortion, theft, etc. – came through. Such statesmen also put pressure on reluctant insurance companies and other government entities to pay their long overdue debts directly to their aging victims. Tragically only a fraction of all reparations have reached the survivors; it breaks down to an unbelievably revolting fraction. The victims of the Holocaust have become victims once more.

How did this happen? We can blame it on greed. First there were attorneys who demanded their 40% off the top! They made applications and worked hard on their exploitation, and in some cases succeeded. Next came the “committees.” They of course “donated” their “valuable” time out of the goodness of their hearts. They would collect the money for the survivors and put it in a special bank account. (I ask, “Under whose name?”) There it would draw interest -- for whom? Who were these committees? They were made up of the VIPs of Jewish federations, Holocaust centers, fraternal organizations and the daddy of them all, the “Claims Conference.” These committees decide whether or not we Holocaust victims are eligible to receive the funds. They are judge, jury and executioner. No one I know has any idea who gave them that right.

A person on one of those committees informed me that I was not eligible for moneys from the Dutch Insurance Company because I did not spend the war years in a major camp. In the meantime he is transporting Soviet Jews to this country (when rightfully they all should be going to Israel). Sadly the majority of these new immigrants to America will never carry their own weight -- unlike the survivors of the Holocaust who patiently waited for their turns and sponsorship to come to America. (Because the British wanted to keep Jews out of Israel after World War II, emigrating to the Jewish homeland was not an option for many.) A few years ago, at a reparations meeting, I overheard this man asking a “Claims Conference” representative to set aside Holocaust reparations for former Soviet Jews. This is chutzpah.

Very few survivors have received anything so far, and among those who have, only a very small amount of what is due to them. The amount from the Swiss banks was $1.25 billion and $4.25 million from the Dutch insurance companies. So what happened to the bulk of all that money? It is time for a public audit of those committees handling Holocaust reparations. It is an embarrassing and painful fact that two rabbis from New York recently were each sentenced to 33 months in prison for pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for Holocaust survivors.

When I phoned one of those committees last year to inquire about my claim, I was told point-blank, “We are waiting for all of you to die!” – to which I informed him in no uncertain terms that I had no intention to oblige! I pray that no one else will either.

Longtime JDL member Diane Jacobs, born and reared in Germany, lost her entire family during the Holocaust. According to the Swiss Red Cross searching service, her mother and younger sister died at the Trawniki concentration camp, her father at Riga, and her maternal grandmother at Terezenstadt. As a teenager, Mrs. Jacobs joined the partisans and was able to escape to England. She subsequently emigrated to America, where she married and became a successful businesswoman and Republican Party activist, among other achievements.