Baker & Daniels is the Indiana coordinating firm in the Bet Tzedek Holocaust Survivors Justice Network Indiana Project. Bet Tzedek is a legal service provider based out of Los Angeles, Calif., that has assisted Holocaust Survivors for decades with reparations applications and other basic legal needs, including housing, public benefits, advanced health care directives, in-home supportive services and more.
In 2007, the German government announced a program called the German Ghetto Work Payment Program that would make a one-time payment of €2,000 Euros (about $3,000 USD) to Holocaust Survivors who worked while living in German-controlled ghettos during World War II. It is estimated that 60,000 survivors may be eligible for this payment. A prior Ghetto Work payment program from Germany, known by its German initials ZRBG, had been a huge disappointment with more than 87 percent of applications denied. Half a decade later, with many thousands of survivors passed away and many more of advanced age, Bet Tzedek knew there was not a moment to spare and little room for error with the German Ghetto Work Payment Program.
Baker & Daniels lawyers and other legal professionals helped develop and coordinate different aspects of the program. They have worked with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which maintains a private registry of survivors, to develop a mailing to go out to all 226 Survivors residing in Indiana. In addition to the mailing, announcements were made at various temples, synagogues and congregations throughout Indiana during the 2008 September and October Jewish Holidays.
Baker & Daniels partnered with the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Federation of Great Indianapolis and Elder Source of Greater Indianapolis to develop the infrastructure for administering the program in Indiana. A community social worker with Elder Source conducts pre-screening telephone interviews for survivors who inquire about eligibility for the German Ghetto Work Payment Program. Referrals are coordinated between Elder Source and Baker & Daniels.
Almost 40 Baker & Daniels attorneys from Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend offices completed training to participate in the program. Teams of pro bono lawyers are matched with survivors who seek assistance with their reparations applications. Each survivor has two meetings with a pro bono attorney team — the first to collect initial information for the application and the second to complete the review and signing of the application. Additional pro bono legal assistance has been provided for survivors with reparations and benefit related questions.