I thought this was an interesting research piece, from Towerwatcher: Holocaust Survivors Ripped-Off by Watchtower Governing Body! So, whatever happened to all of that Swiss government allocated money for the Jehovah's Witness Holocaust Survivor Fund anyway? While some good may have come from the provisions of the Watchtower Society's Holocaust Survivor Fund, one must also question as to why other organizations would be assisting Jehovah's Witness survivors, when that responsibility rests on the shoulders of the "faithful slave!" News from the "Forward Staff" state, quote: "For the past four years, the International Organization for Migration has spent $32 million providing emergency assistance to destitute Romani survivors of the Holocaust — or the Porajjmos, as the Nazi reign of terror is known in Romani. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1.5 million Romani were murdered during the Nazi era." (See news article paragraph 2). The recent funds for Romani survivors came from the legal settlements with the Swiss banks and German industries in the late 1990s, which together opened up $6.25 billion for Holocaust survivors. While these settlements continue to fund social service programs for Jewish survivors, the small amount set aside for Romani survivors is now gone — a turn of events that could have dire consequences for the 70,000 Romani survivors in Eastern Europe previously served by the organization." (See news article paragraph 3). I recall that in the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses at 1 Corinthians 16:14 the scriptures remind us, quote, "Let all your affairs take place with love." I was quite shocked to see that the Romani Jehovah's Witnesses were also on the list for dried-up survivor fund benefits. I would not think that leaving your brother out in the cold to freeze to death or starve is exactly what the scriptures indicate as an example of "love." The "Forward Staff" also include the following: "The recent program for survivors functioned in 17 countries and spent most of the funds on emergency food packs and heating assistance for survivors living on less than $4 a day. The program was also designated to serve homosexual, disabled and Jehovah's Witness survivors — but 95% of the clients ended up being Romani." So why would Romani Jehovah's Witness members need to be given aid from other government sources, if the Watchtower made its own Swiss settlement for the very purpose of taking care of its Holocaust survivors? Do you remember this letter? (pdf file may take a minute or so to download). http://www.swissbankclaims.com/pdfs_eng/JehovahsWitnessHolocaustEraENG_0076_056.PDF Page 2 of the same pdf file gives us an overview of the areas, that were suppose to be receiving benefits from the Jehovah's Witness Holocaust Survivor Fund. Romania is listed in the "Victim and Target Group" as a beneficiary for this aid as observed below.
Jehovah's Witness members and other caring folks have also given of their financial resources and donations to the Watchtower Society's Holocaust Survivors Fund. So, a logical as well as a reasonable question any concerned person would ask is, where did all of the money go that was allocated to the Watchtower for these starving holocaust survivors? Why were Romani Jehovah's Witnesses left out in the cold and being given provisions by other organizations, when the Watchtower Society was given a Swiss Settlement to provide for them?
Well, there were a lot of natural disasters during the years of 2003 through 2005! Tidal waves, hurricanes, earthquakes, and so forth, that can really consume an organizations humanitarian relief funds. However, when we look at the financial statements of just one of the branch offices of the Watchtower Society in Australia, we find that out of all the millions of dollars that were reported by this organization, there were only $1,391 dollars distributed for disaster relief or humanitarian efforts. Here is a copy of that financial report.
(See page 9 inside the pdf file here)http://www.reexamine.info/docs/2005_financial_statements_and_reports_for_watchtower_of_australia.pdf
The "Forward Staff" went on to mention: "The plight of Romani survivors has received much less attention than that of Jewish Holocaust survivors, in part because of the lack of organization among disparate Romani communities. One clear indication of the lack of coordination is that before the IOM program began in 2001, there was no reliable estimate as to how many Romani survivors were alive. An IOM census at the time estimated that there were 45,000 survivors. After four years in the field, the group now estimates that there are 144,000 needy Romani survivors, of which 70,000 were served through the recent program. There are an estimated 125,000 Jewish survivors being helped by similar reparation programs in the former Soviet Union.
The $34 million that went to the Romani survivors is a tiny fraction of more than $60 billion that European governments and business have designated for Holocaust restitution and reparations since World War II. The largest chunk of the money — some $17 billion — was given by Germany to the Israeli government. No parallel payment was made to the Romani, largely because they remained a stateless people after the war.
Romani survivors have been eligible to apply for certain restitution programs, like slave and forced labor funds. But the Romani have had no steady advocates or guides similar to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which advertises and processes most Holocaust-era programs for Jewish survivors.
Stuart Eizenstat, who led the negotiations to win Holocaust restitution and reparations on behalf of the Clinton administration, said that his team did not initially include the Romani in the agreements because the negotiators were not approached by Romani advocates. As the negotiations went on, Eizenstat says the negotiators tried to be more inclusive, but did not have a great deal of success.
"It's a tragedy that they were not included to begin with," Eizenstat told the Forward. "They were voiceless and defenseless; they didn't have the organizational capacity that the Jewish community had. It ended up compounding a tragedy for a people who have known a great deal of tragedy."
The Swiss bank agreement contributed $20 million to the IOM, while the German foundation provided $12.5 million. When it appeared, last year, that more money from the Swiss settlement could become available for humanitarian funds, the IOM requested at least $60 million to continue the program, but Field has little hope that it will come through.
Romani advocates have often complained that their experience during the war has been ignored by historians and by Holocaust activists. One bone of contention has been the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which does not have a Romani representative.
"We're not taken seriously enough," said Ian Hancock, who was the lone Romani representative on the council during the Clinton administration. "There's still the stigma of the Gypsies. We're regarded more as a type of behavior than [as] an ethnic population."
Field said that the Romani survivors he visited still had memories of the German invasion, and of the killings that followed. One woman in Ukraine lived with her window shutters nailed closed so that the Germans could not find her.
But Field said he saw little disappointment regarding the lack of further restitution and reparation payments — there was too little education and too much persecution for that.
"These people aren't living with a particular rage or disappointment, because they've come to expect nothing," Field said.
(Full "Forward Staff" article can be found here http://www.forward.com/articles/7678 )
I believe an article by Randall Watters best shows the hypocrisy and greed the Governing Body of the Watchtower Society displays. When Romani Jehovah's Witnesses are starving, or freezing to death depending upon other organizations for financial aid and benefits, the Watchtower decides to build luxury apartments! I think that Randall Watters described the Watchtower's materialistic practices best when he wrote the following:
"Not content with owning large blocks of properties and a 30-story residential building in Brooklyn, the Watchtower Society is planning to build a large 20+ story complex in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), a trendy neighborhood that is not happy with their plans.
Curbed.com states in their Dec. 6, 2004 article, "Jehovah's Witnesses On Track to Colonize Dumbo":
"Despite the vigorous protestations of the Dumbo Neighborhood Association, plans for a massive Jehovah's Witnesses HQ at the three-acre plot at 85 Jay Street in Dumbo/Vinegar Hill have been approved by the City Council's zoning subcommittee. Reports the Post, the 20-story building 'will house about 1,600 of the religion's faithful working at the Witnesses' Brooklyn Heights headquarters. There are currently about 3,500 people living in DUMBO.' " (DUMBO)
A watchdog organization called 85 Jay Street.org was formed to oppose this major influx of non-taxpaying residents, who want the project scaled down and altered to at least reflect part of the local community instead of having another huge religious dormitory like the large factory and residential buildings already dominating Brooklyn Heights.
Why So Much Construction When the End is Near?
The Watchtower Society is building all of their new properties to be easily converted into luxury apartments should the need arise. They already have several large properties up for sale in this multimillion dollar neighborhood. Buy low and sell high! But if the end is near, Why? http://editorials.arrivenet.com/religion/article.php/4928.html
So, instead of the Watchtower putting all of those millions of dollars where they are needed the most, Romani Jehovah's Witnesses must depend on other organizations who care about their lives. While luxury apartments are being built in one part of the world for a showy display, good hearted Jehovah's Witnesses in another part of the world are homeless, cold, and hungry. What do you think God would think of such gross fraud not only of a Swiss Settlement Fund, but for the unloving and shameful turning a blind eye to those who are truly in need?