Holocaust survivors fear losing reparations over new facial recognition app

For these individuals, the task of downloading and using a smartphone app, managing a steady camera, and navigating technical instructions is daunting.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A controversial new requirement for Holocaust survivors to prove their existence using a facial recognition app has sparked frustration and anger among some Holocaust survivors

The move, announced by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), mandates that approximately 70,000 survivors globally must annually verify their identity via the “Paneem” app starting in 2025.

The measure was enacted to comply with demands from the German government.

As of 2024, the German government has paid approximately $90 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from Nazi persecution through negotiations from the Claims Conference.

In 2024, the Claims Conference distributed approximately $535 million in direct compensation to over 115,000 survivors in 84 countries and allocated approximately $888 million in grants to over 300 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors, such as home care, food, and medicine.

However, advocates for survivors living in Israel criticized the app as an unnecessary technological and bureaucratic burden on elderly individuals.

“This requirement is a significant obstacle for survivors, especially those without family support. Given their advanced age and health conditions, we should be making their lives easier, not more difficult,” said Orly Sivan, CEO of the Tel Aviv-based Aviv Association for Holocaust Survivors.

“As an organization that is well aware of the difficulties and bureaucratic barriers that Holocaust survivors face in exercising their rights, we are very concerned about the implications of the new requirement that does not take into account the situation and cognitive and digital abilities of Holocaust survivors in Israel,” she added.

A spokesperson for the Claims Conference told TPS-IL that the Paneem app is “successfully operating” in most countries where survivors now live. She added that after three weeks, more than half of the Holocaust survivors living in Israel successfully registered.

“This achievement was made possible thanks to the various support channels operated by the Claims Conference in collaboration with organizations supporting the Holocaust survivor population in Israel,” the spokesperson said.

“We are aware of the challenges related to this new system for survivors in Israel and are working closely with organizations, authorities, and government ministries to provide the most comprehensive assistance to Holocaust survivors. The Claims Conference is committed to ensuring that all Holocaust survivors receive their full entitlements and will not stand down until every survivor in Israel is registered,” she added.

The average age of Holocaust survivors in Israel is 87, with many living alone and grappling with health limitations.

“Considering their advanced age, their health condition, and the challenges that come with this age, the expectation is that it is precisely in these years that the bodies that pay compensation to Holocaust survivors will find ways to make things easier for Holocaust survivors and reduce the bureaucracy required to exercise their rights,” Sivan said.

For these individuals, the task of downloading and using a smartphone app, managing a steady camera, and navigating technical instructions is daunting, if not insurmountable.

The association said it has been inundated with complaints from survivors unable to download the app or understand how to use it.

On Monday, the world commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland by Soviet soldiers in 1945.