In March 2008, the Pro Bono Wire reported on The German Ghetto Work Payment Pro Bono Clinic Project created by Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles-based legal services organization, founded in 1974. Bet Tzedek is well-known as one of a handful of agencies in the world to offer free legal help to Holocaust survivors who are applying for reparations, pensions, and benefits offered by Germany and other European countries. In 2007, when the German government created a new reparations program aimed at compensating Holocaust survivors who worked in German-controlled ghettos, Bet Tzedek responded. The project has recently been described as “the largest coordinated pro bono effort in United States history,” with nearly 100 law firms and corporate legal departments participating. The project, co-created by Bet Tzedek and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides services and resources to elderly Holocaust survivors, many of whom are living in extreme poverty.

In the past year, the Bet Tzedek Holocaust Survivors Justice Network has launched one of its most ambitious programs. Beginning in November 2007, Bet Tzedek and its law firm partners – Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^® Signatories Manatt, Latham & Watkins LLP, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP – created free legal clinics in Los Angeles staffed by pro bono attorneys who aid Holocaust survivors in applying for reparations. In June 2008, the Holocaust Survivors Justice Network successfully launched clinics in cities outside Los Angeles. The clinics are being held in 29 cities in the United States and in Toronto.

The clinics are designed to aid survivors with completion of the forms required to apply for reparations. While efforts launched in 2002 to aid survivors with applications for reparations had uneven results, with a high rate (85% – 90%) of applications being denied, the clinics’ use of volunteers and intensive training model has resulted in a high application approval rate. This intensive training has included a DVD, video training sessions, and weekly conference calls to resolve issues. Due to the high success rate, Bet Tzedek is considering taking the model to scale to meet other “forms-based” legal needs.

The reparations clinics have garnered their share of media attention. In June 2008, Texas Lawyer published a piece describing the launch and initial success of the program. The article also discussed the deft touch that can be required for this meaningful work. Retired Houston businessman Larry Steinfeld – who interviewed survivors for the Houston Holocaust Museum and who will be training pro bono clinic attorneys – described the experience. He noted that survivors, asked about their experiences, will elide details – “I was born in 1930 in Germany, and then I walked out of Auschwitz in 1945.” An essential part of this pro bono work can be the careful and often painful questioning needed to draw out the required details concerning that 15-year lapse. “What were you doing on Kristallnacht? What was life like before the war? Did you experience anti-Semitism?”

The needs addressed by the program are urgent. First, the survivors’ age – many clients are in their eighties or nineties – means that the applications, which must be filed while the survivor is still alive, should be completed as soon as possible. Second, the financial need of some of the survivors means that the $3,000 reparations payment can make a substantial difference. As the Los Angeles Daily Journal noted, 25 percent of the survivors in the United States are living below the poverty line.

Despite the difficulties of the program, Bet Tzedek has seen great successes. The first 146 applications that were processed by Germany were all approved, resulting in almost $450,000 in reparations.  It has been projected that almost $2.5 million in reparations will go to more than 800 survivors in the Los Angeles area by the end of the year. Bet Tzedek is also developing plans to provide international clinics to survivors in communities beyond the United States.

For additional information about this meaningful, engaging, and worthwhile pro bono opportunity, please visit http://www.holocaustsurvivorsprobono.org.

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