A 95-year-old holocaust survivor who was able to escape from the ravages of WWII due to the help of others, is now paying it forward by helping 2,000 Middle Eastern refugees escape the violence of ISIS.
George Weidenfeld was able to escape to Great Britain in 1938 on the Kindertransport, which was an organized transport of Jewish children to safe countries in order to escape from the Holocaust. He received aid from the the Christian organization Plymouth Brethren, while securing clothes and food from Quakers. Many of the children on the Kindertransport were often transported at the behest of their parents with help from secular and religious non-Jewish organizations and individuals.
Today, Weidenfeld is a member of Britain’s House of Lords and he spearheads the Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund which paid for the escape of 150 Syrian refugees to Poland earlier in the month.
He is also a philanthropist who understands what it’s like to have to start over. A decade after fleeing to England before the outbreak of WWII, Weidenfeld established his own business, Weidenfeld and Nicholson Publishing, and was made a life peer in Britain’s upper house in 1976.
Weidenfeld has never forgotten the life-saving help he received when he was young. He hopes to help 2,000 refugees through his Safe Havens Fund and will offer each of them 12-18 months of paid support after their rescue.
[Ewao.com] Featured image via screen grab
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