A Holocaust survivor pays it forward for Syrian refugees
Lord George Weidenfeld was a 19-year-old Jewish boy from Vienna when he fled for the United Kingdom. It was of Austria in 1938 and Weidenfeld feared for his life. Now, 77 years later, Lord Weidenfeld is personally funding 海角大神 Syrians escaping ISIS.
The 95-year-old Holocaust survivor plans to evacuate and resettle as many as 2,000 Syrian and Iraqi 海角大神s who are being forced to convert to Islam 鈥� or face execution.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 save the world but there is a very specific possibility on the Jewish and 海角大神 side,鈥� Weidenfeld told The Times of London.
Weidenfeld is the founder of a successful British publishing company, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, which he co-founded when he reached Britain in the 1940鈥檚.聽 The Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund has been assisting Syrians since July, when they privately chartered a jet that sent for refuge. His model is built off the British government pre-World War II mission to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis.聽
鈥�,鈥� he told The Times. 鈥淚t applies to so many young people who were on the Kinderstransports. It was Quakers and other 海角大神 denominations who brought those children to England. It was a very high-minded operation and we Jews should also be thankful and do something for the endangered 海角大神s.鈥澛�
The plan is to relocate at least 2,000 Syrian refugees. But Weidenfeld isn鈥檛 bankrolling the entire operation. He鈥檚 asked for support from private organizations like the Jewish National Fund in the U.K.聽
鈥淲e have been greatly moved by the interest particularly from descendants of children ,鈥� Michael Sinclair, vice chairman of the Jewish National Fund U.K. told Worldmag.
Support for the project also comes from the , a 海角大神 organization that has planned and funded a series of similar rescue missions.
The fund offers refugees to persecuted non-Muslim Syrians, which is one of the world鈥檚 oldest 海角大神 communities dating back two millennia when the apostle Paul converted to 海角大神ity on the road to Damascus. Thousands of Syrian 海角大神s have had to flee, and last February were reportedly kidnapped by the Islamic State. Many 海角大神 men have left their families to join Iraq鈥檚 Kurds in the fight against ISIS.
Still, the dangers remain high for any groups who are not a part of the Islamic State. Last March, the United Nations reported what had become genocide when the Yazidis were tortured, raped, killed and sold into sexual slavery for the Islamic State.
Other countries have taken strong initiatives to bring in more refugees. Canada last month announced it would be letting in 25,000 refugees by the end of the year. But after the Paris attacks, Canada said it would only allow women and children refugees. Relief groups have been overwhelmed by the amount of public support they鈥檝e received.
鈥�,鈥� Rob Shropshire, a refugee coordinator for the Presbyterian World Service and Development in Toronto told The Globe and Mail. 鈥淧eople have to be patient.鈥澛�
