Germany
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Over 90 percent of Jewish pensioners live below the poverty line, according to the Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany.

While one in five German pensioners lives below the poverty line, that number increases to 9 out of 10 when examining the country’s Jewish community, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

The Central Welfare Board looked at poverty rates among the 70,000 Jews in Germany who are over the age of 67 out of a Jewish community of 90,000, including many Holocaust survivors. According to the organization, 9 out of 10 live on less than 1,135 euros per month ($1,202 USD).

In order to help the elderly Jews out of poverty, the Central Welfare Board urged the German government to offer a one-time tax free five-figure payment.

“They need sufficient funds to get by in old age without relying on basic security benefits,” the organization said.

They are also urging the government to provide Jewish pensioners with stipends to deal with rising costs of living, and to guarantee that their electricity won’t be cut off if they cannot afford to pay their energy bills.

It added that one of the biggest challenges for its aging Jewish population is that many of them immigrated to Germany from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other Eastern European countries where pensions are not fully transferable to Germany.

The Central Welfare Board called for a monetary sum that “reflects the historical responsibility for the restoration of Jewish life in Germany.”

“Too often Jews have suffered a significant deterioration in their social situation,” they said. “The hardship they’ve suffered must be recognized.”