Holocaust Survivor Saved by Christians Returns the Favor
Thursday, July 16, 2015 | Israel Today Staff
At the age of 19, Arthur George Weidenfeld was among the many Jews whom British Christians successfully rescued from Nazi-controlled Austria just as Adolf Hitler and his cohorts were putting the “Final Solution” into action.
Seventy-seven years later, now a British lord, Weidenfeld is looking to return the favor by rescuing Syrian and Iraqi Christians under mortal threat from the advancing Islamist horde known as ISIS.
Weidenfeld was brought to England in 1938 by the Quakers and the Plymouth Brethren. Not long after, he started the publishing business of Weidenfeld and Nicolson. In 1976, his overwhelming success and unrestrained philanthropy landed Weidenfeld the title of Lord, Baron Weidenfeld, to be exact.
This week, Weidenfeld told London’s The Times that he “has a debt to repay,” and has established the Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund to transport and financially support Middle East Christians facing forced conversion and death.
According to reports, the Fund has already flown 150 Syrian Christians to Poland, where it will support them financially for the next 12–18 months while they get on their feet and integrate with their new country.
The initial goal is to get as many as 2,000 Christians out of Syria in the coming months.
Much like with the Nazi Holocaust, the nations of the world are doing very little to assist and save the beleaguered Christians of the Middle East, leaving individuals and smaller organizations to tackle this impossible task.
Weidenfeld acknowledged that he can’t save everyone, but feels there is significance in a Jewish Holocaust survivor reaching out a helping hand to Christians in the greatest of need.
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