| Moshe Hans Jahoda (M.P.A.), Associate Executive Vice President Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria, born in Vienna, Austria in 1926. In 1938, a school boy at this time, he witnessed the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, the enthusiastic reception of Hitler in Vienna, and the pogroms at the so called 'Crystal Night' in November that year. Five months before the outbreak of World War II he arrived in Palestine with a childrenís transport. He grew up in the framework of ìChildrenís Aliyaî in Jerusalem and later on with ìYouth Aliyaî in Kibbutz Ein Gev. His parents and sister were deported from Vienna to Theresienstadt. From this concentration camp they were sent on a death train to Auschwitz. Until 1948, Mr. Jahoda was a member of Kibbutz Maagan Michael. Since 1946 (before Israelís Independence Declaration) he served as an officer in the ìHaganaî - the defense underground movement - and in 1948 he participated in the first officersí course of the Israeli Army. He was injured in the Independence war. In the course of his army service he attained the rank of a major, and participated in further wars as a reserve officer. In a long civil career that started in 1953, Mr. Jahoda served as Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture; Economic Counselor in the Israeli Embassies in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay; Deputy Director of the Israeli ìKupat Cholimî, the General Unionís Health Services, Director of the ìMishanî (the largest social network in Israel, including seven old-age homes, five youth villages and sixty five pensioner clubs). In 1990, he became the first residential director of the American Joint in an ex-communist country, Hungary. During four and a half years of work in Hungary he brought into existence welfare programs for the elderly, youth education and Jewish revival projects. Mr. Jahoda was honored by the Hungarian Government with their highest award for humanitarian services to that nation (Pro-Caritas). One year later, in addition to his assignment in Hungary, he took over the position of the country director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (A.J.D.C.) office in Bulgaria. He assisted in building a new Jewish communal life and extended technical assistance programs to the Bulgarian nation. In 1995, he became also the A.J.D.C.ís representative to Slovakia. In addition he served as a consultant on health and social projects for Holocaust Survivors in Europe for the Claims Conference and the American Joint. In Autumn 1997, Mr. Jahoda was appointed Associate Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference in New York. From February 1999, Mr. Jahoda will be heading a representative office in Vienna, that intends to work closely with the Federation of Jewish Communities and with an International Steering Committee composed of five Jewish Organizations. Another aim is to ensure smooth cooperation and coordination with the Austrian Government and Parliament and the recently-established research committee of historians on restitution issues. In addition the office will be responsible for monitoring and overseeing Claims Conferenceís extensive social welfare projects for Nazi victims in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union. Mr. Jahoda is an alumnus of the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands, where he graduated "cum laude", and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He is married, father of three children and grandfather of seven. |
