Elderly immigrants in New York help pay medical bills: what programs are available

Savely Kaplinsky has an annual tradition. For 15 years, almost every spring, he returned to Minsk, where he survived the Holocaust, and then worked to rebuild his community. During his visits, he paid tribute to the memory of those killed, including his parents, and visited the Yama memorial, reports The New York Times.

"Annually Minsk Jews gather in the Yama to honor the memory, - said 92-year-old Kaplinsky through an interpreter. - I'm flying to Minskto participate in sad events. "

His memories of the Holocaust are indelible. But because of his age, Kaplinsky stopped his pilgrimage to Belarus in 2013.

“I personally came to take part in these events and talk about what we, Jews in America, are doing to preserve the memory of the victims. Holocaust", - he said.

Kaplinsky is now working in his Brooklyn community to commemorate the victims.

“So many years have passed,” said Kaplinsky, “I cannot forget this horror.”

History of Kaplinsky

Kaplinsky was born in Minsk in 1929. After the Nazi invasion, he and his family were forced to live in the Jewish ghetto. As a result of the massacres there in 1941, his father died. The following year, his mother, grandfather and sister were killed.

According to Kaplinsky, after the death of his mother, he began to do everything possible to fight the Nazis. According to him, when he was brought to work in a German barrack, he began to steal ammunition and grenades. He used to transport ammunition in food containers to other residents of the ghetto. Then they sent them to the agents of the resistance.

“I did it all the time,” Kaplinsky said.

Kaplinsky knew that if he was caught, his life and the lives of others, even those who were not involved in it, would be in danger.

“Despite everything, I did it,” he said.

In 1943, Kaplinsky and a group of others cut the ghetto network and fled. They joined a resistance detachment that crashed in the surrounding forest, where Kaplinsky was often assigned to keep watch.

After the war, Kaplinsky returned to Minsk. When he returned, he learned that his two older brothers were the only members of his family who survived the Holocaust.

Life after escape

"Where to go? Who is waiting for you? " - Kaplinsky recalls asking himself when he returned.

“Those were the hardest days, hours of my life,” he says.

Over the next 50 years, Kaplinsky worked to rebuild Minsk. In the evenings he went to school, studied engineering. As a result, he became a chief engineer at a construction firm.

Kaplinsky moved to New York with his wife in 1993 to be closer to his son and granddaughters. Here he became a member of the Association of Holocaust Survivors from the Former Soviet Union. And in 1995 he was elected its president. During this time, he also became a member of the Edith and Karl Marx Jewish Community House in Bensonhurst.

Neediest Case Fund

Kaplinsky lives with his wife in subsidized housing. He relies on supplemental social income and a food discount program. He received help through the group when he needed to have four dental crowns inserted last fall. JCH is the beneficiary agency of the UJA-Federation of New York, one of nine organizations supported by The New York Times, Neediest Cases Fund. The agency provided $ 550 from the Fund for the procedure. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, an organization that helps Holocaust survivors, donated the remaining $ 1450.

Kaplinsky said that after nearly three decades of working with the EKN, he is grateful for the help.

“I'm very glad I came,” he said. "The Russian department of this Jewish home is very, very helpful."

Now that his dental procedure is complete, Kaplinsky is glad that he can devote his energies to organizing a spring memorial service in honor of Jews killed in the Minsk ghetto. Perhaps he will do it virtually and tell his story.

“Every year after moving to America, I went to Minsk and always took part in events on the Yama. I talked about what we are doing here, in America far from them, how we preserve the memory of the Holocaust, ”he said.

Help with medical expenses

Bethen Trexel began volunteering for the Public Works Society's advocacy, counseling and social services program. The band is also supported by The Neediest Cases Foundation. Trexel is aware that older people may face financial barriers to health care.

For fixed income retirees, health care costs can be a significant problem. Trexel, 74, is a retired volunteer and previously worked for a non-profit organization. She helps people navigate the system of government benefits. Trexel has gained experience in helping older people enroll in Medicare.

“I think everyone deserves good help,” Trexel said.

Over the years of volunteer work, one of her greatest achievements was the creation of a detailed table in 2005. Her work helps clients navigate Medicare Part D, which went into effect in 2006 and covers prescription drugs. The table proved to be very useful for Trexel and her fellow volunteers. Therefore, she began to update it several times a year.

Current versions are available on the Internet as a resource pack compiled by the City's Department of Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Programs for everyone to access.

By advising her clients, Trexel says she can often save them hundreds of dollars a year. This is a real boon for people with fixed income.

“It can change people's lives. They will have enough money to pay their rent and something to eat, ”she said. "It can make a huge difference in someone's life."