Holocaust survivor in care home ‘wants to move to Israel’

A Holocaust survivor who says she wants to leave a care home in England and move to Israel is at the centre of historic litigation in a specialist court set up to deal with issues relating to sick and vulnerable people.

The woman, who is in her nineties and has dementia, is featuring in the first Court of Protection case to be staged in public following the launch of an open-justice pilot scheme.

Council social services staff have asked a judge to make decisions about what is in the best interests of the woman – who was held in a German concentration camp during the Second World War.

One issue being considered relates to the woman’s human right to liberty.

District Judge Anselm Eldergill heard submissions from the woman’s daughter and from lawyers representing social services staff at a preliminary Court of Protection hearing in London on Tuesday.

The judge, who ruled that none of the people involved in the case could be identified, adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed.