The 'Jewish Schindler' Rescues Dozens of Yazidi and Assyrian Women

A businessman residing in Montreal, Canada, has successfully freed 128 young Yazidi and Assyrian Christian girls and women from sexual slavery by the group known as the 'Islamic State' (ISIS). Mr. Steve Maman, who has already been given the title 'Jewish Schindler' for his charitable work, has managed to raise between $200,000 and half a million dollars in just one weekend to facilitate the release of captives who have been enslaved by ISIS in northern Iraq over the past year. The funds raised are being used to pay ISIS forces who have taken Iraqi minority girls and women for sexual slavery. This Jewish businessman told the Toronto Star that as a result of his efforts, it is expected that ten more of these women and girls will be freed from ISIS captivity in the coming days. Steve Maman, 42, and a father of six, states that the 'Talmud' teaches us that 'whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of humanity'; this is the same famous teaching from the 'Talmud' that Liam Neeson quoted in 1993 when receiving an award for the film 'Schindler's List'. Last August, following ISIS's attack on the city of Sinjar ('Shingal'), as ISIS advanced in Mosul, Yazidi Kurds fled to the surrounding mountains, but ISIS brutally executed five thousand of them. The Yazidis were left in a dire situation without water and food for months, with hundreds dying in these conditions while waiting for help. Steve Maman said that seeing the scenes of these horrific atrocities in the media made him feel he had to take action. 'Canon Andrew White', who was recently the bishop of the largest church for Christians in Baghdad, facilitated Mr. Maman's connection with negotiators who could engage with ISIS. According to Bishop White, Mr. Maman has helped like a 'true brother' and was the first to practically assist Assyrian Christians and Yazidis. Bishop White has temporarily joined the Assyrians in Israel after fleeing Iraq and has been interviewed by the Toronto Star from there. Steve Maman, a descendant of Sephardic Jews (of Eastern descent), whose ancestors were also freed and exiled from their lands, states that the only difference between what is currently happening at the hands of ISIS and the Holocaust is that in the Holocaust, the bodies of victims were burned after they were killed, but here they are being burned alive to destroy them. Steve Maman, who is a wholesaler of crystals and classic cars, mobilized his business contacts and friends in the Jewish community to fund this project under the name 'Freeing Christian and Yazidi Children in Iraq'. Mr. Maman also utilized his business connections in Baghdad to reach those who could negotiate the release of these captive girls and drew on information from the United Nations and Iraqi officials. Last month, he opened a financial account named 'Support Me' with the hope of raising half a million dollars from philanthropists to free the captive girls, and due to the positive response from generous individuals, he now aims to increase the amount of collected donations to five million dollars. The money is transferred through intermediaries in direct contact with ISIS; these intermediaries take a portion of the money for themselves and give the rest to ISIS forces. According to Steve Maman, it takes only one thousand to three thousand dollars to save the life of a captive girl and free her from sexual slavery. It is reported that about 2,700 young Yazidi women and girls are still held by ISIS for sexual slavery, and Steve Maman says that even if we can free half of them, we will have accomplished something significant. Steve Maman's humanitarian efforts have earned him the title 'Schindler'. Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist who saved 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factories, thus rescuing them from being sent to the Nazi death camps in Europe. Steve Maman, born into a Moroccan Jewish family in Montreal, Canada, became interested in connecting with Iraq due to his business; he was an importer of classic cars. Jewish-born soldier in the ranks of the Kurdish Peshmerga. Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, announced this spring during a visit to Iraq that his government would provide $139 million in humanitarian aid while visiting Canadian soldiers who are present in northern Iraq to train the Kurdish Peshmerga. Ms. Gil Rosenberg, a 31-year-old Jewish woman from Vancouver, Canada, who also holds Israeli citizenship and has served a two-year military term in the Israeli army, recently fought alongside Kurdish Peshmerga men and women against ISIS fighters in Iraq for nine months. Gil Rosenberg states that what she witnessed was not just a classic war but a 'genocide' of the local people. She has shared her memories and images from her nine-month presence with the Kurdish Peshmerga in Canadian and Israeli media. Ms. Rosenberg told the Toronto Star that ISIS kidnaps women and children and enslaves them sexually, and the group's goal is to destroy a nation, and she could not remain indifferent and sit quietly. Gil says that strong teachings about the Holocaust guided her in joining the Peshmerga to fight against ISIS because when we say another Holocaust must not happen, this oath is not only for the preservation of Jews but also for other nations.