Jewish peer funds rescue of thousands of Christians threatened by ISIS: Lord Weidenfeld, 95, says project in Syria and Iraq is a way of repaying his 'debt' to British Quakers who helped him flee the Nazis
- Lord Weidenfeld was a penniless five-year-old when British Quakers and other Christians fed and clothed him, and helped him reach the UK in 1938
- 95-year-old has long felt the urge to repay Christians world for saving him
- He has now launched a fund to rescue 2,000 Christians from ISIS militants
- Terror group persecutes Christians - raping and massacring worshippers
A Jewish peer who escaped Nazi-occupied Austria with the help of British Christians is funding the rescue of 2,000 Christians from ISIS-held areas in Syria and Iraq as a way of 'repaying his debts'.
Lord Weidenfeld was a penniless five-year-old when British Quakers and other Christians fed and clothed him, and helped him reach the UK in 1938 - just one year before the Second World War.
Following a hugely successful career in publishing, 95-year-old Lord Weidenfeld remains incredibly grateful for the risks taken by those who helped him, and has decided to plough money into a fund to rescue up to 2,000 persecuted Christians living under the rule of ISIS in the Middle East.
Scores of Christians have already been brutally murdered by the terror group and thousands forced to leave ancient Christian communities in north eastern Syria and western Iraq as the Islamic extremists demand they either convert to Islam, pay an extortionate rate of tax or face execution.
Honour: Lord Weidenfeld was a penniless five-year-old when British Quakers and other Christians fed and clothed him, and helped him reach the UK in 1938 - just one year before the Second World War
Killers: Scores of Christians have already been brutally murdered by the terror group (pictured) and thousands forced to leave ancient Christian communities in north eastern Syria and western Iraq
As part of his plan to 'repay' his debts to Christians, Lord Weidenfeld launched the Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund - a project which last week paid for 150 Syrian Christians to be flown to Poland.
While Lord Weidenfeld - who established the hugely successful Weidenfeld and Nicolson publishing business in 1948 - provides the bulk of the funding for the the scheme, several other Jewish philanthropists have donated money to rescue to Christians.
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'I had a debt to repay, the peer told The Times.
'It applies to so many of the young people who were on the It was Quakers and other Christian denominations who brought those children to England. It was a very high-minded operation and we Jews should also be thankful and do something for the endangered Christians,' he added.
'ISIS is unprecedented in its primitive savagery compared with the more sophisticated Nazis... When it comes to pure lust for horror and sadism, they are unprecedented. There never was such scum as these people,' Lord Weidenfeld went on to tell the newspaper.
But while many are celebrating Lord Weidenfeld's generosity, Islamic group have criticised the Safe Havens Fund because of its commitment to the rescue of Christians, rather than Muslims.
Sickening: In February, ISIS released a video showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on a Libyan beach
Defending his decision to focus on the persecuted Christian community, the peer said: 'I can't save the world, but there is a very specific possibility on the Christian side. Let others do what they like for the Muslims.'
Up to 700,000 of Syria's population of 1.1 millions Christians have already been forced to leave ancient towns and villages as Islamic State militants expanded into the north west of the country.
Those that are captured by the jihadis are subjected the brutal persecution, ranging from extortionate taxation and restrictions of religious worship, to rape, murder and enslavement.
Other groups that have faced the horrors of the Sunni Muslim extremists include members of the Druze and Yazidi minorities, as well as Alawite and Shia Muslims.
Lord Weidenfeld said his project would last for between 12 and 18 months, during which time he hopes to rescue the entire oppressed Christian population from Syria and Iraq.
Pure evil: Describing ISIS Lord Weidenfeld said: 'When it comes to pure lust for horror and sadism, they are unprecedented. There never was such scum as these people'
The peer said he hopes his project could replicate the work of Sir Nicholas Winton, who died earlier this month aged 106.
Sir Nicholas was a British former stockbroker who helped organise the Kindertransport programme that saved more than 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi persecution from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
During the interview, Lord Weidenfeld praised the actions of the 'brave Kurds' who have managed to force ISIS jihadis out of the city of Kobane, saying they proved the terror group could be defeated.
He criticised the West for its timid military response to the rise of ISIS, however, saying: 'I am appalled by the lack of action... The lack of desire to fight the enemy, to slay the dragon in his lair.'
ISIS CHILD EXECUTIONER IGNORES PRISONERS' PLEAS TO SPARE THEM... AND SHOOTS THEM IN THE HEAD WITHOUT HESITATING
Harrowing new footage has emerged of a young boy executing prisoners on the banks of the Tigris River, amid one of the biggest massacres ever committed by Islamic State fanatics.
Filmed during the ISIS killing spree in Tikrit last year, the young boy is seen shooting at least two men in the head after adults have dragged the prisoners before him.
Ignoring prisoners' pleas for mercy, the child grasps a pistol with both hands as he pulls the trigger. The men's limp bodies are then cast into the water, which soon flows red with blood.
The child executioner, who appears to be no older than 12, prepares to shoot the bent over prisoner
Images of the child executioner are just a small part of a graphic 22minute-long video released by the jihadis at the weekend.
It was recorded during the Speicher massacre last year - an atrocity which left an estimated 1,700 dead and ranks among the worst to have occurred in Iraq over the past decade.
Young men are seen falling from trucks and pleading for their lives before being lay down in shallow graves and sprayed with bullets.
Others are executed individually as the killings continue into the night and an excavator is required to shift piles of bodies.
In fact, the wholesale slaughter was so vast the graves used to bury the victims could be seen from space.
A group of Iraqi military cadets beg for their lives moments before being killed and thrown into the river
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3163561/Jewish-peer-funds-rescue-thousands-Christians-threatened-ISIS-Lord-Weidenfeld-95-says-project-Syria-Iraq-way-repaying-debt-British-Quakers-helped-flee-Nazis.html#ixzz3pJL3DEx8
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