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Just 123,715 Survivors Remain in Israel This International Holocaust Day

“The number of survivors is dwindling, and this places a double responsibility on us—to ensure their well-being and quality of life, and also to document and preserve their stories for future generations”

ניצולי שואה במצעד בתל אביב לשיפור תנאי חייהם בישראל (צילום ארכיון: Tomer Neuberg/FLASh90)
Holocaust survivors and their families at a march in Tel Aviv calling for improved conditions for survivors in Israel. (Photo: Tomer Neurberg/Flash90)
By Hadas Yom Tov

Eighty years since the liberation of Auschwitz, 123,715 Holocaust survivors are living in Israel. That’s according to data published today in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The number of Holocaust survivors in Israel decreased by about 10% over the past year, with over 13,000 survivors passing away. The average age of Holocaust survivors in the Welfare Ministry database is 88, and there are 257 survivors in the database over the age of 100.

Decades after living through the traumas of the Holocaust, survivors in Israel have faced the ongoing trauma of the October 7, 2023, attacks and their ramifications. Hundreds of Holocaust survivors were evacuated from communities in the south and north during the war. In the past year, 282 survivors returned to the homes they had left.

Although Holocaust survivors and other elderly Israelis were hit hard by the war, survivors have also been centrally involved in volunteering efforts and efforts to bring the hostages home.

According to the Welfare Ministry, 60 million shekels (about $17 million) was invested in 2024 for services and programs for Holocaust survivors, with 42,253 survivors participating. These services and programs include dedicated cultural clubs, community programs, social clubs, and loneliness alleviation programs.

“In the past year, while we are fighting against forces of evil that seek our destruction, the presence of Holocaust survivors reminds us of the supreme importance of maintaining a strong and sovereign Jewish state,” Minister of Welfare Ya’akov Margi said. “We must ensure that in their final years, they will live with dignity and security, as they deserve.”

The director general of the Ministry of Welfare, Yinon Aharoni, described Holocaust survivors as “the foundation of Israeli society.” “They knew how to rise up thanks to immense inner strength and build new lives,” he said. “We must show them gratitude every day.”

Yariv Man, head of the ministry’s senior citizens division, said that the division has expanded its services for Holocaust survivors in recent years. “The number of survivors is dwindling, and this fact places a double responsibility on us—to ensure their well-being and quality of life, and also to document and preserve their stories for future generations,” he said.

This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.

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