FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND GLOBAL REPORT ON THE DECLINING POPULATION OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS UNDERSCORES THE URGENCY TO ENGAGE WITH THIS FINAL GENERATION OF EYEWITNESSES

Report Indicates 70 Percent Of World's Holocaust Survivors Will Be Gone In The Next 10 Years. There Are Estimated To Be More Than 1,400 Holocaust Survivors Alive Today Who Are Over 100 Years Old.

NEW YORK, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) today published Vanishing Witnesses: An Urgent Analysis of the Declining Population of Holocaust Survivors, a population projection report based on the extensive data collected since 1952 by the Claims Conference. The report findings reveal stark projections for the time we have left with these eyewitnesses to the worst atrocity in human history.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, said, "This report provides clear urgency to our Holocaust education efforts; now is the time to hear first-hand testimonies from survivors, invite them to speak in our classrooms, places of worship and institutions. It is critical, not only for our youth but for people of all generations to hear and learn directly from Holocaust survivors. This report is a stark reminder that our time is almost up, our survivors are leaving us and this is the moment to hear their voices."

The Vanishing Witnesses report provides an in-depth population projection of Jewish Holocaust survivors amassed from Claims Conference databases built up from decades of advocacy on behalf of survivors. The databases include survivors who receive direct payments or social welfare services funded by the organization as a result of ongoing negotiations with Germany.

The analysis of population projections and mortality rates provides data through 2040. Notably, nearly 50 percent of all Holocaust survivors will pass away within the next 6 years, while 70 percent will pass away within 10 years and 90 percent within 15 years.

Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, said, "We have known that this population of survivors would be the last, our final opportunity to hear their first-hand testimonies, to spend time with them, our last chance to meet a survivor. These are our final years to honor them, make sure they are living in dignity, care for them and provide for their needs. The work we do negotiating with the governments of Europe on behalf of survivors is critical to their existence — nothing could be more important, more urgent, as we see what little time we have left to ensure their wellbeing."

Vladimir Shvetz's mother is a 110-year-old Holocaust survivor living in Israel. He said, "My mother, Nechama Grossman, is 110 years-old, one of the oldest Holocaust survivors in the world. She lived through the worst of humanity and she survived. She raised her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, to teach them that unchecked hatred cannot win. We must remember her story, remember the Holocaust, remember all the survivors; learn from it so that her past does not become our future."

Leonard Zaicescu, a Holocaust survivor from Iasi, Romania, who survived the death trains, said, "I am one of the last survivors of the death train of Iasi, Podu Iloaiei. I am 98 years-old, but as long as I am still alive and have strength, I will do everything I still can so that future generations will learn about what happened – the Iasi Massacre – and that it may become known in the memory of future generations."
Another notable finding of the population projection report is that mortality rates for survivors vary greatly across geographic locations, which means we will lose survivors faster in certain regions. For example, Israel, home to the largest number of Holocaust survivors worldwide, had 110,100 survivors as of October 2024 and is estimated to see this population decline to 62,900 by 2030, a drop of 43 percent. The United States had 34,600 in the Fall of 2024, but is projected to lose 39 percent over that same timeframe, dropping to 21,100 survivors. Countries in the former Soviet Union had 25,500 survivors in October 2024 but is expected to be at 11,800 in five years, down 54 percent by the start of 2030.

Pinchas Gutter, one of the last Holocaust survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, said, "It's sobering to see exactly how few of us Holocaust survivors are left. We have an important piece of history that only we hold and only we can tell. I hope in the time we have we can impart the learning from the Holocaust so that the world will never again have to endure that level of hate. I am a witness. Those of us witnesses still alive are working to make sure our testimonies are heard and preserved through any means possible. We are counting on this generation to hear us and future generations to carry our experiences forward so that the world does not forget."

Malka Schmulovitz, a 109-year-old Holocaust survivor from Lithuania living in Florida, said, "To be one of the oldest survivors alive right now at my age tells me we are running our of time. We all have a testimony that needs to be shared. We all want to be sure that this generation of young people and the ones that come after them, hear and understand what truly happened during the Holocaust; if only so that we do not see it repeated."

Sonja Elazar, a Holocaust survivor from Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, said, "I am one of the youngest witnesses of the Holocaust and I am 79 and a few months old. It was a miracle that I was born, and that I survived."

More than 1,400 Holocaust survivors are estimated to be alive today who are over 100 years old. Society benefits from having these witnesses with us to share their stories and of unimaginable survival. We still have time to hear their first-hand accounts and learn from this exceptional group.

Survivors are living longer, which we celebrate while concomitantly aware that their advancing ages present challenges. We need to plan for their care along with the likelihood of increasing disability, chronic conditions and other ailments that come with age and have been amplified by traumas in their youth. This requires long-term care and funding strategies. Currently, the median age of Holocaust survivors is 87. Understanding the trajectory of this population is crucial for planning and allocating resources effectively, ensuring that the unique needs of this population are met in these final decades.

Data and analysis provided in the Vanishing Witnesses report are not only critical to the Claims Conference's mission but also have global importance as remembrance and education efforts increase around the world. The full population projection report and analysis can be found at www.claimscon.org/vanishing.

In addition to the Vanishing Witnesses report, the Claims Conference's global demographic report, Holocaust Survivors Worldwide: A Demographic Overview has also been updated for release in April 2025. Currently, there are over 200,000 survivors living in 90 countries around the world, half of whom are in Israel. The current global population is between 78 years of age and over 100 making the median age 87, and a majority are female (61 percent). The full demographic report on Holocaust survivors can be found at www.claimscon.org/demographics2025.

About the Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Israel, Germany and Austria, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individual survivors and organizations and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $95 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. For 2025, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $530 million in compensation for survivors globally and $960 million for survivors' welfare needs such as home care, medicine and food.

For more information, please visit: www.claimscon.org

SOURCE Claims Conference