A generation that is disappearing: 15,324 survivors died this year Israel today

On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be marked tomorrow, January 27, today (Wednesday) the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors in the Ministry of Social Equality publishes up-to-date data on Holocaust survivors in Israel.

In the past year, the Authority and the Ministry have worked to adjust the services offered to survivors in view of their advanced age and the effects of the corona, as well as to increase assistance to needy survivors.

There are currently 165,800 Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic harassment in Israel during the Holocaust, 90% of whom are over 80 years old.

The average age of Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic harassment is 85. 19% of them, about 31,000 have passed the age of 90, and over 950 have crossed the age of 100. In the past year, 15,324 survivors died - an average of 42 survivors daily.

Data from the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors in the Ministry of Social Equality also show that 60% of the sellers in the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors are women - about 105,000, whose average age is slightly higher than the average and stands at 85.4.

64% of the sellers in the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority are natives of Europe, of whom the largest group are 59,900 natives of the former USSR - 36%. 2,400 natives of Hungary (1.5%) and 2,300 natives of Germany.

36% are natives of Asia and North Africa.

Of these, 30,600 were natives of Morocco and Algeria who suffered from antisemitic harassment and various restrictions during the Vichy regime.

18,000 (11%) are Baghdad Jews were exposed to the Farhud riots in Iraq in June 1941. About 7% (11,000) are from Tunisia and Libya who suffered racial laws and were sent to concentration and labor camps.

"5% of the survivors immigrated to Israel before the establishment of the state, 11% of the survivors immigrated to Israel by the end of 1948, about 80,500 (48%) immigrated to Israel by the end of the 1950s and more than a third (35%) immigrated to Israel during 1989. In 2021, 98 more Holocaust survivors immigrated to Israel.

Haifa is the city with the most survivors - 11,300, followed by Jerusalem - 10,300, Tel Aviv - 8,900, Ashdod - 8,200, Netanya - 8,000, Beer Sheva - 7,050, Petah Tikva - 6,700 and Rishon LeZion - 6,500.

The Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors in the Ministry of Social Equality, promotes and leads a series of unique projects for the welfare of Holocaust survivors, including a personal visit to survivors' homes for the purpose of exercising their rights from Israel and abroad.

During the Corona period, the Authority initiated thousands of calls to bereaved and homeless survivors, to survivors recognized in dementia to exercise their rights, as well as more than 2,000 visits to survivors to train them in the basic digital skills required of them.

Through various inquiries to government ministries and bodies that assist survivors as well as as part of the "Golden Shield" project jointly by the Ministry of Social Equality and the Ministry of Welfare, the authority contacted tens of thousands of survivors directly to locate those experiencing difficulties during this period and try and assist them.

For example, survivors who experienced mental distress and anxiety were offered short-term professional psychological assistance designed to provide an immediate, quick and bureaucratic response, in a channel that was added to the mental support system provided by the authority to more than 7,000 survivors at no cost each year.

In the past year, the authority has also expanded the array of volunteers in the "Now is the Time" project, which is being carried out in collaboration with Eshel - JDC, and the Matav Association, which accompanies about 6,500 regular volunteers throughout the year. 

As part of the Minister of Social Equality's many activities to ensure the quality of life of poor Holocaust survivors, Meirav Cohen, in cooperation with Finance Minister Lieberman, led to a budget increase of NIS 300 million per year to increase the survivors' annual allowances by 14% and ownership. Of 1.5 billion shekels a year.

In 2021, the PA transferred about NIS 4.1 billion in benefits and direct grants to survivors.

50,800 survivors (about 31%) who survived the camps and ghettos, lived under a false identity and in hiding places, worked in forced labor or accompanied their parents on these jobs, receive monthly benefits from the authority in amounts ranging from NIS 2,554 to NIS 6,412, depending on their degree of disability.

Of these, 15,500 low-income survivors receive increased monthly benefits that may reach up to NIS 11,729.

An additional 111,600 beneficiaries receive annual grants of NIS 6,500.

3,400 survivors who receive benefits from abroad receive additional grants from the PA in the amount of NIS 2,538 each quarter.

In addition to payments to Holocaust survivors, the PA pays monthly allowances to 18,000 widows and widowers of Holocaust survivors.

In addition to direct payments, the authority provides a full exemption for medicines every year, budgets nursing services and funds medical treatments and medical equipment at a cost of more than NIS 1.34 billion.

In the past year, the PA has supported more than NIS 16 million in public institutions involved in assisting victims of Nazi persecution.

Along with the activities of the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority, the Ministry of Social Equality in 2021 approved a total of NIS 2,286,500 for actions aimed at obtaining compensation, reparations or other payments for bodily injuries, pain and suffering caused by the persecution of the Nazis and their aides during the Holocaust.

In addition, the ministry approved NIS 3,615,928 in the past year for activities to commemorate the Holocaust to 23 non-profit organizations commemorating the Holocaust, compared to NIS 3,011,000 in the previous year.

The Minister for Social Equality, Meirav Cohen, referred to the PA's findings and said: "Our shift is the last shift, and it comes with great responsibility. The average age of Holocaust survivors is 85. These are the last years we have to serve them, allow them to age with dignity and document as much as possible. The story that in a very short time, there will be no one to tell. With this understanding we act daily in a sense of urgency before time runs out. "Among the Holocaust survivors, it is important for me to know that my generation sees them as heroes and whenever it is a bit difficult here because the prices are high, because there are traffic jams, or when there are shouts in the Knesset plenum, I remember your story and I know we have no other country.

The director of the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority, Abram Turem, referred to the state's protection of the survivors and said: "The Authority, as an arm of the State of Israel, has a national and moral duty to ensure the welfare of Holocaust survivors. And adapt ourselves to give them what they deserve. Thus we were able to increase grants in 2021 to thousands of survivors and work for extraction for others probably during the Corona period. As a country, to act and make sure that every survivor lives with the respect they deserve in these years. "

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