How Many Holocaust Survivors Live in Israel Today?

How Many Holocaust Survivors Live in Israel Today?

According to the official publications of the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors, fewer than 150,000 Holocaust survivors are still alive in Israel, but that number goes down by as much as 14,000 every year.

Holocaust researchers and those responsible for the rights of this group often divide survivors into three groups:

1. Survivors who experienced confinement in a ghetto or camp
2. Survivors who hid under hostile rule in forests, basements, or attics, or by living under false identities
3. Survivors who fled to escape hostile areas during the Holocaust

Jews frequently experienced multiple challenges as they struggled to survive.

Around half a million Holocaust survivors immigrated to Israel in the years immediately following the war and the establishment of the state. They settled in cities, established agricultural communities, and made an immense contribution to Israeli society in all areas of life: defense, education, science, culture, and media.

It is hard to imagine Israel and its achievements without the role played by the survivors.

Holocaust Survivors’ Experience and Support

The first public event that brought a Holocaust story to light was the Kastner trial. For many, the trial did not focus on the suffering of the Jews but rather on accusations of Jewish betrayal by some Jews. Dr. Israel Kastner, who negotiated with the Nazis in an attempt to save the Jews of Hungary, appeared to many as a traitor. The mainly exonerating Supreme Court ruling in 1958 did little to change this perception.

Three years later, the Eichmann trial was held in Jerusalem, and many survivors took the witness stand to tell their stories.

Since the 1980s, psychological research on the Holocaust’s impact on survivors has developed in Israel and around the world. Based on this research, therapeutic methods were developed. In general, survivors successfully rebuilt their lives, but their difficult memories lingered.

Amcha

In 1987, Amcha was founded, and supports survivors in three ways:

1. Psychological support
2. Psychosocial support clubs
3. Volunteer home visits

Amcha also supports members of the Second Generation, the children of survivors, who are affected by their parents’ memories and traumas, and the stories they heard – or often did not hear, as they were growing up. It is quite possible that some of these issues continue to impact on later generations.

In the survivors’ last years, we emphasize the duty and opportunity to learn from their experiences and perspectives, to pass on their heritage to future generations. Among the survivors, there is no consensus on the moral lessons that should be learned from that time, and the interpretation is our task as “students.” Yet perhaps the main messages that can be drawn from their personal and national-collective memory are:

1. The duty of the Jewish people to protect themselves in their sovereign state
2. The duty to respect human beings regardless of religion, race, or gender
3. The ability of human beings to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges, rebuild their lives, and serve as an example to us all