Israel Prepares to Mark Yom HaShoah as Survivor Numbers Dwindle

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – As Israel prepares to observe Yom HaShoah—translated as “Day of the Holocaust” — new figures highlight both the enduring legacy and the rapidly declining number of those who survived one of history’s darkest atrocities.

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 111,000 Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic persecution are currently living in Israel. Women comprise about 63% of this population, with most survivors now in their 80s and 90s, underscoring the urgency of preserving their testimonies for future generations.

Globally, the Jewish population stood at 15.8 million at the start of 2025. Of these, about 7.2 million—roughly 45%—reside in Israel, while 6.3 million live in the United States, reflecting the two largest centers of Jewish life in the world today.

The majority of Holocaust survivors in Israel, approximately 60.5%, were born in Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union, Romania, and Poland. Others came from North Africa and the Middle East, including Morocco, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria. Waves of immigration tell the story of Israel itself: only about 6% arrived before the state’s founding in 1948, while roughly 30% came in the immediate aftermath of independence. Additional waves followed between 1952 and 1989, with nearly one-third arriving since the 1990s, largely from the former Soviet Union.

Today, about 95% of survivors live in urban areas, with 42% concentrated in major cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv–Yafo, Haifa, Ashdod, Netanya, Petah Tikva, Beersheva, and Rishon Letzion.

Yom HaShoah was formally established in 1951 by the Israeli government and is observed on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The date was chosen to fall near the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, honoring not only the victims of the Holocaust but also the courage and resistance of those who fought back against Nazi oppression.

The day is marked across Israel with a solemn nationwide siren, during which the entire country comes to a standstill — cars stop in the middle of highways, and citizens pause in silence to remember the six million Jews who perished.

As Israel once again commemorates Yom HaShoah from Monday evening through Tuesday, the shrinking number of survivors serves as a powerful reminder: the responsibility to remember, to bear witness, and to ensure that such evil is never repeated now rests increasingly on future generations.

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