Number of Adult Holocaust Survivors Dwindles

According to a report from the Claims Conference, there were still around 250,000 Holocaust survivors alive in the world as of August 2023. However, only around 5 percent of these, or around 13,000, are adult survivors who were 18 years or older in 1945.

Holocaust survivors play a central role in Holocaust remembrance and many have taken on invaluable roles in Holocaust and antisemitism education, becoming figureheads for the continued need for teach the Shoah in an environment where conspiracy theories and denialism are threatening important lessons of human history.

All Holocaust survivors were 77 years and older in 2023, so at least 78 years old today. Survivors between the ages of 77 and 95 years old are child Holocaust survivors who were under the age of 18 in 1945. Their group made up 95 percent of Holocaust survivors in 2023, out of which 49 percent were between the ages of 8 and 17 years old in 1945 and 46 percent were below the age of 8 in that year.

Half of Holocaust survivors alive in August 2023 lived in Israel, while 18 percent each lived in Western Europe as well as North America, mainly in the United States for the latter. The most common countries in Europe were France (9 percent) and Germany (6 percent). 12 percent lived in former Soviet states and five percent in other countries, for example Hungary or Australia. 40 percent receive ongoing payments from the Claims Conference, an organization that negotiates and redistributes material reparations from Germany to Holocaust victims, while the rest of victims are eligible for annual or one-time payments.