In January 2024, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) released the Global Demographic Report on Jewish Holocaust Survivors, a demographic study on Jewish Holocaust survivors living around the world.
These global findings mirror what is happening here at JFS.
JFS Holocaust Survivor Program
Our Holocaust Survivor Program has approximately 160 participants who live throughout BC and the Yukon, with the majority residing in the Lower Mainland.
Two full-time, Russian-speaking Care Managers work closely with survivors to connect them with JFS and government services that support their well-being at home.
As our Holocaust survivors age, they have an increased need for care and services. The high inflation rate of recent years combined with the mental and emotional weight of COVID-19 and war in both Ukraine and Israel is also adding to the increasing needs of these community members. Currently, we have approximately 10 new participants join the program each year.
In addition to case management and socialization programs, JFS distributes over $1 million dollars in financial aid each year to these participants for home support, dental, medical equipment, medicine, medical programs, adult day care, and food vouchers. This financial aid is funded by donations to JFS and the support of three grants, including the Claims Conference and the Azrieli Foundation.
Global Demographic Overview
There are an estimated 245,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors globally, living across more than 90 countries.
The median age of Jewish Holocaust survivors is 86. The population of survivors at the time of this report ranges in age from 77 to over 100 years of age and are born between the years of 1912 and 1946.
The majority of Jewish Holocaust survivors (95 percent) are “child survivors” who were born between 1928 and 1946.
20 percent of Jewish Holocaust survivors are over the age of 90. This is a period of life characterized by an increased need for care and services.
The majority of Jewish Holocaust survivors are female (61 percent) as only 39 percent of the population are male.
Nearly 40 percent of survivors receive monthly payments through Claims Conference programs negotiated with Germany, while the remaining population are eligible for one-time or annual payments.
40 percent of survivors are currently receiving, or have received in the past year, social welfare services provided by over 300 agencies--including JFS--that receive grants administered by the Claims Conference. Services include homecare, food, medicine, transportation, socialization, and other services specific to the individual needs of survivors.
“The data we have amassed...clearly indicates that most survivors are at a period of life where their need for care and services is growing. Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population. Now is when they need us the most.”
-- Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference
To read the demographic report in its entirety, please visit: claimscon.org/demographics.
Your support and donations help JFS meet the needs of our survivors here in Vancouver and across BC and the Yukon. Thank you for ensuring our Holocaust survivors are able to age with dignity.
Social services for Jewish Nazi victims have been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
