161,400 Holocaust survivors still live in Israel - In the past year 15,553 survivors have died

The State of Israel celebrates with the six million victims in the central rally that opens the Holocaust and Heroism Day events: In Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, a state opening rally is held on Wednesday evening to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, with the participation of President Yitzhak Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Knesset Speaker Miki Levy, President Supreme Court Esther Hayut and Chief of Staff Major General Aviv Kochavi. This year's rally is marked by "Trails to Doom" - the deportation of Jews during the Holocaust to the concentration and extermination camps.

Holocaust Martyrs 'and Heroes' Remembrance Day will begin tonight at 8 p.m., at the state rally at Yad Vashem. The main theme this year is "Trails to Doom - The Deportation of Jews during the Holocaust". Data from the National Insurance Institute show that there are slightly more than one hundred and sixty-one thousand survivors of the Holocaust in Israel - almost a third of whom receive a supplement to their income for a "senior citizen" pension.
161,400 Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic harassment during the Holocaust live in Israel - according to data published today (Wednesday) by the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors in the Ministry of Social Equality in preparation for Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism Day.
The average age of Holocaust survivors is 85.5, with 31,500 over the age of 90, and more than 1,000 over the age of 100. In the past year, 15,553 survivors died - more than 42 survivors on average daily.
According to data published by the Authority, Haifa is the city with the most survivors, about 11,000. It is followed by Jerusalem with 10,000 and Tel Aviv with 8,700. Ashdod has about 8,000 residents, Netanya 7,900, Be'er Sheva 6,900, Petah Tikva 6,500 and Rishon LeZion 6,400.
63% of the recognized survivors in the PA are natives of Europe, of whom the largest group are natives of the former Soviet Union - 37%, natives of Romania - 12% followed by natives of Poland with another 5%, Bulgaria (2.7%), Hungary (1.4%), Germany (1.4%), France and Czechoslovakia (1%). 18.5% are Moroccan and Algerian Jews who suffered from various restrictions and harassment under Vichy rule, 11% were Iraqis who suffered from the Farhud riots in early June 1941. In addition, about 7% of the PA's sellers were Libyans and Tunisians who suffered racial laws and were exiled to labor camps. And coercion, and some were even sent to the Jado concentration camp.
In the past year, the authority has transferred more than NIS 5.7 billion and focused on increasing grants and expanding responses to survivors who experience loneliness, mental stress and anxiety. Meanwhile, the annual grants given to survivors were increased by NIS 300 million. A step that was added to increase the income supplement allowance provided, among other things, to the poorest survivor population at a total cost of about NIS 1.5 billion.
Since the outbreak of the corona plague, the authority has expanded services related to alleviating the loneliness of survivors, increasing the number of dedicated volunteers in the "Now is the time" project to about 6,500 and also expanding the types of psychiatric care provided by professional caregivers.
In recent months, the Authority has been working to deal with Holocaust survivors who immigrated following the war in Ukraine, and special teams have been set up consisting of social workers who help immigrants exhaust their rights quickly, efficiently and in a bureaucracy-free route.
Of the total benefits and benefits transferred by the Authority in 2021, about 4.25 billion of them were granted in direct benefits and grants. 49,800, 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 in 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, 15,300 low-income survivors receive increased monthly benefits that may reach up to NIS 11,729.
An additional 109,000 beneficiaries receive annual grants of NIS 6,500. 3,300 survivors who receive benefits from abroad also receive additional grants from the PA in the amount of NIS 2,583 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 the direct payments, this year the authority provided a full exemption for medicines costing NIS 373 million, budgeted nursing services in the amount of NIS 673 million, and financed medical treatments and medical equipment in the amount of NIS 128 million.
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. 270,000 calls have been handled in the past year at the Authority's National Information Center.
"The Ministry of Social Equality works night and day for the Holocaust survivors in Israel and to commemorate the memory of the Holocaust among young generations, in Israel and around the world, with the goal of helping survivors live with the dignity they deserve, along with commemorating the Holocaust and its victims. Day - our mission is very urgent ", said the Minister of Social Equality, Meirav Cohen.
According to her, in parallel with the money approved in the state budget, they have managed in the last two years to bring in about NIS 1.5 billion from the German government for the survivors. "We are continuing the important political dialogue, in full cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and its Foreign Minister, with other friendly countries that have recently expressed their agreement to work for the welfare of Holocaust survivors. "Promoting appropriate solutions for Holocaust survivors. Our moral duty as a society is to take care and ensure that those who have gone through the worst atrocities in history due to being Jews, will be able to live and grow old with dignity, in their national home - in the Jewish state."
The director of the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority, Abrami Torem, said, "The Authority has a national and moral duty to care for the well-being of the survivors. "In the past year, we have worked tirelessly and made thousands of home visits as well as over 60,000 initiated calls and helped thousands of survivors exercise their rights and expand the basket of services provided to them."