Holocaust survivors: Their population is rapidly decreasing, survey says

Nearly 90% of Holocaust survivors are expected to have died by 2040, according to a recent report from a nonprofit that said now is the time to "hear their voices."

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany — also called the Claims Conference — released a report Tuesday that shows the population of Holocaust survivors across the world is estimated to decrease from more than 200,000 now to 21,300 in the following 15 years.

In just six years, nearly half of the survivors will have died, according to the report. By 2035, there will be a 70% decrease in the survivor population.

Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, said in a statement that the findings are a "stark reminder that our time is almost up, our survivors are leaving us and this is the moment to hear their voices."

"It is critical, not only for our youth but for people of all generations to hear and learn directly from Holocaust survivors," he said.

Today, the median age of Holocaust survivors is 87, the report said. Referred to in the report as the "last generation of Holocaust survivors," the overwhelming majority of them were children during the atrocities, in which 6 million Jewish people were killed under Nazi Germany, the Claims Conference said.

By 2030, there will be an estimated 21,100 survivors living in the United States, the report said. By 2040, that number is expected to be 4,100.

Nassau County is estimated to have about 400 Holocaust survivors, while Suffolk has 100, Newsday reported last year, citing earlier work from the Claims Conference.

Bernie Furshpan, a board member of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove, said it's essential to preserve the stories of Holocaust survivors because their words can be a powerful tool to confront hate and make youth more empathetic.

"When they listen to their [the survivors'] stories, they become more empathetic," Furshpan, whose parents are Holocaust survivors, said of youth. "They try to understand other people's perspectives and what they went through."

Today, the report found that survivors’ mortality rates vary from country to country. To compile its findings, the Claims Conference used data that included information on "survivors who receive direct payments or social services funded by the organization."

Israel, which has the largest proportion of survivors, is estimated to lose 40% of its Holocaust survivors over the next five years, the report said.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.