‘Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population. Now is when they need us the most.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
According to a an updated report, there are now approximately 240,000 holocaust survivors alive today, and although their numbers are declining because of advanced age, they require extensive funding for their care.
The report was created by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which periodically creates a review of survivors to negotiate with Germany to provide for their needs.
The most recent report broke down information on survivors by age and country.
The oldest living survivor is Rose Girone who lives in New York and turned 112.
Girone’s daughter Reha Bennicasa, is 85, around the median age for surivors today (86).
Reha Bennicasa said, “My mother will be the first to tell you, we’re very lucky all around.”
Of the remaining Holocaust survivors, the majority (61%) are women.
They live in 90 countries; 49% are located in Israel, 18% in North America, another 18% in Western Europe; and 12% in the former Soviet Union.
Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference says that now that survivors are in advanced age is when they need the most assistance.
Taylor said, “Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population. Now is when they need us the most.”
The Claims conference organization negotiates an amount with Germany –last year, it was $1.4 billion—and this amount is distributed through local agencies.
The funds are required to provide food, medicine, social assistance and at-home nursing care, while a portion is also used for Holocaust education.
The story of the oldest Holocaust surivor, Rose Girone and her daughter Reha Bennicasa began in Germany, where Rose’s husband Julius was imprisoned in Buchenwald camp and was released if he promised to leave the country with his family.
They fled to Shanghai which was occupied by Japan, and the family was made to live as refugees in a tiny room that was a converted bathroom.
Rhea said, “Our experiences were not like people in camps, people that were branded in any fashion. Our experience was so different,” she said. “And for me as a child, whatever circumstances you’re given as a child, you accept them. This is your life.”
It was in Shanghai that Rose knitted to make a living and she later started a sewing business to support herself and her family when they moved to New York.
Rose has been living in a nursing home for the past two years, and Rhea comments, “She goes with the flow and rolls with the punches,” said Bennicasa.
She repeated her mother’s advice, “Don’t ever get up without a purpose. You have to have a purpose every day.”
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