It begins with a whisper.
A shaky voice, thick with memory, recounts the shadows of Auschwitz. Another describes the cold, hunger, and the terror that wore the face of a uniformed man barking orders in a language meant to dehumanize. And yet another, like my own father, who was forced to speak that language as a soldier in the US Army after having escaped the horrors to come, and then forced to bear witness as he helped to liberate those who were not so lucky as to escape. For decades, these voices—our sacred witnesses—have carried the unbearable weight of truth so that we, the generations that follow, would never forget.
Yet now, that whisper grows fainter.
According to a sweeping demographic survey released by the Claims Conference, there are only 220,800 Holocaust survivors left in the world. Nearly all of them—96%—were just children during the Holocaust. Half reside in Israel, the other half scattered across continents. Within 10 years, 70% of these witnesses will be gone. By 2040, 90% will have passed.
We are running out of time, but not of perseverance.
Malka Schmulovitz, a 109-year-old survivor from Lithuania, said it best: “We all want to be sure that this generation of young people and the ones that come after them, hear and understand what truly happened during the Holocaust; if only so that we do not see it repeated.”
Indeed, we must remember. But remembrance without action is a museum — quiet, still, a place to visit and leave behind. What our time demands is something more. What our Jewish values demand is action. This Yom HaShoah, let us transform the sacred mantra of “Never Again” into a resounding call to action—not just to mourn our past, but to build our future.
Because this is not just about history. It’s about destiny.
We are the generation of doers. The inheritors of resilience. The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who endured the unendurable and emerged not just to survive, but to thrive. And while the world may try to define Jews by our tragedies, we choose to be defined by our triumphs.
Through our incredible Zionist movement and the philanthropic investments of Jewish National Fund-USA, we are builders of cities, shapers of culture, guardians of heritage. We are the startup nation, a light unto the nations, a people reborn in the land of our ancestors. After two thousand years of exile and horror, we are home again—singing, studying, farming, and dreaming in Hebrew, in Israel’s arid south and lush green north.
This is our victory.
But with that victory comes responsibility. We must carry the testimonies of survivors not just in our memory, but in our mission. We must teach their stories in every school, echo their warnings in every place of worship, and embody their hope in every Jewish life we lead. We must combat antisemitism not only with vigilance, but with vision—by proudly wearing our Jewish identity, by celebrating our heritage, and by standing shoulder to shoulder with the land and people of Israel, the beating heart of our Jewish Nation.
And so, as the survivors’ voices fade, ours must grow louder.
Let us be the generation that doesn’t just say “Never Again” but lives it—boldly, proudly, and publicly. Let us remember not only how far we have come, but how much more we have to build. And let us do so knowing that in our strength, in our unity, and in our unshakable bond to our people and our land, we are fulfilling the dream of six million souls who never got the chance.
Today, we remember.Tomorrow, we rise.
Deb Lust Zaluda is President of Jewish National Fund-USA.