240,000. That’s approximately how many Holocaust survivors are still alive today, according to 2024 figures from the Claims Conference.
When we think of the Holocaust, we often focus on the over six million innocent Jewish people who were murdered. A number so vast, it’s almost impossible to truly grasp. But in doing so, we sometimes forget the voices of those who lived through the darkest days of Nazi Germany and survived – those who have shared their courage, wisdom, and life lessons with the world.
This Holocaust Remembrance Day, I want to reflect not just on those we lost, but on those who lived – who survived – and who gave my life new meaning.
Over the past seven years, I’ve had the immense privilege to meet, listen to, and learn from Holocaust survivors. Through volunteering, working closely with them, and helping to share their stories, I’ve found my life’s mission: to carry on their legacy and ensure the world never forgets.
I am committed to fighting the rise of antisemitism and advocating for Holocaust education that reaches every region and every religion.
These are individuals who endured the unimaginable – and still chose to live, to rebuild, to teach. Their lives are not solely defined by tragedy, but by resilience, courage, and hope. They overcame a world that turned its back on them and somehow built new lives in a world that still claims to have learned the lessons of the Holocaust – yet continues to fall short on its promise.
On Yom Hashoah, it is not enough to remember the dead. We must also remember the living. We must listen to their stories. We must learn from them.
Like the survivor who escaped deportation by hiding in a barn, surviving silent, freezing nights – saved only by strangers who risked their own lives.
Like the young girl taken in by a family who chose humanity over fear, raising her as their own while the world outside crumbled.
Like the teenager who spent years in disease-ridden camps, who witnessed loved ones perish, and yet emerged with the will to live, to thrive, to succeed.
Each story is a reminder of a person whose world collapsed, whose neighbors became enemies, whose future was nearly erased. These were teachers, grandmothers, artists, engineers. Human beings. They remind us that history is not something behind us – it lives in us. And it is our duty to ensure it is never forgotten.
Their stories inspire me every day. In their names, I dedicate myself to educating others, to ensuring we never forget, and that their stories are passed down through generations.
We live in a time when Holocaust denial and distortion are on the rise. When swastikas appear in public spaces. When antisemitism festers in schools, on campuses, and in politics.
Listen to their story
I urge everyone: find a Holocaust survivor in your community. Listen to their story. Learn their name. Vow to be their voice when they no longer can be.
This is not a once-a-year activity. It is a responsibility. Especially for those who feel the tide of hatred rising around them and don’t know how to push back.
The youngest survivors are now in their 80s. Soon, there will be no one left who saw it with their own eyes. Then the responsibility becomes ours to carry their testimony forward.
We must be their witnesses.
We must be their ambassadors.
Because their stories are not just theirs – they are ours now, too.
When we remember the Holocaust, let us remember all of it. Not only the six million who were lost, but also the hundreds of thousands who survived. Let us hold up their strength, their testimony, their legacy.
Because the Holocaust is not only a story of death.
It is a story of survival of how we endured the worst that society could offer – and how, in spite of everything, we lived.
And in a world where hate still lingers and history is at risk of being forgotten, survival itself is a kind of defiance.
The writer is the Holocaust program coordinator at Sharaka and a Holocaust educator on social media. @mymissiontoremember