“We must heed the urgency to listen to and care for the last living survivors, camp liberators and the witnesses to the Shoah,” U.S. President Barack Obama said on Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Day Monday.
Most of the Holocaust survivors live in Israel, where slightly more than 200,000 reside. As they age, the death rate is estimated at 35 a day, or 13,000 a year, and the death rate increases as the survivors grow older. The number of survivors living outside of Israel is approximately 100,000, but no exact figures are available.
President Obama joined the call to “never forget” the Holocaust and its six million victims of the Nazi death machine, “one of the most barbaric acts in human history,” in the president’s words.
“From this tragedy, we see the cost of allowing hatred go unanswered in the world, but from this justice we also see the power of holding the perpetrators of genocide accountable,” he said. “Remembering these events only reinforces our solemn commitment to confront those who tell lies about our history and to stop the spread of hate in our own time.
“We must meet our sacred responsibility to honor all those who perished by recalling their courage and dignity in the face of unspeakable atrocities, by insisting that the world never forget them, and by always standing up against intolerance and injustice.”