Boston area home to 1,800 remaining Jewish Holocaust survivors

The Boston area is home to roughly 1,800 Jewish Holocaust survivors, according to a new demographic study.

Why it matters: The world has lost most of its Holocaust survivors by now, mostly due to old age, but the study by the Claims Conference shows how many Jewish survivors remain alive decades later.

• "The data forces us to accept the reality that Holocaust survivors won't be with us forever," says Gideon Taylor, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, which provides aid and services to Jewish Holocaust survivors.

By the numbers: There are some 245,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors across 90 countries, ranging in age from 77 to over 100.

• Half live in Israel, and nearly one-fifth live in North America.
• The vast majority of the remaining Jewish survivors were children during the Holocaust, per the Claims Conference.

What they're saying: "This is our last chance to recognize them, to celebrate them and to learn from them," says Michael Berenbaum, a professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University.

Of note: The study focuses primarily on Jewish survivors and does not examine survivors who are Romani, disabled, queer or other backgrounds the Nazi regime targeted.

Sign up for Axios Boston for free.