Germany Commits Over $1 Billion to Support Holocaust Survivors’ Home Care in 2026

Germany has agreed to allocate more than $1 billion for home care services benefiting Holocaust survivors worldwide in 2026, the organization representing Jewish victims of Nazi persecution announced Wednesday.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, known as the Claims Conference, said it reached an agreement with Germany’s finance ministry to extend $1.076 billion (923.9 million euros) for this purpose. The amount marks the largest budget ever dedicated to home care for aging Holocaust survivors.

“This historic increase to home care funding reflects the complex and growing needs of Holocaust survivors worldwide,” said Gideon Taylor, president of the New York-based Claims Conference.

“While we are losing survivors at a rapid pace each year, those who remain are older, frailer and in greater need than ever before,” Taylor said in a statement. “This budget is critical in providing each of them the opportunity to age in place, a dignity that was stolen from them in their youth.”

According to the organization, the average age of survivors receiving home care through its funding has risen from 86 in 2018 to 88.5 in 2024. Data also show that many survivors now suffer from more severe disabilities and health issues, with the number of those requiring full-time assistance for conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia nearly doubling in recent years.

In addition, Germany and the Claims Conference agreed to extend the Hardship Fund Supplemental payments, previously set to continue through 2027, by another year. The annual €1,450 payments will now continue through 2028, benefitting over 127,000 survivors worldwide.

The Claims Conference estimates that roughly 200,000 Holocaust survivors remain alive today, most living in Israel, the United States, and Europe, though many are dispersed across other parts of the world.

The organization also announced that “righteous rescuers” — non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust — who already receive monthly pensions will now be eligible for home care assistance similar to that provided to Jewish survivors.

Colette Avital, a Holocaust survivor and member of the Claims Conference negotiating delegation, welcomed the agreement. “It is deeply meaningful that, 80 years after the liberation, the German government maintains its responsibility to those who suffered and survived,” she said.

“Every survivor — and every rescuer — deserves to live with dignity and to be seen, heard and cared for,” Avital added.

Germany also agreed to extend Holocaust education funding through 2029, pledging €175 million for educational efforts. The programs will support teacher training, academic research, and new media initiatives such as films, gaming, and virtual reality projects to help reach broader audiences amid growing Holocaust ignorance and rising antisemitism.

“It is imperative that we invest in the future of Holocaust education while we still have living witnesses who can share their firsthand testimonies of survival,” said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference. “This is our moral obligation to the survivors of the Holocaust and to the 6 million who were murdered.”