Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released figures Sunday ahead of the national Holocaust Remembrance Day, which show that the global Jewish population stands at 14.7 million people.
That number is only 100,000 shy of the world’s Jewish population in 1925 but is still significantly less than the 16.6 million estimated on the eve of the Second World War in 1939. The CBS collected the data at the end of 2018, but has only released it in time for Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be commemorated at nightfall Monday.
Israel has a plurality of the world’s Jews with 45 percent of the total – or 6.7 million. According to a Times of Israel report, “5.2 million were born in Israel while the majority of the rest, 1 million, were born either in Europe or on the American continent.”
The United States is the next largest Jewish population with 5.7 million and the majority of the remainder is made up of France, which despite an increase in aliyah (immigration to Israel) is still Europe’s largest Jewish population at approximately 450,000; Canada with approximately 390,000; the United Kingdom probably with a maximum of 270,000; Argentina (180,000); Russia (170,00); Germany (116,000) and Australia (113,000).
The figures are a stark reminder that the destruction of European Jewry from 1933-1945/46 has meant that more than three generations have passed and the horrific losses have not been recouped.
Source: i24news
Related Articles: