By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz
If not for the Holocaust, there would be as many as 32 million Jews worldwide, instead of the current 13 million, demographer Professor Sergio Della Pergola has written in a soon-to-be published article.
Della Pergola, who holds the Shlomo Argov chair in Israel-Diaspora relations and is the director of the Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, attempts to estimate the demographic damage to Jews of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust ‘struck a mortal blow particularly at the Jews of Eastern Europe because of their especially young age structure,’ and particularly the number of children. This led to significant long-term demographic damage. The quantitative ramifications are far beyond what we think,” he writes.
In the article, to be published in “Beshvil Hazikaron,” the periodical of the Yad Vashem Holocaust commemoration authority’s school of Holocaust studies, he writes: This was the destruction of a generation, and what we are lacking now is not only that generation, it is their children and their children.
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According to Della Pergola, while the birth rate of the Jewish population outside Israel is relatively low, the young Jewish population of Eastern Europe has great potential for growth. “What would happen if there were another 10 million Jews in Eastern Europe? It raises questions that are like science fiction – for example, would the State of Israel have come into being?
Della Pergola says another demographic outcome of the Holocaust is the lower relative number of Jews in the world. “At present, the percentage of Jews in the world is constantly in decline. Before the Holocaust, the rate was eight Jews per thousand people in the world; today it is two per thousand.
Della Pergola also notes in the article that various estimates put the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust at between 5.6 and 5.9 million, and that part of the problem in pinpointing the numbers lies in the question of ‘who is a Jew’, he writes, since some of those killed converted to Christianity before the Holocaust or where part-Jewish.
THE REBBE ALSO SAID THAT WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO MORE MITZVOHS TO MAKE UP FOR THE MITZVOHS THAT ALL THOSE HOLOCAUST KEDOSHIM WOULD HAVE DONE. THIS IS SOMETHING I HEARD MYSELF REPEATEDLY FROM THE REBBE AT FARBREINGENS THROUGH SOBBING TEARS.
The Rebbe mentioned many times that according to Halacha it is forbidden to bring up the painful episode of the Shoa during the happy month of Nissan. That’s why the Rebbe didn’t approve of, or participate in the celebrations of Yom Hashoa during Nissan, but instead said that yom Hashoa should be commemorated on Tisha B’Av. Most orthodox religious Rabbis and communities, including the chief Rabbinate of Israel also avoid celebrating Yom Hashoa in Nissan. The israeli chief Rabbinate proclaimed Asara b’Teveis as Yom Hashoa. So why bring up the Shoa during Nissan when the non-religious “celebrate” Yom Hashoa against… Read more »
“1/3 of all the Jews in Egypt died during the plague of darkness.”
Huh??? I never heard that
But yes I agree, as sad as the holocaust was, it was not the only tragedy that happened to the jewish people. From 1 tragedy alone, lets take the Bombay massacre, in 20 years Gabi and Rivky would have had another 10 children and maybe some grandchildren also!
Its all Hashems plan.
“Uvechol zois shimcho lo shochochnu”
Am Yisroel chai!
Jews have perished throughout many generations: 1/3 of all the Jews in Egypt died during the plague of darkness. Several plagues in the desert wiped out a few hundred thousand Jews (Golden Calf, Daughters of Moab etc…) During the times of the Prophets many Jews died. If the Midrash can be taken literally, MILLIONS of Jews died during the above mentioned periods. During the destruction of the first and second Temple’s hundreds of thousands of Jews died. The famous Tach V’tat, the Inquisition of Spaiin, the many pogroms and other vicious attacks against Jews caused millions of Jews to perish.… Read more »