For Holocaust survivors on Long Island, aging can revive trauma — and financial worries

These days, Livia Horovitz worries more about her finances than she has in years, according to her daughter, Debbie Ryan.

Horovitz, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, lives with her family in North Bellmore. She frequently watches the news and is concerned about prices continuing to rise, her daughter said.

For Holocaust survivors, “I do think their mentality is always worrying about money,” Ryan said. “I think that is a big issue, and the other issue is their health. There’s always something, because they've been through a lot in their childhood, and now it comes out.”

Living on Long Island, where the cost of living continues to rise, “financial security is not always there,” she said.

About 196,600 Holocaust survivors remain worldwide, including roughly 14,700 in New York State and an estimated 400 on Long Island, according to a January 2026 Claims Conference report and figures compiled by the Mid-Island Y JCC. Survivors range in age from 79 to more than 100.

A 2023 community study by the UJA-Federation of New York survey found that 34% of Holocaust survivors live in households with incomes below 150% of the federal poverty line, compared to 12% of other adults over age 75.

Financial vulnerability is especially acute among survivors from the former Soviet Union. Many arrived in the United States later in life, leaving less time to build savings, pensions or Social Security earnings, according to experts of the population.

For many survivors, the ordinary pressures of growing old — rising food and housing costs, declining health and the need for in-home care — can be compounded by wartime deprivation and lasting trauma. Organizations serving them say the need for financial assistance and specialized support is becoming increasingly urgent.

400

The estimated number of Holocaust survivors remaining on Long Island.

Many survivors have little generational wealth to fall back on. And for some, aging can revive trauma around food scarcity and appearing weak.

“There's a lot of stigma and shame in asking for help, and there shouldn't be,” said Shelley Rood Wernick, associate vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Center on Aging, Trauma and Holocaust Survivor Care. “Holocaust survivors have contributed so much to our lives, to our society, and it’s very difficult for them to admit being in a vulnerable place.”

Risk of food insecurity

In June, the Mid-Island Y JCC, a Jewish community center in Plainview, held its annual luncheon to celebrate Holocaust survivors. The center offers educational and recreational programming for children and adults, along with support services.

About 90 survivors were invited. Dressed up and seated together at tables full of food, many sang along and danced to a performer covering songs ranging from “Oseh Shalom” to “New York, New York.”

Horovitz has lived on Long Island for more than two decades and has attended the luncheon several times. It’s a highlight of a busy social calendar: She is driving locally, going out to dinner every Wednesday and crocheting scarves with friends.

“And drinking espresso coffee,” she added, “even though I’m not supposed to.”

At age 6, Horovitz was imprisoned at the Strasshof concentration camp in Austria. For two and a half years, she said she ate grass to survive.

“Holocaust survivors have all different stories,” Wernick said. “No two stories are alike. But one thing they all had in common was lack of food during the Holocaust.”

For some survivors, food insecurity in old age can revive memories of wartime deprivation.

“If food is scarce now, or if there’s a threat that food may not be available in the future and they may not know when their next meal is coming, that can be extremely re-traumatizing for a Holocaust survivor,” Wernick said.

Jewish Federations of North America work with partners to provide nutritious home-delivered meals and kosher to-go-bags.

Selfhelp Community Services is a New York-based nonprofit that helps seniors, Holocaust survivors and vulnerable individuals live independently through programs that offer food assistance, home healthcare and other essential resources. The largest group of survivors it serves are from the former Soviet Union, many of whom did not arrive in the United States until they were already at retirement age, said Aubrey Jacobs, managing director of Selfhelp's Holocaust survivor program.

“They subsist on supplemental security income, food stamps, Medicaid and Medicare, so they’re much more financially vulnerable,” Jacobs said.

Financial strain of aging

Every day, 86-year-old Sami Steigmann walks up and down a flight of stairs in his Harlem apartment building.

“It’s a nice apartment, it’s a safe neighborhood, but they have no elevators,” Steigmann said while taking a break from the festivities of the survivors luncheon. “So I’m looking right now for a senior building, where I can be with people.”

Steigmann is a Holocaust survivor living below the poverty line. He receives a monthly stipend from The Blue Card, an organization that provides medical and financial assistance to survivors.

For survivors such as Steigmann, limited income can make costs including housing, healthcare and daily expenses increasingly difficult to manage.

“Individuals who were not able to either save money or weren't in positions that paid enough for them to be able to pay into retirement are now at a point where they’re unable to afford all of the day-to-day expenses that are associated with aging,” said Jennifer Teague, director of health coverage and benefits for the National Council on Aging.

Survivors who attended the recent JCC celebration reminisced about what they paid for homes decades ago. One said she bought her Massapequa Park home for $12,000 in the 1950s.

“There is a definite financial problem because people out here have very high property taxes,” said Rabbi Ronald Csillag, of Syosset. “In order to remain in their homes where they are comfortable, you have a financial hardship.”

Health and trauma

When Horovitz needed dental implants, she received a reduced rate through the Holocaust Survivors Oral Health Program. Selfhelp also covers the cost of Horovitz’s home health aide. Without that help, “we couldn’t do it,” Ryan said.

A 2020 study published in the Central European Journal of Public Health found “proof of the relationship between Holocaust experience and occurrence of cardiovascular symptoms, chronic degenerative diseases (especially osteoporosis) and cancer diseases.”

“[Holocaust survivors] didn’t get the type of medical care they should have gotten for years during the war, and we really are seeing that catch up to them as they age,” Jacobs said.

Trauma can be another major challenge for aging survivors, said Zachary Graulich, assistant director of education at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

“You could have a survivor here in the United States who is incredibly successful: They built a beautiful life, they have a family, they’re financially stable, they have no issues on the outside,” Graulich said. “And yet, in their personal lives, they’re plagued with various elements of PTSD.”

Many of today’s survivors were children during World War II and did not have the opportunity to watch their parents age. Now, as their children become their caregivers, survivors may experience discomfort with the shifting familial roles, Wernick said.

“They didn't have that model of aging and of normal death,” she said. “They didn't have that experience of helping someone through these phases of life, and burying their parents.”

In concentration camps, showing physical weakness was dangerous, Wernick said.

“If you could not work, if you could not show your strength, you could be shot on the spot,” she said.

Now, as survivors age, using a wheelchair, walker or hearing aid can make some feel vulnerable, Wernick said. “They may not want to go outside” even if there is no threat, she said.

That makes gatherings such as the annual survivor celebration at the Plainview JCC especially important: The organizers give survivors a chance to socialize with others who share similar experiences and understand the pressures they face.

For Horovitz, building her community on Long Island has carried her through dark times, Ryan said.

“My mother has been extremely resilient,” Ryan said. “She’s made a life for herself, and it keeps her young and active.”