Survivors of Holocaust ‘live seven years longer’

HOLOCAUST survivors live an average seven years more than Jewish people who avoided the Nazi death camps, Israeli statistical research suggests.

Their ordeal may have made them mentally and physically tougher as well as more health aware, said scientists from Maccabi Healthcare Services.

The study of around 73,000 men and women is the first analysis of its kind, said project leader Dr Gideon Koren.

It found that the average age at death for survivors was 84.8 years compared with 77.7 for those who escaped Europe before Hitler’s reign of terror.

This is despite suffering more life-threatening conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart and kidney disease, dementia and cancer.

Dr Koren said: ‘Although Holo- caust survivors may experience more illnesses, the mortality in the group may be lower.

‘There may be other factors associated with improved ability to survive. It can be argued that the sub- group that survived the extreme conditions that many individuals did not survive had coping abilities that rendered them more resilient to illnesses.’

The study adds to evidence that survivors of horrific experiences have a renewed sense of purpose and meaning, called post-traumatic growth.

The study published in JAMA Network Open compared more than 38,000 Holocaust survivors born in Europe and nearly 35,000 Israelis, all born between 1911 and 1945.

Both groups were insured by Maccabi, providing the team in Tel Aviv with extensive data collected from 1998 to 2017.

Dr Koren said his study is the first to compare multiple illnesses and death rates using the same group of survivors.

‘Rendered them more resilient’