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.

 

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.”

 

Read the full article in Newsday.