Many years ago, I remember hearing one westerner who claimed that the weak people who tried to cross the frontier died, leading to a form of natural selection. He claimed that descendents of the surviving pioneers were hardier as a result. I don't know if that's true.

The youngest Holocaust survivors - those who were prisoners during childhood - are in their 60s. Given the millions (11-13 million, depending on the source) that died during the Holocaust, perhaps those who survived were among the fittest. Still, I don't know if their survival rate at this point is any higher than anyone else's. In the years immediately following WWII, I'll bet their survival rate was probably lower due to damaged health. While not having any data to back up by hypothesis, I'd wager that a lot of Holocaust survivors died in the 10 years immediately following the war.

I know a Holocaust survivor who is in his 80s (that's him on the left). His health is about what you'd expect from someone his age but he was relatively fortunate because he only spent a few months in Buchenwald. Still, in those few months, he lost over 80 pounds and wasn't far from death when freed. I worked with Jim for over a year to write his autobiography. To say he's had an interesting life would be an understatement.