5 days ago
Holocaust survivors meet with freed hostages, families of hostages still in captivity
"When we, Holocaust survivors, saw the images of Rom Brezlavski and Evyatar David - emaciated, frightened, barely clinging to life - we felt as if the air had been pulled from our lungs."
Several Holocaust survivors met with released hostages, families, and representatives of hostages still in captivity at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The visit was organized by the International March of the Living. The Holocaust survivors who came from around Israel arrived at the Square to offer their solidarity and strength.
Days earlier, Holocaust survivors, in response to the videos recently published of Evyatar David and Rom Braslovski, warned that the captives are living through 'a second Holocaust.'
Dina Dega, 84, told Walla that the image of David 'skin and bones … is exactly what we looked like in the camps... only he is alone and no one comes.'
Dega had survived several concentration camps. An unnamed survivor said, "The hungry child in the forest still lives inside me. Every hollow face brings her back,' according to the Walla report.
Statements by Holocaust survivors, March of the Living officials at the Square
At Hostages Square, Holocaust survivor Arne Rabuchin said, "When we, Holocaust survivors, saw the images of Rom Brezlavski and Evyatar David - emaciated, frightened, barely clinging to life - we felt as if the air had been pulled from our lungs. It transported us back 80 years to the moment we were liberated from Nazi tyranny.
"We survived the Holocaust. We saw the world at its most cruel and inhumane. And now, we cannot stay silent while Jewish lives are again being held in cages of terror, starved, humiliated, and abandoned to suffering."
Another Holocaust survivor, Naftali Furst, said, 'I came here with the strength to support the families whose children are still in the horror of Gaza's underground."
Furst, 94, added that, "Without hope, we would not have survived."release of the images of Rom and Evyatar, Holocaust survivors have been deeply distressed. The trauma they endured as terrified, hungry, and helpless children has come rushing back in an instant. They are heartbroken and outraged that not everything is being done to bring the hostages home. Listen to them."
March of the Living Deputy CEO Revital Yakin Krakovsky said, "Since the release of the images of Rom and Evyatar, Holocaust survivors have been deeply distressed. The trauma they endured as terrified, hungry, and helpless children has come rushing back in an instant. They are heartbroken and outraged that not everything is being done to bring the hostages home. Listen to them.
Statements by freed hostages
Freed hostages meeting with the Holocaust survivors on Tuesday include Danielle Aloni, Yocheved Lifshitz and her granddaughter Danielle Lifshitz, Gilad and Nitza Korengold - the parents of released hostage Tal Shoham. Other attendees included Doron Zaxer, the adoptive father of Edan Alexander, the last live American hostage who was freed in May.
'I am a survivor of the tunnels, and I came back from there," said Yocheved Lifshitz. "I thought a lot about your strength and ability to endure. On Friday, when I saw the images of those children who hadn't eaten, I felt myself being pulled back into the tunnels."
