Huge thanks to the “Back to Zion” German organization represented by Alexander and Caecylia Dietze, International board members of the Helping Hand Coalition Global Forum, 150 residents and survivors of the Holit massacre received financial support of 75,000 NIS in a great time of need.
Holit is a small kibbutz of 200 residents who went through the October 7th Hamas Massacre of Jewish civilians in Southern Israel. Today, two weeks after the dark events, 150 members have been evacuated and are now staying at the Ein Gedi Hotel near the Dead Sea, while another 50 are staying with their families in a different city. We met a few of the survivors of the October 7th carnage.
Gigi and Yehuda Lev are residents of Holit, originally from the U.S. he came from Texas, and she came from New York. Gigi and her husband came to Holit 35 years ago. The kibbutz has been their home ever since. During the Hamas terrorist raid, their son’s house was completely burned down; he and his family were saved by Gigi’s friend, who helped them escape the burning house. Gigi says she is here today talking with us only by pure miracle; most of her neighbors were massacred. Fifteen people total were massacred in Holit, and many were injured. A dozen houses were either burned down or destroyed/greatly damaged. Her husband Yehuda saved his neighbor from a burning house and protected his wife. He was part of the response force team in the kibbutz.
Oren Zvada spent 12 hours in his bomb shelter with his wife, mother-in-law, and his 5 and 8-year-old children; they all survived the assault, but their home was completely destroyed. The Hamas terrorist infiltrated their house twice and threw grenades into it. The army saved them.
Moshe Radler was the only Holocaust survivor in the kibbutz; he was 92 years old and murdered.
Another resident Yulia Weintraub present at the meeting, said that she was deeply touched by the love and support they received and sent her love to all the HHC sponsors behind the donation.
Alice Stern (Holit business manager) and Dror Livnat (reserve officer for the IDF), who are coordinating support for the refugees, send a huge warm thank you to Global Forum, HHC, and their partners Back to Zion for their generous donation, which will greatly help the survivors and refugee families from Holit. They say they will soon face many more financial challenges on top of all the current emotional distress, as they will have to rebuild everything from scratch. Several of their residents were already living on the line of poverty before the massacre; they are so grateful for all the support they have been getting and will need to rebuild their lives.
We are so deeply touched by the privilege of having been in contact with these amazing individuals who survived the terrible events, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their willingness to meet us and share their stories and their distress with us, and for the kindness they manifested to us. A true testimony of strength and survival during very challenging times. Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱 !!
TERROR
