A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

Kibbutz Mefalsim, Israel — When Hamas fighters entered southern Israel on October 7, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip carried out the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust.

So this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, bears greater significance for many Jews around the world.

The tragedies of October 7 motivated Judith Tzamir, a Holocaust survivor from Germany who emigrated to Israel in 1964, to celebrate the melancholy anniversary by making a journey to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in Poland, which she had previously avoided.

Tzamir, whose kibbutz fended off Hamas attacks on October 7, will march alongside 55 other Holocaust survivors from throughout the world, as well as over 10,000 others. The event recreates the 2-mile (3-kilometer) march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, where Nazi Germany murdered an estimated 1 million Jews.

Now in its 36th year, the event often attracts thousands of attendees, including Holocaust survivors, Jewish students, leaders, and politicians. This year’s march will include Israeli captives who have been released from captivity in Gaza, as well as families whose relatives are still held captive.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

“I’m not sure if the world will listen, but it’s important to me,” said Tzamir, who has previously declined invitations to visit Auschwitz. “To remember that there’s still antisemitism around, and there are still people who will kill just for religious reasons.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day observed on the anniversary of the commencement of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, has traditionally been a moment for Israelis to assemble and hear testimony from survivors.

It is one of the most solemn days of the year, with a two-minute siren that stops traffic and causes people to stand at attention in remembrance of the victims. Memorial services are held throughout the day, and the names of the victims are read aloud. While Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, strives to avoid politics, this year’s event has an empty yellow chair in solidarity with the Israeli captives still held in Gaza.

When Tzamir was 4 1/2 years old, her parents dressed her in a light blue frock, black shoes, and white socks and took her to a plaza in Berlin. She recalls clutching her doll, Yula, as they revealed that they were not her parents and that the woman standing in front of them was her biological mother.

Tzamir’s mother served in the German Wehrmacht during World War II, concealing her Jewish origins. She gave birth to Judith in 1943 at a nun-run hospital, then abandoned her to save her own life. At the time, Tzamir, known as Donata, was placed in a foster household. She didn’t know she was Jewish until she met her mother.

Tzamir traveled to Mefalsim, a kibbutz in southern Israel on the Gaza border, through a student exchange program sixteen years later while in college. Following her studies, she returned to Mefalsim, fell in love with a new immigrant from Argentina living on the kibbutz, and stayed to have four children.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

On October 7, Tzamir faced the danger of losing her home again. Hamas militants crossed the border from Gaza and targeted cities, army bases, and a music festival in southern Israel. Mefalsim was fortunate compared to many other kibbutzim in the area, where militants torched homes and caused widespread devastation.

That day, the militants slaughtered over 1,200 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians, and kidnapped another 250. The incident precipitated Israel’s invasion of Gaza, in which the death toll has risen to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and over 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes. The high death toll and humanitarian catastrophe have generated genocide claims against Israel before the International Court of Justice, which Israel vigorously denies.

Hamas has stated that their attack was intended at the Israeli occupation and blockade of Gaza, while pro-Palestinian groups have denied any antisemitic motivations in their opposition to Israel’s military offensive. For most Jewish Israelis, global rallies calling for boycotts of Israel and challenging the country’s right to exist frequently devolve into antisemitism.

On the day of the attack, Mefalsim’s emergency readiness squad managed to keep the majority of the Hamas terrorists outside the kibbutz fence. Many inhabitants remained in secure rooms for nearly 24 hours before the Israeli army was able to remove them the following day.

Although no one was killed at Mefalsim, the town’s approximately 800 residents, as well as more than 120,000 Israelis who resided within a few kilometers of the Gaza and Lebanon borders, were ordered to evacuate. Mefalsim, Tzamir’s constant anchor after a turbulent upbringing, was no longer a haven.

Many Mefalsim residents have been living in a hotel north of Tel Aviv for the past seven months, unsure of their next steps, but Tzamir and others plan to return to the kibbutz in June.

Tzamir said the October 7 attack brought back memories of her childhood trauma. She was able to function during the day, but when she went to bed, her dreams were filled with blood, death, and fire, reminiscent of the bombs she watched as a child in Germany.

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A Holocaust Survivor Will Mark That History Differently After The Horrors Of Oct. 7

Tzamir is one of about 2,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel who were forced to flee their homes due to the conflict in Gaza, according to Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs. The government believes that 132,000 Holocaust survivors exist in Israel.

Tzamir has known every resident of her kibbutz for 13 years, having served as its director. She stated that some families may never return to Mefalsim within one mile (1.4 kilometers) from the Gaza border. Explosions from Gaza ricochet throughout the buildings, and a sense of security is difficult to regain.

But that was never a question for her, she explained.

“I’m 80 years old, and I don’t want to lose my home again,” Tzamir remarked as her husband Ran worked on a garden brimming with succulents and flowers just before their journey to Poland. “We are coming back.”

SOURCE – (AP)