“I lost my family. Twice. First when I was 7 and the Nazis forced us out of our home. The last time I saw my mother was when we entered Auschwitz. After the war, I was taken to Marseille and from there to Israel. In 1948, when I was 14, I arrived at a Kibbutz in the north where I started to work and study in school for the first time in my life. In 1952, I enrolled in the IDF and fought in all the wars. During my military service, I was sent to Argentina for a mission. One night in a pub, I met the woman who would later become my wife. We couldn’t communicate very well because of the language gaps before we understood that we both spoke Yiddish. Shortly after I returned to Israel, she joined me and we got married in Tel-Aviv. It took us a long time to get pregnant, but we finally got a beautiful girl. In 1994, my wife went to visit our daughter in Jerusalem. While travelling around the city they hopped on a bus that blew up from a suicide bomber. No one survived and I lost everything. It is very hard to describe my feelings when I look back at everything I went through. I just try to hold on.” Pinchas, 86 years old.
In the picture, Pinchas and Tamir, the volunteer from Latet who visits Pinchas on a weekly basis. (Photo is from a visit last year)
Pinchas is not alone. Latet is the largest NGO combating poverty in Israel and provides assistance to seniors in need, 20% of which are Holocaust survivors. Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis Latet has launched a national Emergency Response to the pandemic. Latet is packing and delivering boxes of essential food and hygiene products at the doorstep of thousands of elders in need confined to their homes.
How can you help? Easy. Latet is asking for your support.
For more information and to contribute, click here.
Please donate today.
