(Lived here on the day of the Holocaust) - Shoah Day in Rambam: Holocaust survivor, Naftali First, shared with the medical staff as part of "Living Room Remembrance" initiated by the association "Lamenam" - doctors for Holocaust survivors.
The "Remembrance in the Living Room" event took place today, Sunday 5/5/24, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day and Heroism Tashpad, in Rambam, in cooperation with the "Lamanam" association, with the participation of survivor Naftali First, 91 years old.
An incredible life story
Naftali arrived at the German Buchenwald camp in January 1945 after surviving two periods of imprisonment alongside his parents in the Sard labor camp in Hungary, he was transported by transport to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where he was separated from his parents. From there, Naftali was taken on a three-day death march in the snow, at the end of which he was led in open coal wagons, in minus 25 degrees, to the Buchenwald camp.
The one who saved little First, along with 1,000 orphans who were brought to the camp, was a Czech political prisoner named Anton Kalina, who was awarded the "Patron of the World" award after his death. At the end of the war, Naftali was reunited with his surviving brothers, mother and father, each in a different camp, at the address their father had given them just before parting. However, the story of his survival approximately 80 years ago is related to the Shiv'ah massacre in October, since on that Shabbat, his granddaughter, her husband and his great-grandson survived the pogrom in Kfar Gaza.
"for them"
The "Remembrance in the Living Room" event is being held this year at Rambam by the Welfare Department of the Human Resources Division in collaboration with the association "Lamenam" Doctors for Holocaust Survivors, of which Naftali is among the patients. The association provides specialist medical services free of charge for Holocaust survivors all over Israel. And among its staff are approximately 1,200 volunteer doctors who wholeheartedly provide full and comprehensive medical service for the dear survivors of the Holocaust.
Merav Ganot, director of the welfare department stated:
"After I returned from the trip to the extermination camps in Poland a year ago, I took it upon myself to remember the events of the Holocaust, the survivors and the victims in any way I could. Today's activity is my connection and my right to assist in the existence of an important event with the participation of Mr. First, for the sake of future generations."
Raz Avitan Katz, CEO of "Lamenam" - doctors for Holocaust survivors:
"Ahead of Holocaust Day, the association initiated in various hospitals across the country memorial meetings in the living room, for Holocaust survivors who are patients of the association to tell their stories to the medical staff. The "For their sake" association assists survivors throughout the year by providing access to specialist medicine at no cost, and maintaining the connection and connection between the survivors and the medical staff who gives them as much as is necessary at any time."
