January 4th, 2024 – Grieving the loss of our dear Betty from Ashdod and Pioter from Rehovot.

Betty was 94 years old, and both her and her late husband were WWII Ghetto Survivors. They both had witnessed the horrors of WWII, her mother, father and 2 siblings having been killed by the Nazis in front of her.

In spite of all the hardships, she was full of life and wit till the end of her life. There were so many years of friendship and so many memories of visits and stories and bringing guests from Germany and from all around the world to her house for over a decade and a half.

Pioter from Rehovot also lost many of his relatives during WWII, they were all sent to the gas chambers. He, his brother and father survived in the Jewish ghetto, thanks to a Romanian guard who warned them beforehand each time the Nazis came to their ghetto to kill Jews. That way they could survive the pogroms by hiding. But his mother died from sickness due to the terrible living conditions in the ghetto.

Pioter was an 89 year old, still full of life till the end. He loved very much the German family who sponsored him for over a decade and was corresponding with them by mail on a regular basis.

They will be greatly missed. Their children expressed their deepest gratitude to Helping Hand Coalition for Israel and to the German sponsors, who brought them so much joy and support through the GAiN Sponsorship Program throughout all these years.

May their memory be a blessing.