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Photo: Motti Kimchi
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery
Photo: Motti Kimchi

Bereaved families pay early visits to fallen soldiers of Israel's wars

Family members of Israel's soldiers visit their lost love ones to avoid crowds on Memorial Day: 'Memorial Day is completely irrelevant. Every day at every event we remember the fallen'

On the eve of Memorial Day, the military cemetery in Haifa is still quiet. Ten of thousands of soldiers are buried there, row upon row and section upon section, from the War of independence all the way to Operation Protective Edge. Between the wars and the operations, hundreds—if not thousands—of soldiers, members of the intelligence community, police officers and members of the Israel Prison Service, have been added to the count of the fallen.

 

 

Next to the military cemetery is the plot for Haifa's terror victims. A memorial service will be held for them on Wednesday as well.

 

Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Reuters)
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Reuters)

 

The foot traffic at the cemetery never ceases. Family relatives on Tuesday came to visit the graves of their loved ones and were joined by IDF soldiers and officers who adorned the tombstones with the Israeli flag, lit a memorial candle and laid a wreath on every tombstone. Also visiting the graves were school children and army units.

 

Tel Aviv's Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Tel Aviv's Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

 

Among those who came to visit were ninth-grade students from a school in Haifa, who came with their teacher Anat Halperin Arel, whose brother, Ammon Arel, died in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. “I decided to bring the students here to lay flowers and place a letter on the graves of ten heroes (who had once attended) the school, Unfortunately there are a lot more. We held the ceremony, read memorial passages and heard the memories of one of the bereaved mothers. I've taught these children for three years. My loss is a part of me, and they know this. So I decided to bring them to visit my brother’s grave,” she said.

 

Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

 

“From my perspective,” Anat said, “Memorial Day is completely irrelevant. Every day at every event we remember the fallen, not only on this day. Unfortunately more tragedies have befallen my family and today I am, in practice, the only one left. My two brothers died and so did my mother and father. So after we come here I bring all the extended family to my home for lunch and we stay together and support one another until the conclusion of Independence Day. Our ‘togetherness’ protects us despite the pain,” she continued.

 

Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

 

Rachel Milis from Tirat Carmel visited the grave of her brother Yitzhak who fell during the Yom Kippur War. “He was considered missing for seven years until the Egyptians allowed us to enter and take him back. We had two funerals,” Rachel said.

 

(Photo: Mottic Kimchi)
(Photo: Mottic Kimchi)

 

Rachel also visits another grave at a cemetery in Holon where her partner was buried during the Yom Kippur War, whose name was also happened to be Yitzhak. “He only needed to supply weapons and tanks but he wanted to go to the battlefield like everyone else and he didn’t come back,” she explained. “I come here frequently; I come here whenever I'm feeling down.”

 

Amnon Sahar
Amnon Sahar

 

Ruth Bachrah, from Haifa, came to visit the grave of her son Doron, who fell during the the 1982 Lebanon War. Each Friday she visits. However, on Tuesday she visited specially in order to tend to the gravesite ahead Memorial Day. “I know that tomorrow it will be too crowded here. It is impossible to lay new flowers and water them. I can hardly light a candle, so I came to do it today instead. I don’t need Memorial Day specially to remember my son, but despite this I think that Memorial Day is still important for the public to remember those who gave their lives for the state.”

 

Yaakov Flomkin
Yaakov Flomkin

 

In Tel Aviv’s Kiryat Shaul Cemetery, preparations were made during the morning hours for Wednesday’s Memorial Day ceremony. Dozens of bereaved families visited on Tuesday night to be together with their loved ones.

 

Itai Peleg came with her mother to visit the gravesite of her brother Amnon Sahar who also fell in the Yom Kippur War at 25 years old. “He (went to war) on his own initiative and was actually on sick leave,” she explained. “He had a cast and when he heard about the war he cut it off and went to join. All of our fun activities are cancelled on Memorial Day. My mom and I came a day before because of the crowds, and on the actual day the whole extended family comes. This is a kind of gathering for his memory. Also Independence Day is extremely sad. I feel that I cannot celebrate it. I don’t identify with it as a celebration.”

 

Mordechai Dori came to visit his brother Nissan’s grave, who was killed at 19 years of age during fighting in the Jordan Valley. “He was killed with 12 soldiers. They were exposed and had a grenade thrown at them,” he said. “Every Memorial Day I come with a soldier from the Paratroopers' Brigade. I dedicated a Torah scroll in his name to remember him. My grandson is currently in the army, and I hope that, thanks to the person who lies here, everybody who remains will live good and long lives.”

 

Visiting her uncle was Keren Dror Flomnik; she never knew him. Yaakov Flomnik was killed in the INS Eilat, which was sunk by the Egyptians after the Six-Day War. Yaakov was seriously injured and managed to swim to shore but later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.

 

“He was the youngest in the family and was almost 18. He lied about his age to enlist,” she explained. “In the extended family it is a custom to come to his grave every Memorial Day but in recent years we started coming one day earlier due to the crowds. We prefer to be together alone. The happiness of Independence Day for me is mixed with sadness but with all the pain. The proximity of the day to Memorial Day is, in my opinion, a good thing. I am upset but very happy about the founding of the state. It is not taken for granted.”

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.11.16, 10:05
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