Channels

Photo: Eli Mendelbaum
Regenstreif with the volunteers
Photo: Eli Mendelbaum

Soldiers find surrogate grandfather in Holocaust survivor

Two young men signed up with the ‘Connected’ project to teach a Holocaust survivor how to use the internet in his home, but their connection became akin to that of family; says one of the volunteers, ‘I received a warm and loving grandfather.’

Mark Schackler and his friend Jordono Basso visited Holocaust survivor Danny Karol Regenstreif as part of the “Connected” project when they were still students at the Givat Ram College in Jerusalem. Today they are both soldiers, but they haven’t given up the tradition of visiting Danny at every opportunity they have, and they received the Jerusalem Municipality Prize for their volunteer work.

 

 

The “Connected” project is a joint venture of ORT Israel and the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel. It aims to help survivors cope with loneliness by connecting them with student volunteers, who teach them computer skills and help them access the internet.

 

Playing checkers with Regenstreif  (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)
Playing checkers with Regenstreif (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

 

Schackler and Basso received the Jerusalem Municipality Prize last year. “From the first moment I was exposed to the project, I understood that it was for me, that this was my way of helping,” Schackler said. “When we came to Karol, our joint journey began.

 

Regenstreif with Basso and Schackler (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)
Regenstreif with Basso and Schackler (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

 

“The main goal was to teach him how to use the computer so that he could adapt to the technological world. To our surprise, we ended up in a situation where at every meeting, we would talk and do different things and work with the computer less. In my opinion, this is the indirect goal: put a person in contact with other people. In a word, we connected.

 

(Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)
(Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

 

“The message I want to convey is that there’s no such thing as ‘I don’t have time to volunteer.’ There is such a thing as ‘I don’t want to.’ You can always find time, and there are many ways to do it. After all, the most significant contribution is (received by) the volunteer himself. When I’m asked what volunterring gives me, I answer that I received a family member. I got a warm and loving grandfather.”

 

Regenstreif told the young men, “At the age of over 70, I can see the world through the computer I received as a present. I was placed in the modern world. I never dreamt that I would have such a thing. Unfortunately, my financial and health situations are too poor for me to have reached the dream that you realized for me. Dear Mark and dear Jordan, you are really my family.”

 

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.23.17, 23:21
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment