By EDITOR
The most recognised victim of Nazi tyranny during World War II is probably Anne Frank, the teenage diary writer many of us got to know so well during our childhoods. The Diary of Anne Frank is both a coming-of-age tale and a record of a particular experience of those directly impacted by the Germans’ plans to wipe out the Jewish population of Europe. Anne’s experiences and her thoughts – so vividly expressed in her writing – together with the iconic photograph of the girl with the dark hair, give us an insight into her life, bringing us closer to her. It’s almost as if we feel we know her well.
Today, we have a new iconic image associated with yet another attempt to destroy the Jewish nation. The Bibas family – young mother Shiri and the two red-haired little boys, Ariel and Kfir – became the symbol of the hostage crisis in Israel during the Israel-Gaza War. For month after month, we called for their release, unable to fathom how any aggressor could conceivably hold in captivity such innocent victims, such very young children. Our collective psyche told us that we would see these children again: it seemed inconceivable that such adorable little boys could not walk out of Gaza one day.
But, to our horror, history has repeated itself. As we learned from Anne Frank’s story, tragically, she died just a few weeks before the end of the War, a young life cut short far too soon. And with Ariel and Kfir, during the period of a ceasefire and the hope of a permanent end to the war, it’s become clear that our calls for their release were naïve since they had been murdered long beforehand. In the words of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, “I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”
Shiri, Ariel, Kfir, Anne: You are all with us, in our hearts and in our memories. We will never forget you.
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