Great-grandson killed in Gaza as Shoah survivor visits Bergen-Belsen

As Magda Baratz, a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor, was visiting the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, where she was held during World War II, her great-grandson was killed in action in Gaza.

Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, 26, was a tank driver in the 14th Reserve Armoured Brigade’s 79th Battalion, from Beit Hashmonai near Ramla in central Israel.

He was killed on Thursday by terrorist sniper fire in the Beit Hanoun area while outside his tank, near one of the army’s posts in the IDF-controlled buffer zone, according to a preliminary IDF probe.

“Asaf fell while his great-grandmother and our family were visiting the camp,” Cafri’s aunt Hadas told Ynet News.

“She said her victory was returning to the camp with her family,” Hadas continued. That “going back to the place where she almost died, this time with a family she built in Israel, was her personal triumph.”

Baratz attended a memorial ceremony at Bergen-Belsen as a guest of honour and was accompanied by her grandson Haggai, Cafri’s father.

Haggai learned of his son’s death when he arrived in Israel.

Cafri’s aunt related that on the day of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, he donned his uniform and headed south without hesitation.

“He felt it was his generation’s turn to serve and protect. He always said, ‘It’s our duty to give of ourselves and defend the country.’ He believed he was fighting to bring the hostages home,” Hadas said.

“This Passover, he stayed in Gaza. He was the only one missing from the Seder. We video-called, sent photos and messages, but he was deeply missed. He had a pure heart and lived to do good. We’re shattered.”

Cafri had three younger brothers, Yoav, Itay and Idan, and was studying engineering at Ariel University, according to Ynet.

He participated in four rounds of fighting in Gaza, Hadas said.

Cafri’s funeral was set to held later on Saturday, at the cemetery in the Gezer Regional Council, near Ramla.

A total of 849 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, including 412 during the ground campaign in the Strip.

JNS