4 members of Sitton-Cohen family killed while spending holiday together

Four members of the same extended family were murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7: Pessi Cohen, 68, who lived in the kibbutz, and her guests — her sister Hanna “Hani” Sitton, 73, brother-in-law Yitzhak “Zizi” Sitton, 76, of Hod Hasharon, and her nephew Tal Sitton, 49, from Rehovot.

Hamas terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz gathered a number of captives from around Be’eri and forced them into Cohen’s home. In total 40 Hamas gunmen and 14 hostages were holed up inside. Hamas had already killed several of them when a gunfight broke out between the terrorists and the IDF, as Hamas stationed themselves behind the hostages amid the crossfire. All those remaining inside were killed, except one Israeli who survived.

The bodies of Pessi, Hani, Zizi and Tal were only identified 11 days later, and they were buried together on October 19 in Hod Hasharon.

Family members noted that Hani, Zizi and Tal had gone to Be’eri to be with Pessi as she marked the Hebrew anniversary of the death of her husband, Rafi, who died suddenly in 2016 in an accident, as well as to celebrate the Simhat Torah holiday together.

Hani and Zizi are survived by their other three children, Lior, Noa and Ron, and nine grandchildren. Pessi is survived by her four children: Shai, Hila, Keren and Guy, and 10 grandchildren. Tal is survived by his two daughters.

Tal Sitton was a veteran of a number of high-tech startups, and a few years ago started Softale, his own consulting firm for startups. His former employer, EyeClick, said that “Tal was an integral part of the EyeClick team from 2021 to 2022, leaving a lasting impact with his exceptional dedication and kindness. Tal was a remarkable person, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

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Zizi Siton was earlier in the textile business, later changing direction to manage a diamond factory in South Africa, splitting his time between there and Israel, where Hani remained with their kids.

Pessi’s daughter-in-law, Sharon Tzuella Cohen, wrote on Facebook about the heartbreak of the quadruple loss: “How can we understand and accept that you left us alone? Aunt Hanna, Zizi, Tal, I can’t describe how much we will miss you, and how much your winning recipes will be missed — the tastiest brownies in the universe, that no matter how much we tried never came out like yours Aunt Hanna.”

Sharon wrote that she had seen Tal a number of times in the past year “and we were blessed with many hours together, many conversations… Zizi you stood there like a hero and protected them with your body in the safe room, you held the door with all your strength but unfortunately they came prepared with incredible amounts of weapons and people.”

“Taltul and Hanna, you were there with Pessi and the feeling that she was not alone in that moment provides a tiny bit of comfort to a broken heart. Our savtushit, Pessi, beautiful with eyes the color of the sea and the biggest heart in the world. In the past seven years, you chose to live at full power along with the grief over Rafi and the tragedy… you went out, you traveled, you enjoyed.”

At their quadruple funeral, their cousin, Pasi Cohen (named after the same grandmother as Pessi), described how their families were reunited more than 15 years after the Holocaust, when she was 8 years old and her father discovered that his sister had survived and was also living in Israel.

“Finally I had family, we grew up together, we spent every vacation together, our children loved each other — we loved each other so much,” she said. “They raised children wonderfully, and I was sure that it would be forever. And then, again, a holocaust, murder, they murdered them in cold blood. Our whole family is in pain.”

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