Lilia Kostitsina, 78: Grandmother of 10 loved to tend her garden

Elizaveta “Lilia” Kostitsina, 78, from Ofakim, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in her home in the city on October 7.

Shortly after the start of the rocket fire, she messaged her daughter that she heard tons of booms and wasn’t sure what was going on. Not long afterward, the two of them spoke, and Lilia said she felt bad for the neighbors who had to take their kids into the stairwell during ever siren, and was going to invite them into her apartment, where she had a room without any windows.

Lilia opened her front door and was shot dead by terrorists who had invaded the apartment building. Her neighbor, Emma Poliakov, was also slain in the attack.

Despite knowing that she had been killed, Lilia’s family had to wait more than a week for her body to be identified and for them to be given official notice of her death.

She was buried on October 16 in Ofakim. She is survived by her two children, Margarita (Rita) and Sergey (Shlomi) and 10 grandchildren.

Lilia was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to Freida and Solomon, a couple of months after the end of World War II, according to a state eulogy. She grew up in the city alongside her older brother, Naum, to parents who had fled pogroms in Belarus.

As a child she enjoyed literature and theater, but chose a more realistic and secure career, studying engineering. She had two children and worked in a factory that made parts for Katyusha rockets. Her children both moved to Israel and after she retired, Lilia followed them, arriving in 2000, living first in Jerusalem, then Modiin before settling in Ofakim, near her son, who became a rabbi. In Ofakim, she enjoyed caring for her garden, according to a municipal eulogy.

In the summer of 2023, she had heart surgery and was slowly recovering, returning to her walks around the neighborhood and getting back into her usual routine of helping out all those around her, including friends, neighbors, new Russian-speaking immigrants, family and her 10 beloved grandchildren.

“She really loved Ofakim, she loved her garden and every day until her last day she would go out to the garden and take care of it,” her daughter, Rita, told Maariv. “My mother was always taking care of those around her, she’d always ask me for help to solve their problems with various governmental bodies,” including medical providers and insurance agents.

She was looking forward to an upcoming visit from her nephew in Germany, “she’d already gone shopping, arranged day trips and they had all their plans set for his arrival… My mother loved life very much and had many more years to live.”

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