The great-grandmother of slain IDF reservist Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, who was killed in fighting in northern Gaza yesterday, was attending a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany at the time of her great-grandson’s death, Cafri’s aunt, Hadas, tells Ynet.
Cafri’s grandmother, 96-year-old Holocaust survivor Magda Baratz, was visiting the site of the infamous concentration camp, which she survived in her youth, as a guest of honor. She traveled there with her grandson Hagai, Cafri’s father.
Asaf Cafri (left), an IDF reservist who was killed in Gaza on April 25, 2025 and his great-grandmother, Holocuast survivor Magda Baratz, pictured in a billboard set up in Rishon LeZion in honor of Holocaust Remembrace Day, the day before his death. (Oren Dai/Rishon LeZion Municipality)
According to Ynet, Hagai only learned of his son’s death upon his return to Israel.
Speaking to the news outlet, Hadas says that Baratz viewed her return to Bergen Belsen, this time as a guest of honor at a remembrance event, as a “victory.”
“Asaf fell when his great-grandmother and family flew to the ceremony,” says Hadas. “She said that visiting the camp where she almost died was her victory. She managed to survive, came to Israel, and started a family and legacy.”
Cafri, 26, was killed by sniper fire in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza, according to an initial IDF probe. Three other soldiers were injured in the same incident.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Friday, April 25, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
