Great-grandmother of slain IDF soldier was at Bergen Belsen, which she survived in her youth, for Remembrance Day ceremony at time of his death

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.