From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 24, 2025
‘Same kind of torture’: At March of the Living, ex-hostages, relatives of captives draw parallels
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Former hostages held in Gaza and captives’ family members gather outside a crematorium at Auschwitz at the start of March of the Living.
Releases hostage Eli Sharabi stands with his brother Sharon Sharabi.
“We will never forget or forgive,” says Sharabi, adding that he is at Auschwitz with hostages’ relatives, released hostages and bereaved families.
“The land of Israel is a reminder that the Jewish nation will last forever. We sanctify life, not death. And the unwritten contract between the State of Israel and its citizens is to bring back the 59 hostages now to their homeland and for burial in their land,” he says.
It is the second year in which hostages and relatives of abductees have come to Auschwitz for the March of the Living.
Michael Kupershtein, Holocaust survivor and grandfather of hostage Bar Kupershtein, says the Germans wanted to kill all the Jews, and this same hate caused children, women and men to be murdered on October 7, 2023.
His wife, Faina Kupershtein, says her grandson is going through almost the “same kind” of torture that Holocaust survivors experienced.
Tzili Wenkert, grandmother of released hostage Omer Wenkert, recalled that when she was a baby her family had to survive a ghetto in Romania.
“We immigrated to Israel in 1965 and had two sons there, and I never dreamed something like this could happen,” says Wenkert of the October 7 attack.
The Times of Israel Community.