This day trip was one of many conducted for Holocaust survivors all over Israel in mid-April, thanks to a generous bequest from the estate of Lilly and Alexander Enten of blessed memory, from Australia.
“We arrived by boat in 1949, kissed the ground and thanked Heaven for bringing us here”, said Pnina Beitser, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, on reflection of her first moments in Israel. Pnina, who was a young girl during the Holocaust years, was sent to Siberia with her family. “We had no food and no clothing. My grandfather and baby sister died. It’s a miracle how we managed to live.”
Pnina was part of a large group of Holocaust survivors from Haifa’s Kiryat Haim neighborhood who spent a day touring the Galilee with KKL-JNF. Their first stop of the day was at the Lowdermilk Observation Point overlooking the magnificent Netofa Valley.
KKL-JNF guide Alon Guter took the opportunity to welcome the visitors and explain the mandate of the organization he represents.
“KKL-JNF has been working for well over a century to develop this land for the good of its residents. In the beginning, we concentrated on developing what was a desert into a lush green country. To do this we planted over 240 million trees. Over the years, our focused changed and today we are concentrating more on water management, environmental protection, community development, tourism and recreation. One of our projects is tours such as this one for Holocaust survivors and the elderly.”
The next stop was at the KKL-JNF Nursery near the Golani Junction. Hiruy Amare, the nursery director, described in detail how the nursery operates and how they produce trees from seed to sapling.
“We gather in the seeds as if they were olim, new immigrants, and prepare them for life in Israel.”
The group then embarked on a tour through the nursery, with Guter explaining the tree growing stages at each stop.
During the nursery tour, participant Chana Marcow, who was born in Rumania, described her experiences in the Holocaust as a little girl of 7:
“I was young but I remember everything. The Germans chased us and we fled to Hungary and then Austria. We had no belongings whatsoever. It was horrific. After the war, we were sent to Italy where, after a year and a half, we boarded a ship for Israel. We thought we were free but the British caught us and sent us to Cypress for a long time. Finally, we arrived in Israel. We were ecstatically happy, despite the fact that the country was at war.”
This is the seventh year in a row in which Holocaust survivors in Israel are treated to a day in the countryside, thanks to a generous contribution from the estate of Lilly and Alexander Enten, of blessed memory. KKL-JNF conducts the tours each spring before the Passover holiday. The excursions embark from dozens of towns and cities around the country. Thousands of Holocaust survivors have taken part.
At the end of the nursery tour, Guter handed each participant a flyer that depicted the story of the lives of Lilly and Alexander Enten, as written by Alexander’s nephew Peter Enten in Melbourne, Australia. Guter told them that Lilly Enten, née Colos, was born in Hungary to a middle-class family, and recounted her story:
“Lilly survived Auschwitz as a young woman where she witnessed her mother, sister, and aunt, marching towards the gas chambers. She lost her entire family. After the war, Lilly escaped communist Hungary and traveled to Tasmania and then mainland Australia, where she met her husband Alexander. Alexander was also born in Hungary but he spent the war years in the relative safety of England before moving to Australia. The married couple did not have children and were strong supporters of the Australian Jewish Community and of Israel. They left their entire estate to the Land of Israel. Lilly was particularly keen to support Holocaust survivors.”
The tour participants found the story of Lilly Enten deeply moving, and expressed their sentiments.
Frida Bros, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, said that after the war, the USA had opened its gates to Jewish immigration but her grandmother, who was an avid Zionist, would not even consider it.
“Savta encouraged us all to follow her to Israel and that is the best thing that happened to me. We came to build the new Jewish country. My father worked as a builder and road worker. Who would do that today? Nevertheless, he was happy. He said that this is our country and here we are free. I grew up and met my husband Rafael, who, I am proud to say, is a KKL-JNF retiree and is with us today on the trip. Rafael worked here at the nursery too. I want to express my gratitude to the Enten family and their descendants for their generosity.”
Itzik Morsky of the Shilo Company, which runs the Holocaust Survivor Center in Kiryat Haim, said that the club members had been looking forward to taking part in the tour. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to get out into the countryside. For most, it is not an easy thing to do. The club is very important for them. They meet once a week and find comfort in one another. A trip like this broadens their horizons.”
The next stop on the tour was the new scenic route in the newly rehabilitated Givat Hamoreh Forest. While driving along the new road and watching the trees whizz by, Alon explained that the scenic route project was another example of KKL-JNF service for the community.
The day ended at a gourmet restaurant in Afula, where the participants discussed the events of the day over a hot meal.