One of the world’s smallest and most geographically isolated Jewish communities has united behind an effort to fulfill a Holocaust survivor’s last dying wish, and give her a proper Jewish burial in the Land of Israel.
The Jewish community of the Canary Islands – an Atlantic archipelago under Spanish sovereignty west of Morocco – numbers only a few dozen individuals. Nevertheless, when Hilde Nathan, a 90-year old Holocaust survivor living in the Canary Islands, passed away last Thursday, some 20 local Jews joined together to pay for remains to be flown to Israel and laid to rest.
"In her childhood she was humiliated,” one of the organizers of the effort told United With Israel. “She had no name, but a number. Today, thanks to many anonymous people who made her last wish possible, our head is held high as we know we conquered our enemies. Today we stand strong and united than ever."
But members of the Canary Islands Jewish community are hoping that Israeli Jews will join in paying their final respects to Nathan, noting that she has no living relatives to attend the funeral.
Born in Germany in 1926, Nathan’s family attempted to flee to the Land of Israel in the 1930s, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine, but were denied entry visas. During a later escape attempt, the Nathan family was captured by the Nazis and transferred to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Nathan and her parent’s survived three agonizing years in Theresienstadt, and were freed by Soviet forces the day the war ended in May, 1945.
After her father passed away in Germany, Nathan moved with her mother to the Canary Islands. When her mother died several years ago, Nathan made arrangements for her to be buried in Israel, noting that she could not ensure she would have a proper Jewish burial in Germany, where her father was interred.
Those who knew Nathan say her last dying wish was to also be buried in Israel. Organizers say that while they have provided the funding for the transfer of her remains and the burial itself, they hope Israelis will come pay their final respects to Nathan.
The funeral is scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m. at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv.
