Yosef Winner, a Holocaust survivor who lost three grandchildren in the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7, passed away Tuesday evening at the age of 97. Winner is the grandfather of director Yahav Winner, who was murdered in the massacre while protecting his wife, singer Shaylee Atary, and their one-month-old daughter, Shaya, as well as the grandfather of Hadar Berdichesky, who was murdered with her husband Itay in their home in Kfar Aza, while protecting their 10-month-old twins, Ro’i and Guy. His granddaughter Ofir Alon eulogized him: "Our dear and beloved grandfather, the one and only, the head of our tribe, thank you for who you were and who you are for us. Now you can finally rest. You have suffered enough in life, especially after the past year, in which you lost two grandchildren in the most cruel way possible. Now you have joined them. Give Hadari a big hug. Our beloved Itay and Yahav. We love you forever." A month after the heinous massacre, Yosef z"l shared his feelings in a post he wrote, "My name is Yosef Winner and I am 97 years old," he shared, "I was saved from the fire of the Nazi beasts, my entire family was wiped out in the terrible inferno. I was cut off from my deep roots and I erected a monument of basalt stones in their memory." "Out of exhaustion, out of despair, from drowning, I clung to the land and planted myself in Zion. I married Aviva and we raised two wonderful children – Ofer and Nurit," he said. The family grew with the birth of their grandchildren, "Ofer and Michal gave us four grandchildren in Kfar Aza. Nurit and Miki gave us six grandchildren in Kfar Aza. I constructed our family tree, that is well planted in the soil of our homeland that bears fruit." "But then all of a sudden, October 7th, 2023 emerged from between the fences of evil, and the horrific scenes of burning and dust, killing and heinous murder of innocents came to me again. My dearest grandson, Yahav z"l, was murdered while protecting his wife Shaylee and his one-month-old daughter, Shaya. My dear granddaughter, Michal Hadar, z"l, and her husband Itay z"l, were murdered while protecting their 10-month-old twins, Roy and Guy." He concluded: "Once again I am exhausted, in despair, drowning. And I have no more land to hold onto."
