Yeshiva high school students in Ramat Gan celebrated the 100th birthday of Yisrael, a Holocaust survivor and neighbor of the yeshiva, who was born in the Polish city of Łódź exactly a century ago.
The students decided to mark the special occasion and organized a festive and moving reception for him within the walls of the school.
When Yisrael entered the room, where many of the yeshiva students were gathered, the boys welcomed him with song. They sang “Happy Birthday" to him and then presented him with a large birthday cake decorated with balloons bearing the number 100.
During the meeting with the students, Yisrael shared with them his painful memories from the war and from the selection process carried out at the concentration camp.
“Mengele, the man in charge of the camp who conducted the selections - I wanted to go with my father. Everyone told me: go where he tells you. He kicked me. After I lost my father, I was alone," Yisrael recounted.