Photo: Rehearsals for Independence Day opening ceremony on Mount Herzl (Photo Gil Yohanan)
From a story by Itamar Eichner, Noam (Dabul) Dvir in Israel News announcing 14 Israeli civilians were honored for their bravery will light the ceremonial torches on Wednesday evening at the opening Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl. One of these 14 people is a deaf person.
Deaf Holocaust survivor tells his story
Yaakov Ehrenfeld, 83, from Tel Aviv, is a deaf-mute Holocaust survivor who volunteers with the Association of the Deaf in Israel and the Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel.
He was educated in a boarding school for deaf Jews in Budapest and at the age of 11 was deported with his family from the city and was made to do forced labor alongside the retreating German army.
His parents were murdered while he was marched with other Jews from Hungary to the Mauthausen camp, where he was liberated at the end of the war. He immigrated to Israel with his brother and sister and settled in Tel Aviv.
Photo: Yaakov Ehrenfeld (Phone: Kobi Hai Yaakovi)
Ehrenfeld currently works in collaboration with the school for the deaf, and has been telling his story in sign language at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum to the deaf and non-deaf alike.
“Ehrenfeld inspires many and embodies the heroism of the spirit despite his disability. He highlights the moral strength of Israeli society, which integrates people with various disabilities,” the committee said.
