‘Save the lives of hostages’ message to Gazans

Families of Righteous Among the Nations sent a message to Gaza residents, urging them to act to save the lives of those taken hostage by Gaza terrorists.

At a massive rally held this January 27th in the Hostages Plaza under the banner “NEVER AGAIN IS NOW,” video messages were screened from families of Righteous Among the Nations directly appealing to Gaza residents, asking them to be on the right side of history.

“Just as our parents, against all odds, saved Jews and risked their lives in the face of the Nazis, so too you, residents of Gaza, can save the lives of the hostages and be written in the history books as having chosen the right side,” they urged.

Janina Rosciszewska of Krakow, whose family was under constant threat of death for hiding Jews and said, “Either we all survive together or we all die together.”

“On behalf of the Righteous Among the Nations, I ask the people holding the hostages to release them,” she said. “They have done nothing wrong, they bear no guilt for having been born Jewish, just as I bear no guilt for having been born Polish.”

Nienke Jarsma, granddaughter of Henny Eskens from Holland who rescued a Jewish girl during the Holocaust with whom the whole family remains in close contact to this day, said: “Each year we commemorate this dark chapter (WWII), both as a people and as a family. The hostages deserve our undivided attention and unrelenting support, just as my grandmother had the courage to rescue a child, risking her and her daughter’s lives during WWII.”

Iga Bonkiene, daughter of Sofija Bonkiene, a Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations who lived near the Kovno Ghetto and aided Jews by offering them temporary shelter in her home, said: “Just as we helped people against the Nazis, Gaza residents too can help and rescue the hostages with information or any other way. In all wars and disasters, good always prevails over evil.”