Helping the Hirschfelds

Helping the Hirschfelds:

The Hirschfeld family is an Israeli family who were forced to flee their homes in the southern Israel after a barbaric and terrifying massacre in their kibbutzim by Hamas terrorists. The Hirschfeld family is facing a long process back to normalcy. In this difficult time, we are raising emergency funds to support their essential needs.

Below is a message from Peter Feldmann (a member of the Hirschfeld family):

Please help us to support our cousins, 4 families who were evacuated overnight and will probably never be able to return home.

Affected families and recipients are:

1. Raffi and Surke Hirschfeld (a married couple in their 80s evacuated from Nahal Oz)

Raffi and Surke were locked in a safe room in their house for 15 hours together with one of their granddaughters with no electricity, water or access to the toilet. While they were hiding, they heard the terrorists coming in and looting and breaking the house. They had to sit quietly in praying that no noise from the safe room would attract attention. As they were being evacuated by the army, they got a text message from their son in law - he and Raffi’s grandson were hiding in the safe room in their own house.

The message said: "Help us, help us, they’re trying to capture us". Raffi took the Israeli soldiers to the house, were a fight between Israeli soldiers and Hamas ensued before the boy and his father were rescued. Apparently, the door to their safe room could not lock so the dad was holding the door handle with all his might while his son was hiding inside of a linen basket.

Raffi and Surke, who are 80 years old, are staying in a safe place, their house is was looted and destroyed: all windows are broken, shoes and clothes were taken, as well as their jewlery. They escaped with the clothes on their bodies and nothing else.

2. Nurit Hirschfeld, her husband and 3 children (evacuated from Nahal Oz)

Nurit was hiding in the safe room of her house with her husband and three children. Hamas terrorists broke into her house, destroying and burning everything (furniture, dishes, windows, electronics and vehicles, clothes). The terrorist took their passports and left the burning house. Nurit and her children heard all from behind their hiding place in the safe room. Their newly built home was ruined and destroyed. The children escaped barefoot.

Nurit and her family were evacuated by the military and are safe.

3. Rotem Hirschfeld with her 3 children (evacuated from Nahal Oz)

Rotem is Raffi’s second daughter. Her eldest son Netta was at attending a small outdoor party (not the main rave party where there was so much carnage). He managed to escape and was hiding in the bushes for ten hours before the Israeli army rescued him. His rescue path took him through burnt cars and dead bodies. Rotem's second daughter was hiding with Raffi and Surke. Rotem’s youngest son was hiding with his father. Rotem and her family are homeless after their house was completely destroyed. The family was evacuated after hiding for 16 hours.

4. Oran Ravid-Hirschfeld, his pregnant wife and his 2 young children (evacuated from Kfar Azza)

Oran lived in Kefar-Azza with his 8-month pregnant wife and two young children. They were rescued and evacuated to Eilat after about 20 hours of being locked with no toilet access, food or water. His pregnant wife got dehydrated and needed medical care as soon as they were evacuated. They are homeless.

During the more than 20 hours that these four families were hiding, and the ensuing gun battle leading to their rescue, they were all witnesses to immense horror. As you can see from the photo below, these villages or kibbutz are extremely close to the border with Gaza. Whole families from the Nahal Oz and Kfar Azza were murdered inside of their "safe room"; some were hiding in cupboards or boxes; there was no electricity or access to toilets and water; children saw their parents being executed or kidnapped, and parents saw their children being mercilessly slaughtered.

The trauma is immense and they are all in great need of emotional and mental support as well as necessities which are so often taken for granted: clothes, shoes and basic personal hygiene products.

The funds raised here will be used towards these items.

This first aid may only alleviate immediate needs and to give hope that one day homes can be rebuilt elsewhere. Rotem and Oran already know there is no way they can return to this place.

All are now safe and have found temporary accommodation in camps and/or with family.

We have chosen `gogetfunding 'as a safe and reliable croudfunding organisation.

All donations will be directly deposited to the Hirschfeld family in Israel.

We appreciate any possible help and / or forwarding of this link to your social environment.

Please join us in supporting the Hirschfeld family! Any donation, small or big, will make a huge, personal difference to this family.

With much gratitude,

Lauren & Mark Leiderman, Peter Feldmann, & Tamar Hirschfeld

Video Excerpt: Nurit Hirschfeld reading from the original Görlitz Torah Scrolls while visiting Görlitz for Jewish Remembrance Week in June 2023. The Hirschfeld & Feldmann family have their Jewish roots in Görlitz. The family was forced to flee Görlitz & Germany by the Nazi Regime.

Video Press Coverage from inside Kfar Azza:

Hamas-made livestream from within Nahal Oz abducting a family:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1711902425563513325

The Feldmann family's Görlitz story.

LINK: https://stolpersteine-guide.de/map/biografie/4711/familie-feldmann