On April 18, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Magen David Adom’s Wish Ambulance team brought 92-year-old Aharon Shechter, a Holocaust survivor, to visit the Knesset and Yad Vashem. He was invited to Israel’s seat of government by Knesset Chairperson MK Amir Ohana.
During the journey from his home in Petach Tikva to the Knesset in Jerusalem, Mr. Shechter told the ambulance team about his life during the Holocaust, about family members who were killed, and about his joy in making aliyah to Israel in 1945 at the age of 14. He also shared his excitement about going to the Knesset for the first time.
“We were very excited to assist Mr. Shechter and accompany him throughout the day,” said Meir Valder, an MDA paramedic. “We heard about his childhood that ended abruptly at age 10 when the Jews were deported from his village in Romania, about the horrors of the past, and the inhuman conditions that he survived.” Among those who were killed were his grandfather, his parents, his sister, and his brothers.
“We were very emotional when he told us he was proud to have fought in Israel’s wars, built his lifetime’s work in farming, and of course a large family,” added EMT Tomer Bar Levy. Mr. Shechter served in the War of Independence, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and others. He has four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Following the meeting with MK Ohana, the ambulance team brought Mr. Shechter to the Jerusalem Forest for lunch, before departing for Yad Vashem, where he was given a private tour.
“I thank MDA’s Wish Ambulance team from the bottom of my heart for the initiative, the compassion, and their never-ending dedication to me and every detail to help me on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is a particularly difficult day for me,” said Mr. Shechter. “I thank Knesset Chairperson MK Amir Ohana and Yad Vashem for the warm welcome, and for being prepared to hear my testimony and act to memorialize those killed.
“During the visit today in the Knesset and in Yad Vashem, I witnessed the desire to honor and commemorate the memory of the Holocaust, and this gives me a great deal of hope, because the horrors, the torment, and the suffering that we experienced during the Holocaust in the ghettos and death camps in Romania, Poland, Hungary, and all the other places will never be forgotten.”
The Magen David Adom Wish Ambulance Program began in 2009 and has fulfilled thousands of wishes for sick or hurt children and adults to date.
