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Nine years after the dreadful Islamic terror attack, Moshe Holtzberg returned to the spot his parents were murdered to dedicate a memorial in their name.
By: AP and United with Israel Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a Jewish center in Mumbai on Thursday and unveiled a memorial to 166 people who were murdered by Muslim terrorists who rampaged through the Indian city in a three-day siege in 2008.
Netanyahu met with Moshe Holtzberg, an Israeli boy whose parents Rabbi Gavriel and Rivky were among six Jews killed at the Chabad Center in the city during the attack.
Netanyahu declared that light would spread from the memorial to make the world a better place.
Moshe thanked the prime minister for visiting the center and thanked God for his miraculous rescue.
“I thank God for giving us such a wonderful Prime Minister, who invited us to join him on his visit to India. I am returning home, I am returning to my room after a nine-year separation. On this festive occasion, I would like to thank God. Praised are you Lord our God who did a miracle for me in this place,” he blessed.
Shimon Rosenberg, Rivky’s father and Moshe’s grandfather, lit a candle for his slain daughter and son-in-law.
The Jewish People live!
Netanyahu and Moshe toured the latter’s former room and the site of the 2008 attack. Moshe’s late mother had indicated his height on the wall when Moshe was very young; the Prime Minister marked his present height on the wall.
“The reprehensible murderers who, we regret, claimed their victims, did not claim this boy because of love of Israel, of a splendid woman, Sandra,” Netanyahu said.
“We know that with the force of life and our love of life, we have overcome all obstacles and the Jewish People lives. The Jewish People will continue to prosper thanks to the strength of their faith, their love and their actions which find expression in this house and in the house that Moshe will establish, with the help of G-d. I would like to thank you all for your magnificent spirit; to the grandparents – well done. The Jewish People live!” he declared.
The Chabad Trust of India is converting parts of the building into a memorial for the victims of the attack, which also targeted a main railroad station, posh hotels and a cafe. India has blamed a Pakistan-based Islamic terror group for the attack.
Moshe was only two years old at the time of the attack and was saved by his nanny, Sandra Samuel, who found him by his parents’ bodies. He returned to Israel after the attack, and this visit to India was his first since.
Samuel was given Israeli citizenship and accompanied Moshe and his relatives on the visit to Mumbai.
His parents were emissaries of the Chabad movement living in Mumbai. Chabad is a Hasidic group known for its religious outreach programs serving Jews worldwide.
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