My father's name: Shimon Halfon. My mother: Margaret in the certificate, but she was born as Gita. The kidnapped brother was Amos Benjamin. He was the eldest and was born in 1943. There was a difference of four years between us. After this event three more sisters were born.

My mother wouldn’t let us out of sight since then. She suffered from anxiety and would hardly let us board a bus alone out of fear.

Esther, fled from Tripoli, Tunisia in 1949, they came to Israel because of pogroms.

Amos had green eyes and golden hair. In Tunisia, they used to tell mother that he looked like a Christian child. My mother gave birth on the illegal immigrant ship “Galila,” which traveled to Israel through Marseille. The day after the birth, they were told that the baby had died and couldn’t remain on board, and therefore the body was thrown into the sea before he was shown to them. To this date, we have doubts and questions about it. When they arrived in Israel, to Haifa (probably Sha’ar Ha’aliyah) on July 25, 1949, mother was immediately taken to Rambam.

My father, who, by the way, was an accountant and knew a thing or two, was in the hospital to monitor my mother’s situation and then returned to the camp. The boy Amos was then seven years old. When father returned to the camp, the neighbors told him Amos fell and scratched his knee. Father took him to Rambam to be bandaged. He was not allowed to enter. They told him to wait outside and took the child. They sent father home and told him to come back tomorrow. The next day, they told him he [Amos] died. They did not show him a body or a death certificate, nor where he was buried. My mother, who was already broken - having given birth, ill and exhausted, after experiencing the loss (or kidnapping of the baby she gave birth to on a ship) - had to deal with the kidnapping of Nino, Amos Benjamin.

It is important to emphasize and mention in case one of the adopted is reading these words: the nickname of Amos Benjamin was Nino. Until the age of six or so we always called him by this name. If this name sounds familiar to you or rings a bell, please do not hesitate to contact us. I was two-years-old when the kidnapping occurred. Today I am 69. I want to be able to see my brother who I have not seen since.

Esther Halfon