Vasina and Yosef Cohen

In 1952, Grandmother and Grandfather went to visit relatives in Or Yehuda. Their daughter, Rachel, two years old at the time, felt unwell and they took her to Tel Hashomer hospital, where they were told that it wasn’t anything serious but that she needed to be hospitalized. They stayed overnight with their friends in Or Yehuda. In the morning, when they returned to the hospital, they were told that the girl had died. No death certificate, of course, and no body. My grandmother stayed for weeks at their friends’ place and fought to receive some kind of documentation or to get the details of a grave, before giving up. Then, a few years later, a notice of conscription arrived for the girl, followed by the military unit responsible for the apprehension of deserters. Members from this unit arrived many times to make sure that Rachel is not trying to evade conscription, posing as another sister. A few years ago I began researching. I could not find any record of her death. In the Ministry of Interior she is registered as having given up her Israeli citizenship, and the address listed for her is the Ashkelon transit camp. We were unable to find any trace of her.

Yosef Cohen

My grandmother stayed for weeks at their friends’ place and fought to receive some kind of documentation or to get the details of a grave, before giving up. Then, a few years later, a notice of conscription arrived for the girl, followed by the military unit responsible for the apprehension of deserters