Shimon Arjouan disappeared around 1951, at the age of 8 months. A maternity ward nurse/social worker persuaded the mother to place the baby in the custody a children’s home, where it is cleaner / there is enough food / he will be better cared for, and so on. When faced with the mother’s refusal, she engaged in demagoguery. After repeating herself again and again and assuring the mother that she could come and nurse the child whenever she wanted, the mother consented. Not more than a few days passed, when the mother came to visit once again, she could not find him. She was told that he fell ill and was taken to Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem [which is today called, Shaare Zedek]. At first the hospital refused the family entry, and then told them that he had died and was buried. At this point, their suspicions were raised, and after the father insisted on obtaining further details he was yelled at and the police were called, who aggressively removed them from the premises. A death certificate was never received. The year the child would have turned 18, the family received a draft notice in his name. In 1996 I went to the Interior Ministry to receive a death certificate and was refused. When I contacted the archive of Bikur Holim Hospital I was told these words: "All the folders in the hospital archives pertaining to the years 1948-54 were burned in a fire a few decades ago.”

Michal Shalev