TEL AVIV (WSVN) – As Israel celebrates 75 years, the unimaginable loss of loved ones are fresh in the minds of people.
One car after another and another pulled over off a highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and then came the sirens.
They can be heard faintly in the distance.
But even if these drivers can barely hear it, they know it’s there. All over the country.
And so they stop.
“Everyone in this country knows someone, has a family member that has fallen,” said Lily Serviansky, with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. “Colleagues, friends, parents, children, everyone in mourning, and it’s a very personal day.”
Remembrance Day in Israel began Monday night as thousands of people gathered at a military facility atop a Latrun hill where Israeli and Arab soldiers battled, which followed the formation of the state of Israel.
And after minutes of silence, another air raid siren marked the start of the holiday.
“Then, the entire country becomes more somber, more than a little, really somber,” Serviansky said.
The day honors not only the tens of thousands of Israeli war dead but also those killed in terror attacks.
Even television stations late Monday night paused programming.
It was remembrance for the martyrs of the IDF, Israel Defense Forces, and victims of hostilities, one read.
Visitors from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation stopped at a monument about 30 minutes outside of Jerusalem, Tuesday, to honor hundreds of volunteers from around the world who fought in the Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
“Everything about this is so powerful, so meaningful,” said Debbie Myers, a visitor from Miami.
“You know, these kids at 18 years old, 20 years old, to step up and do what they do, is an important gesture,” said Mark Bochner, a visitor from Miami.
The stories stretch decades.
“And I’m standing 3 feet in front of me, and I remember hearing a whistle, I hear a really sharp whistle, and I see him get hit, and by the time we moved him to the stretcher, there were no signs of life,” said Stephen Wailand, a former Israeli Soldier.
“My grandfather was a volunteer here in Israel,” said David Deutch, a visitor from Miami.
Max Orovitz was not a soldier but came to Europe in 1947 to check on refugee centers that housed survivors of the concentration camps. He sent letters home.
“What did get me today is, in visiting these people, was the misery and despair in their eyes,” read Deutch from a letter written by his grandfather. “No outward complaints, but such a longing for good news of a home, maybe no more homelessness of a place they would not have to fear. As I looked at these people, I saw my father, my brother, your brother, myself. I saw things Today I didn’t believe possible, and I wanted you to know about them. Your saddened husband, Max.”
And perhaps with stories like those on their minds, after the sirens, motorists got back in their cars and drove away.
Just hours later, everything changed and it became Independence Day Tuesday night.
People started to say to each other “Happy Independence Day.”
Israel did not declare their Independence until May of 1948, but the date was chosen by the Jewish calendar, which is why it is being celebrated Tuesday and Wednesday.
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