The brutal slaying of roughly 1,400 individuals in Israel orchestrated by the Palestinian Hamas militants originating from Gaza and the subsequent seizure of over 100 hostages reechoed worldwide, striking poignant chords predominantly in central and eastern Europe, regions laden with Jewish heritage and immortalized memories of the Holocaust.
The capture of a single man in these circumstances elicited profound distress and anguish.
Alex Danzig, a distinguished 75-year-old scholar and Holocaust historian, diligently dedicated the past three decades of his life to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust commemoration center, enlightening both Jews and Poles regarding the atrocities committed during the twilight years of World War II.
A resident of Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel in proximity to Gaza, Alex vanished without a trace on 7th October, the fateful day the marauders struck, severing all communication with his family.
Bitter ironies abound in this tale. Born in post-war Poland in 1948, coinciding with the birth of the State of Israel, Alex is the younger sibling of Edith, a Holocaust survivor. She was but a child born under German occupation in the contemporary western Ukraine area in 1941. Her life was saved by the noble aid of a Polish mother-daughter duo, Maria and Halina Assanowicz, who offered her sanctuary out of the clutches of the Nazis.
This altruistic act enabled Edith’s parents to navigate more freely, in spite of the occupation and maltreatment of Jews, leading them to credit the Assanowiczes for their survival. In 1982, the pair was aptly recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, an accolade of the highest regard bestowed upon non-Jewish heroes who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust.
No hyperbole suffices to suggest that Alex Danzig’s existence may have been owed to these valiant individuals.
Alex’s early life unfolded quite routinely. The initial nine years of his life were spent in Poland, and following his parents’ emigration to Israel in 1957, he served in the military, fought in several wars, joined a left-wing youth organization, garnered a history degree, and started a family on the kibbutz.
His profound interest in the Holocaust was sparked during a visit to Auschwitz, the concentration camp during Nazi occupation, on a return trip to Poland in 1986. This ignited his passion in examining Polish-Jewish relations’ complexity, leading to several decades spent educating Israeli and Polish students about the death camps.
Alex Danzig’s close associate and previous colleague at Yad Vashem, Orit Margilot, portrays him as a prodigious communicator capable of tearing down barriers, his impact resounding among thousands of students spanning continents.
However, the day the Hamas attackers struck, Alex disappeared. His son Mati, also a Nir Oz resident, survived the attack, his account of the ordeal a chilling testament to the horrors unleashed. Mati’s mother and siblings managed to evade the chaos, but Alex was not as fortunate.
“It’s certain that he was abducted, there’s no doubt,” Mati revealed, adding that the whereabouts of Alex, who had suffered a severe heart attack and required medications, remain unknown.
His absence has catalyzed an international plea for his release with a campaign titled #StandwithAlex seeking to influence the Polish government to ensure his safe return. In a poignant message on the campaign’s Facebook page, the plea reads, “Help us help him. We want him back.”
With Alex missing, Mati reminisces about his father, cherishing their close bond, despite physical distances, their visits replete with warmth and family affection.
As Alex’s fate hangs in the balance, his profound legacy and the undying hope for his safe return continue to reverberate across two continents, etching an indelible mark in the annals of Polish-Jewish history.
