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Obituary: Lou Hoffer, a Holocaust survivor who had a passion for keeping the stories of Romanian Jews alive
Romanian-born Holocaust survivor Lou Hoffer was dedicated to putting a spotlight on the plight of Romanian Jews deported to Transnistria, a region of the Ukraine known as ‘The Death Trap,” during the Second World War.
He died in Toronto on Jan. 10.
“Lou was an eloquent survivor speaker who captivated the audience’s attention, especially students. He often started his talks with a bit of a geography and history lesson before diving into his personal experiences in the Holocaust, as most people didn’t know the area he originally came from and was deported to,” said Mary Siklos, who worked closely with Hoffer and other survivors at the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto. “He was a passionate advocate for educating people about Transnistria.”
Hoffer estimated he was born in 1927 in Vijnitz, Romania, where half of its prewar population of 8,000 was Jewish. His records and documentation were lost during the war. He attended classes at Jewish and secular schools where he was recognized as an excellent student, played soccer and travelled to the Carpathian Mountains for excursions.
Hoffer’s ordeal started in 1940 with Russian occupation. A year later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Vijnitz was under German control. More than 250 Jews were killed in a pogrom that lasted for three days. Hoffer’s grandfather was one of the first Jews murdered.
By the end of 1941, Hoffer, his parents and his younger brother were deported in overcrowded cattle cars. Their first stop was a town called Ataki, on the banks of the Dniester River across from Ukraine. Hoffer and his family took shelter in homes that were abandoned by Jewish residents.
In a 2014 interview Hoffer told The CJN that the Jews left messages on the walls of these empty houses. ‘We are being killed. If you survive, please tell the world what happened to us. Say Kaddish for us and don’t ever forget us.’ Hoffer committed himself to doing this if he survived.
The family were moved to a region called Transnistria, meaning ‘beyond the Dneister River’, controlled by Romania. In an interview that Hoffer did with the U.S. Holocaust Museum, he described what his family experienced during the war.
“During the first 10 days of deportations, 38,000 Jews were killed on both sides of the border. Many were just driven into the river and shot.”
The Hoffers survived the transport and arrived in Shargorod, an ‘unofficial’ ghetto. The new arrivals joined some 2,000 local Ukrainian Jews who lived there. “We were now stateless, homeless and we didn’t know what to do next.” Hoffer and his family traded clothes for food whenever possible with local Ukrainian peasants who had potatoes, milk and cheese.
“We battled typhus and dysentery,” Hoffer said. “There were 10 people living in two-and-a-half rooms. Germany had a formula to kill Jews with gassing and mass executions. But Romania was trying to save bullets, so they simply deprived Jews of food, water and shelter. And they would shoot a few of us. The Germans would occasionally come to the Romanian side to get Jews for target practice.”
In April 1944, after Hoffer and his family had suffered in Shargorod for three years, the Russian army appeared. “A tall, powerful man dressed in a military uniform started to speak. In perfect Yiddish he said that in most of the territory that his army liberated there were very few Jewish survivors. He said that the ‘heroic Red Army will eradicate the Nazi beast from the face of the earth.’ My brother and I were so overcome with emotion that we both cried uncontrollably.” Hoffer, his brother and his parents had survived.
Nearly half of Romania’s prewar Jewish population was deported to Transnistria, which became known as ‘The Death Trap’. Over 400,000 Jews incarcerated in concentration camps and ghettos in Transnistria were murdered or perished from starvation and disease. About half were deportees from Romania, while the remainder were Transnistria residents who became trapped there with the German-Romanian invasion.
In 1948, Hoffer arrived in Canada through the Canadian Jewish Congress’s orphans’ program and began a successful business career in Saskatchewan. “They taught us how to operate a tractor and gave us $50 a month and a room.” Hoffer married his wife Magda Pressburger in 1959 and in 1966 they moved to Weyburn Sask., where Hoffer worked in the auto-wrecking and cattle industries and they raised their family.
In 2003 they moved to Toronto to be closer to their grown children and grandchildren and Hoffer reconnected with his past as he became involved with the Transnistria Survivors Association where he served as president for three years. He also was a sought-after speaker at the Toronto Holocaust Museum.
“Lou enjoyed working with students,” said Siklos. “He served as a mentor in the Holocaust Centre’s bar/bat mitzvah project, patiently preparing the students for the difficult tasks of remembering child victims of the Shoah. He was also instrumental in arranging the inclusion of the Transnistria Landsmanshaft information on the bridge between UJA’s Lipa Green building and the Gales Building.”
The Transnistria Survivors’ Association disbanded in 2014 but during its 10-year existence it worked to create public awareness that Romania and its citizens were one of Germany’s key allies in the oppression and murder of Jews.
Through the Jewish National Fund, Hoffer and his wife Magda planted 1,000 trees in the Transnistria Grove in the Aminadav forest near Jerusalem in memory of his parents and those who died there.
“Our job as survivors was fulfilled 100 percent,” he said. “Our stories, our legacies with be around for 1,000 years. The world isn’t going to forget.”
Hoffer is survived by his wife of 64 years Magda, children Michelle, Galya and Mark and eight grandchildren. He is predeceased by his son Garry and his brothers Joe and Sam.
The post Obituary: Lou Hoffer, a Holocaust survivor who had a passion for keeping the stories of Romanian Jews alive appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Hamas Confirms Death of Terror Chief Mohammed Deif Months After Israeli Strike
Picture said to show leader of Hamas’s military wing, known as Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Deif in a location given as Gaza Strip in this handout picture released on Jan. 7, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas officially confirmed on Thursday that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed during the Gaza war, almost six months after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported his death.
Deif, the architect of Hamas’s military capabilities, is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the terrorist group’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — which sparked the Gaza war.
Abu Ubaida, a Hamas spokesperson, also reported the deaths of Deif’s deputy, Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa Salama, as well as senior operatives Marwan Issa, Ghazi Abu Tama’a, Raad Thabet, Ahmed Ghandour, and Ayman Nofal.
According to the IDF, Deif was killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on July 13 of last year.
Following weeks of intelligence assessments, Israeli authorities gathered evidence to confirm Deif’s death before publicly announcing it in early August.
“IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and … it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said. “His elimination serves the objectives of the war and demonstrates Israel’s ability to carry out targeted strikes with precision.”
At the time, Hamas neither confirmed nor denied Deif’s death, but one official, Ezzat Rashaq, stated that any announcements regarding the deaths of its leaders would be made solely by the organization.
“Unless either of them [the Hamas political and military leadership] announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” Rashaq said.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Deif, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Deif is believed to have collaborated closely with the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, managing military operations and coordinating with the group’s top commanders throughout the conflict.
After Deif’s assassination, then-defense minister Gallant posted an image on social media praising the Israeli military’s accomplishment.
“The assassination of mass murderer Mohammed Deif — ‘Gaza’s Bin Laden’ — is a major step toward dismantling Hamas as a military and governing entity, and achieving the war’s objectives,” he said.
The post Hamas Confirms Death of Terror Chief Mohammed Deif Months After Israeli Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘A Bad but Necessary Deal’: Five Members of His Family Were Murdered — Today, Their Killer Walks Free
Oran Almog, right, addressing the UN Security Council next to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on July 25, 2017. Photo: Screenshot
While the release of three Israeli hostages on Thursday brought relief and elation across Israel, it also triggered a wave of mixed emotions, especially among victims who saw the terrorists responsible for their suffering set free. One of them is Oran Almog, who was just ten years old when a Palestinian terrorist disguised as a pregnant woman blew up the restaurant he was in, killing five members of his family and leaving him blind.
Yet, while Thursday’s release of Sami Jaradat — the mastermind behind the October 2003 massacre of Almog’s family — was a deeply personal blow, the return of hostages remained a necessary step, he said.
“That the terrorist who killed my family will find himself free is deeply painful, heartbreaking even,” he told The Algemeiner. “But at the same time, I know that even today — especially today — I must set aside my personal pain and focus on the significance of this deal. And the significance is clear. We are getting our hostages home, and that is the only thing that matters.”
Almog’s father, Moshe Almog, his younger brother, Tomer, his grandparents Admiral (res.) Ze’ev and Ruth Almog, and his cousin, Asaf, were murdered when the suicide bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old lawyer from Jenin, managed to get past the security guard of the Maxim restaurant — jointly owned by a Jewish Israeli and an Arab Israeli — and blow herself up. Sixteen other people were also murdered in the attack, among them four children. Almog lost his eyesight, and his mother, sister, and aunt were among the 60 injured Israelis.
“Sami Jaradat’s continued imprisonment will never bring my family back, but his release can bring the hostages back home alive,” Almog explained.
Emotional meeting between Agam Berger and her family at Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Photo: Haim Zach (GPO)
Almog knows firsthand what it means to be on the receiving end of a hostage-prisoner exchange.
Just two weeks after marking the 20th anniversary of the Maxim restaurant attack, another tragedy struck his family. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered Nadav and Yam and abducted Chen, Agam, Gal, and Tal from the Almog-Goldstein family in Kfar Azza.
Fifty-one days later, in November 2023, they were released from Hamas captivity in a temporary ceasefire deal.
Under the current ceasefire agreement reached earlier this month, Hamas will release a total 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, according to the terrorist group. In exchange, Israel will free over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were serving multiple life sentences on terrorism offenses. Thursday saw the release of three Israelis — including IDF surveillance soldier Agam Berger, 20, and civilians Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80 — and five Thai nationals, who were working in Israeli kibbutzim when they were abducted.
“This is a bad deal, very bad, but the alternative is that much worse,” Almog said. “We must look ahead, put today aside, and recognize that releasing prisoners serves a greater purpose.”
However, Almog expressed hope that Israel would move toward a more decisive and uncompromising approach in its fight against terrorism.
“I sincerely hope that as a country, we will have the wisdom to decisively thwart terrorism,” he said, emphasizing the need to break free from the ongoing cycle of prisoner exchanges.
“I don’t want us to find ourselves trapped in a cycle of releasing terrorists, only for them to return to terror, and then repeat the process again and again,” he added.
Almog has previously addressed the UN Security Council, urging action against the so-called “pay-for-slay” scheme, in which terrorists and their families receive monthly stipends from the Palestinian Authority. The terrorist behind the murder of Almog’s family received $3,000 a month while behind bars, making him almost a millionaire by the time of his release.
Still, Almog concluded with a deeply uplifting message for the returning hostages, confident that they would have a chance at a good life, drawing from his own experiences since the terror attack.
Oran Almog. Photo: Facebook
After his release from the hospital, he began a long rehabilitation process, culminating in third place at the World Blind Sailing Championship with Etgarim, a nonprofit founded by disabled veterans and rehabilitation experts, and supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). He was chosen to light a torch at Israel’s Independence Day ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the state and, despite his disability, insisted on enlisting in the IDF, serving in an elite unit. Today, he is a managing partner at a financial technology fund, works with Etgarim, and shares his story globally through lectures.
“I know the hostages will be able to return, to live, and to live well. With enough support — and a great deal of willpower — it is truly possible to rebuild life, even after the deepest catastrophes,” he said.
The post ‘A Bad but Necessary Deal’: Five Members of His Family Were Murdered — Today, Their Killer Walks Free first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Israel Lawmaker Randy Fine Wins Florida GOP Primary, Favorite to Replace Trump Adviser Mike Waltz in Congress
Florida state Sen. Randy Fine. Photo: Reuters
Florida state Sen. Randy Fine emerged victorious on Tuesday in the Republican primary election for the Sunshine State’s 6th Congressional District in the US Congress, making the firebrand conservative the overwhelming favorite to secure the highly-coveted seat to replace now-former Rep. Mike Waltz.
The congressional seat became vacant after Waltz stepped down to become the national security adviser for US President Donald Trump in the White House. Waltz had managed to secure reelection in November with 66 percent of the vote.
Fine, who is Jewish, has established himself as a stalwart ally of Israel. In the year following the Hamas-led slaughter of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 hostages during a cross-border invasion into southern Israel, Fine has spearheaded efforts to uproot antisemitism within the state of Florida.
In August 2024, he chided Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for taking a trip to Ireland, repudiating the country as “antisemitic.”
“I was certainly disappointed to see not only folks go to what is clearly an antisemitic country that supports Muslim terror, but I was also disappointed that the game wasn’t cancelled, which it should have been,” Fine said.
Ireland has been a fierce critic of Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, even joining a legal case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice accusing the Jewish state of genocide in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The move, which came after the Irish government in May officially recognized a Palestinian state, led Israel to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
In August 2024, Fine launched an investigation into alleged antisemitic and pro-terrorist ideology within instructional materials at Florida public universities. Fine suggested that activist professors were using textbooks that were indoctrinating students with anti-Israel sentiment.
“When we learned that Florida universities were using a factually inaccurate, openly antisemitic textbook, we realized there was a problem that had to be addressed,” Fine said.
Following the New Year’s Day ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans, Fine raised eyebrows by repudiating Islam as a “fundamentally broken and dangerous culture.”
“Muslim terror has attacked the United States — again. The blood is on the hands of those who refuse to acknowledge the worldwide #MuslimProblem. It is high time to deal with this fundamentally broken and dangerous culture,” Fine posted on X/Twitter.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US congratulated Fine for his primary victory on Tuesday.
“We are proud to support pro-Israel candidates who help strengthen and expand the US-Israel relationship. Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics,” AIPAC, which endorsed Fine, posted on social media.
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), an organization that attempts to forge closer ties between the Jewish community and the Republican Party, touted Fine’s vigorous crusade against antisemitism within the Florida state legislature.
“Randy Fine is a warrior for his constituents and has served for years in the Florida legislature with distinction,” RJC wrote on X/Twitter. “Randy Fine will be a fierce advocate for the Jewish community in the House of Representatives. Importantly, he has led the fight and been the loudest voice against the rise of antisemitism in Florida and across the country.”
The post Pro-Israel Lawmaker Randy Fine Wins Florida GOP Primary, Favorite to Replace Trump Adviser Mike Waltz in Congress first appeared on Algemeiner.com.