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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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Iran Moves to Restore Ties With Bahrain, Egypt Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran has begun efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Bahrain and Egypt, signaling a potential shift in regional alliances as tensions escalate across the Middle East.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran has officially begun the process of restoring diplomatic ties with Bahrain and Egypt after years of strained relations.
Since Iran normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in 2023, Araghchi said Tehran has made several requests to renew ties with Bahrain, with ongoing efforts expected to soon yield positive results.
In 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut relations after an attack on its embassy in Tehran, which was sparked by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
In 2023, Tehran and Riyadh reached an agreement in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has taken further steps to strengthen its relationship with Bahrain. Last year, Araghchi met with Bahrain’s King, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, in the country’s capital to discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.
Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, which Iranian leaders regularly say they seek to destroy, in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
As for Egypt, the country severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in 1980 following Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.
Araghchi said ties between the two countries have strengthened significantly, with regular high-level meetings and continuous dialogue.
Iran’s expanding relationship with Egypt comes at a time of increased tension between Cairo and Jerusalem, amid Israeli accusations that Egypt has violated their peace agreement.
Israeli defense officials have previously expressed growing concern over Cairo’s military buildup and armed presence in the Sinai Peninsula.
These concerns come amid escalating tensions between Israel and Egypt since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Cairo has demanded Jerusalem withdraw its forces.
While details about Egypt’s military buildup remain unclear, “satellite images have shown the movement of tanks and battalions that exceed the limits set by the Camp David Accords,” Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Algemeiner.
Under the 1979 peace treaty, Egypt can request permission from Israel to deploy more than the 47 battalions allowed. However, some estimates suggest that there are currently camps for 180 battalions.
“The Camp David Accords have long been a pillar of peace and stability in the Middle East,” Wahba explained. “A breakdown of the agreement would have serious implications, not just for Israel and Egypt but for the broader region. It could embolden actors like Iran and its proxies to exploit tensions and could lead to increased militarization along Israel’s southern border.”
The post Iran Moves to Restore Ties With Bahrain, Egypt Amid Rising Middle East Tensions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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EU to Review Agreement With Israel Over Gaza Concerns, Kallas Says
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attends a press conference with Moldova’s President Maia Sandu following their meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
The European Union will review a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel due to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
International pressure on Israel has mounted in recent days amid complaints about the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a new military offensive against the Hamas terrorist group in the enclave.
Kallas said a “strong majority” of the ministers meeting in Brussels favored such a review of the agreement with Israel, known as an association agreement, in light of events in Gaza.
Diplomats said 17 of 27 EU members backed the review, which will focus on whether Israel is complying with a human rights clause in the agreement, and was proposed by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed,” Kallas told reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the EU decision. Israeli officials have said their operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. Hamas also kidnapped several hostages that Israel is trying to free from captivity in Gaza.
Under the pact, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy.”
In a letter proposing a review, Veldkamp raised concerns about Israeli policies “exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.”
He also cited “statements by Israeli cabinet members about a permanent presence that alludes to a reoccupation of (parts of) the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon” and a “further worsening of the situation in the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, Dutch minister Veldkamp called the review “a very important and powerful signal,” echoing sentiments of officials from France and Ireland.
But others did not back a review. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky suggested the bloc could hold a meeting with Israel under the association agreement to raise concerns.
Kallas said EU sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank had been prepared but have so far been blocked by one member state. Diplomats said that country was Hungary.
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Syrian Leadership Approved Return of Executed Spy Eli Cohen’s Belongings to Israel, Sources Say
Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, looks at photographs depicting her late husband during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel, Oct. 6, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Syria’s leadership approved the handover of the belongings of long-dead spy Eli Cohen to Israel in a bid to ease Israeli hostility and show goodwill to US President Donald Trump, three sources told Reuters.
Israel announced its recovery of the trove of documents, photographs, and personal possessions relating to Cohen on Sunday, saying its spy agency Mossad had worked with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency to secure the material.
However, a Syrian security source, an adviser to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and a person familiar with backchannel talks between the countries said the archive of material was in fact offered to Israel as an indirect gesture by Sharaa as he seeks to cool tensions and build Trump’s confidence.
Cohen, who was hanged in 1965 in a downtown Damascus square after infiltrating Syria’s political elite, is still regarded as a hero in Israel and Mossad’s most celebrated spy for uncovering military secrets that aided its lightning victory in the 1967 Middle East war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Cohen on Sunday as a legend and “the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state.”
While Israel has long sought to recover his body for reburial at home, the return of his archive held for 60 years by Syrian intelligence was hailed by Mossad as “an achievement of the highest moral order.”
Israel has not publicly revealed how the archive came into its possession, saying only that it was the result of “a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service.”
Netanyahu’s office, Syrian officials, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Syria’s role in Israel‘s recovery of the Cohen archive.
COHEN DOSSIER
After rebels led by Sharaa suddenly ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending his family’s 54-year-long rule, they found the Cohen dossier in a state security building, according to the Syrian security source.
Sharaa and his foreign advisers quickly decided to use the material as leverage, the source added.
The Syrian security source said Sharaa had realized that the Cohen archive was important to the Israelis and that its return could amount to a significant diplomatic gesture.
Ending Israeli attacks on Syria and improving relations with the United States and other Western countries are vital for Sharaa as he seeks to revive his shattered country after 14 years of civil war.
Israel regards Sharaa and his ex-insurgents, who once formed the al Qaeda faction in Syria, as unreconstructed jihadists. Israeli forces staged an incursion into border areas last year and have repeatedly bombed targets in support of Syria’s minority Druze sect.
This month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates had set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria that included efforts to build confidence between the sides.
There have also been other indirect channels for talks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In the talks, Syria agreed to measures including returning the remains of Cohen as well as three Israeli soldiers killed while fighting Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1980s, a person familiar with those talks said. The body of one of those soldiers, Zvi Feldman, has been returned, Israel said last week.
The return of the Cohen archive came in the context of those confidence-building measures and was done with Sharaa’s direct approval, the person said.
Last week, Trump held a surprise meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia where he urged him to normalize ties with Israel and announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria.
Syrian officials have said they want peace with all states in the region, and Sharaa confirmed this month that Damascus had carried out indirect talks with Israel via states it has ties with in order to calm the situation.
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