Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Knesset's "Unto Every Person

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Knesset's "Unto Every Person .

There is a Name" ceremony on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day: "In 1933, my late father-in-law, Shmuel Ben-Artzi, known then as Shmuel Hahn, left his hometown of Biłgoraj and immigrated to the Land of Israel via Warsaw. His father, Moshe, accompanied him on the journey, trying every means to convince him not to leave for Israel.

He appealed to him using the values he had instilled in Shmuel, expressing his deep love for him. He cautioned, 'You have nothing there. What will you do? Look at what you have here.' Shmuel found himself torn. He loved his father and his siblings dearly, particularly his twin sister Yehudit. However, his heart was set on pioneering in the Land of Israel and contributing to the Novardok Yeshiva, an esteemed institution, where he would help establish a foundation in Bnei Brak. Ultimately, he chose to go. He spent eight years working in an orchard before becoming an educator, impacting many generations, including those who later served in the Knesset, as well as media figures who celebrated him.

He was affectionately referred to as "the educator." A scholar of the Bible, he was invited by Ben-Gurion to the first Bible class he organized. Remarkably, Shmuel was the only individual in the country to receive medals from both the Irgun and the Haganah. He married his wife Chava, and they had three sons and a daughter, my wife Sara, along with twelve grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Shmuel was also a poet who was awarded the Ka-Tzetnik Prize for Holocaust literature. He sent part of his earnings from the orchard back to his family in Poland, but when the war erupted, correspondence ceased, and he quickly realized that something devastating was unfolding. This despair was captured in his poignant poems, filled with longing and sorrow.

I would like to share an excerpt from one of his poems titled "To Europe": "My eyes are immersed in a river of sorrow, a tear has fallen because of this grief! They drown my people in blood, and my Lord is silent... Like a stone in a field, I too will be silent before the crescent moon. From Europe, the Torah has departed, And from Germany, the creed; Killed and strangled, murdered and slaughtered! For the 'Jude,' a bullet's a waste — Only poisonous gas in a closed trailer, And with no time to spare — Buried him alive! G-d, justice, the sanctity of human life. Ha-ha-ha mocks man, Long live genocide." In this genocide, my father-in-law's entire family from Biłgoraj and Tarnogród in Poland perished. I will now read their names: my wife's grandfather, Moshe Hahn; his wife, Itta Hahn; and Shmuel's twin sister, Yehudit Hahn, who was only 24 years old. Shmuel lived to be 97, and throughout his life, even in his last days, whenever I mentioned Yehudit's name, tears would fill his eyes. He wept every time. Shmuel's brothers: Meir Dov Hahn, age 18; Shimon Tzvi Hahn, age 16; Arye Leiv Hahn, age 13; and his younger sister, Fasalah Hahn, age 10. Additional relatives from Biłgoraj include: Uncle Avraham Tauber, his wife, son, and daughter; Aunt Rachel Tauber with her three sons — Avraham, Yaakov, and Shlomo, along with their families; Aunt Hendel, her husband, and children; Aunt Felda and her two daughters. From Tarnogród: my wife's great-grandfather, Zeev-Wolf Hahn; Shmuel's aunt, Matal Kneigstein, daughter of Zeev Hahn; her eldest daughter and son, Hillel Ben Yehezkel; Uncle Mendel Hahn, his wife, and their two children.
May their memory be a blessing. May God avenge their blood."
Prime Minister Netanyahu