Holocaust survivor Yosef Viner, whose October 7 Facebook post went viral, dies at 98

Viner’s grandson, film director Yahav Viner, and granddaughter Hadar were both killed on October 7, protecting their young children at their homes in Kfar Azza.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 25, 2024 13:01

YAHAV VINER, Yosef's grandson. (photo credit: Viner Family)

Holocaust survivor Yosef Viner, whose Facebook post about two of his grandchildren’s murder at the hands of Hamas on October 7 went viral last year, died on Tuesday at age 98.

Wiener wrote that as a Holocaust survivor who had nothing, he had managed to get to Israel and start a family - and now he was once again exhausted, without "land to cling to.”

Viner’s grandson, film director Yahav Viner, and granddaughter Hadar were both killed on October 7, protecting their young children at their homes in Kfar Azza.

Kfar Azza faces the task of rebuilding its community. (credit: Zohar Shpak)

The fire of Nazi beasts

"I am Yosef Viner, 97 years old," he wrote. "I survived the fire of the Nazi beasts; my entire family perished. Disconnected from my roots, I devoted myself to their memory. Exhausted and despairing, I held onto the land and moved to Israel. I married Aviva, and together, we raised two wonderful children, Ofer and Norit."

"From Ofer and Michal, we had four grandchildren; from Nurit and Miki, we had six grandchildren," Yosef said. "On October 7, 2023, we experienced pure evil – fire, dust, killing, and the horrific murder of innocents. Once again, tragedy struck. My beloved grandson Yahav was murdered while protecting his wife Shaili and one-month-old Shiya. My dear granddaughter Hadar and her husband Itai were also murdered while protecting their ten-month-old twins, Roy and Guy."

"Once again, I am exhausted, in despair, drowning. And I have no more land to hold on to," he wrote.