26/11 SURVIVOR MOSHE VISITS MUMBAI
RETURNS TO FORMER HOME FOR FIRST TIME SINCE PARENTS’ DEATH
It’s a very special day. Thank God that Moshe could come again. Mumbai is a lot more safe now. RABBI HOLZTBERG NACHMAN , Moshe’s grandfather
MUMBAI: Moshe Holtzberg, who survived the 26/11 siege at Nariman House, but lost his parents in it, returned to his former house on Tuesday afternoon, the first time since their death.
Accompanied by his maternal and paternal grandparents, the 11-year-old had lunch at Nariman House. Speaking to media, after Moshe’s arrival, Rabbi Israel Kozolovasky, who now heads the Jewish centre at Nariman House in Colaba, said, “Finally, Baby Moshe is back home for the first time after the 26/11 terror attacks. He has come to the place where he was saved by his nanny. This visit is very emotional for him. He is here to see the living memorial project.”
Moshe’s Indian nanny Sandra Samuel also accompanied him.
“Shalom ... Bahut khushi [I am very happy],” a shy Moshe told news agency ANI, after arriving at the Mumbai airport in the morning. Moshe’s grandfather Rabbi Holztberg Nachman said at the airport they would be visiting Nariman House to pray there. “It’s a very special day. Thank God that Moshe could come again. Mumbai is a lot more safe now,” Nachman was quoted as saying by ANI.
The visit comes almost six months after the young boy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 5, 2017, and expressed a desire to visit the country. India then issued 10-year multiple entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents.
Moshe’s parents Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed in the terror attacks in November 2008, along with seven others. The couple had moved to Mumbai seven years earlier and were serving as directors of the cultural and outreach centre for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
The boy, who was just two days short of turning two when the attack took place, will unveil a memorial dedicated to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at Nariman House, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on January 18. The work on the memorial is expected to be partially complete by the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and might open for public then.