On Remembrance Day 5799, 90 years after the events of 5689 in Israel, four headstones were re-placed yesterday for four martyrs who were murdered in the atrocities. The original headstones were vandalized by the Jordanians during their rule in Jerusalem, and only yesterday, after decades of there being no headstones on the graves, were they restored.

 

“His nickname was Norka. They loved him very much. He served in the British police force, was the deputy conductor of its orchestra. Nahum Yudelevich, Norka.” This is how Sarah Barnea, guide, describes one of the martyrs whose tombstones were restored. Barnea, researcher of the Mount of Olives, who was one of the leaders of the restoration process, works in collaboration with the City of David.

According to her, “when guides come here, groups come here, families come here, they talk about the events of 5689, but there are four graves here that are empty; there are no names on them, and no one mentions them. They are a whole world, so it was important for us to give a face to the fallen.”

She adds that “because we are now commemorating ninety years, it was important to me that there should not be one here who fell in 5689 that we wouldn’t know was buried here. Until now, we have been passing by these gravestones not knowing who it was.”

I know that from today, when we pass, we will know where each of these four are buried. I know that we have in fact only just completed the story of 5689. Today, we know where all those who were lost are buried, and now they all have a tombstone.”