As the international Day in Memory of the victims of the Holocaust is marked today (Thursday, January 27th), the Maccabi Tel Aviv Foundation initiated a special screening of the documentary ‘Numbered’ to the senior side players and coaching staff.
Guided by the testimonies and portraits of Auschwitz survivors, the ‘Numbered’ documentary explorers the significance and the history of the serial numbers tattooed onto the arms at the concentration camp.
After watching the documentary, the Maccabi playing and coaching staff met with the film’s producer, Hila Medalia, as well as Dani Khanokh one of the only two Holocaust survivors who featured in the 2012 movie and are still alive today.
During the meeting, Khanokh, who will celebrate his 90th birthday next week, shared his experience from the Holocaust and the way in which he managed to survive both Auschwitz and the death marches that followed.
Maccabi’s captain, Sheran Yeini, said after the screening: “It was emotional and inspiring to see the way in which they dealt with the hardships at what was clearly impossible conditions. Dani spoke a lot about the camaraderie and the togetherness and at how they used to help one another survive the difficult and challenging times. This is something we can relate to and only be inspired by to take to our lives as athletes and personal lives with our families. Sharing these stories is pivotal especially as there are foreign players and foreign coaches who get to hear about what people had to encounter as they all return back to their families and countries and share their impressions. It is important to keep sharing these stories to ensure they are never forgotten”.
Maccabi’s predominantly Serbian coaching staff, showed a lot of interest and spoke with Medalia at the end of the meeting expressing the great importance as far as they are concerned in documenting and commemorating testimonies from the Holocaust.
The screening is only one of the many activities the Maccabi Tel Aviv Foundation does throughout the year. Besides contributing and doing work in the community, one of the main Foundation’s main targets is creating activities and supporting Holocaust survivors as well as commemorating the Holocaust.
