About 120 IDF officers returned from Poland during the predawn hours on Friday morning (June 19th), representing another Eidim B’Madim (Witnesses in Uniform) mission, visiting the Nazi death camps.

The program is unique, involving officers usually of higher ranks, majors and higher. This particular mission was led by a brigadier-general, a second generation survivor, who located kevarim of grandparents, an emotional episode in his life.

The officers remain in dress uniform for the entire four-day visit, a Kiddush Hashem and a noticeable sight for locals and visitors alike. There are several intense days of preparation ahead of the mission, held in cooperation with Yad Vashem.

The most junior officer on this last mission was 1st-Lt. Amichai Spira, this correspondents son, a combat officer who was privileged to be part of this mission, a third generation survivor. He walked the steps of his descendants, family members including a grandfather and an uncle who survived some 5 years in a number of camps.

The photo shows Lt. Spira carrying a Sefer Torah with the infamous gas chambers of Birkenau in the background. The IDF Sefer Torah was dedicated in memory of Colonel Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut who was a crew member on the ill-fated NASA STS-107 Columbia mission in 2003.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)