GOLAN HEIGHTS, Israel, Feb. 11, 2020 – A 93-year-old Charlotte resident and Holocaust survivor, Irving Bienstock, fulfilled his dream of visiting an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military base earlier today, February 11, when he got a tour of the Yarden Camp in the Golan Heights. His visit came to fruition with the help of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and members of his local community, headed by Dana Kapustin.
Irving Bienstock and his family escaped Germany in January 1939 and arrived in the United States in April 1940. Five years later, in April 1945, he returned to the war—this time as an American soldier on the USS Wakefield. Since the founding of the State of Israel, Bienstock’s wish as a Holocaust survivor and veteran American soldier had been to visit active members of the Israeli military on an IDF base. “I grew up as a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany and when I saw a policeman or soldier, I would turn and run the other way,” Bienstock said. “I was proud to spend two years in the U.S. Army during the war, but I was still a Jew in a foreign army. This is my last chance to see MY army. Today, to see a Jew in uniform serving the Jewish state is a victory, and it feels we have come such a long way.”
During the visit to the base, Bienstock and the
other participants, including several of his friends and members of the local
Charlotte Jewish community, had an introductory meeting with Yarden Camp’s
Eagle Battalion of the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, which serves as
Israel’s eyes on Syria. Bienstock presented a short movie about his life to the
Battalion and spoke to the soldiers about his story and concerns over rising
anti-Semitism in today’s world.
Bienstock even had the opportunity to speak in German to one of the soldiers, Cpl. Shawn, who is originally from Germany and currently serves in the Eagle Battalion as a Lone Soldier– one who enlists in the IDF without any immediate family in Israel.
The Combat Intelligence Collection Corps was adopted by the FIDF Southeast Region as part of the FIDF Adopt-A-Brigade Program. FIDF’s unique Adopt-A-Brigade Program allows supporters to go beyond their donations and get more involved by providing financial assistance to soldiers in need, caring for Lone Soldiers with no immediate family in Israel, and funding rest and recuperation breaks for combat brigades.
Program supporters can visit the soldiers in their adopted units on IDF bases and communicate with unit commanders. In 2019, FIDF supporters formed unbreakable bonds with the soldiers of 10 brigades and 75 battalions, squadrons, and flotillas.
| About Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF):FIDF was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors as a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization with the mission of offering educational, cultural, recreational, and social programs and facilities that provide hope, purpose, and life-changing support for the soldiers who protect Israel and Jews worldwide. Today, FIDF has more than 150,000 loyal supporters, and 24 chapters throughout the United States and Panama. FIDF proudly supports IDF soldiers, families of fallen soldiers, and wounded veterans through a variety of innovative programs that reinforce the vital bond between the communities in the United States, the soldiers of the IDF, and the state of Israel. For more information, please visit: www.fidf.org. |
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