YARDEN'S STORY
GERMAN HERITAGE
Yarden Romann, an Israeli woman with a German citizenship above her Israeli one, daughter of Jonathan and Orly Romann, and granddaughter of Hans and Lotte Romann. Hans was raised and studied in Heidelberg. Hans’ mother, Lotte, was active in the cause of keeping Upper Silesia in Germany as part of the referendum held in the First World War.
Lotte was born in Fürth, near Nuremberg, and went to school with Henry Kissinger. At 13, Lotte vocally protested the injustice she experienced despite being the daughter of a German who received medals for his bravery in the First World War. Immediately after the Nazis came to power, Lotte’s parents sent her out of Germany in order to save her life. Her parents were ultimately murdered for being Jewish. Lotte, completely alone, built a rich life of activism and was far ahead of her time. She established the Foreign Relations and International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Agriculture in addition to founding the German-Israel Fund of Research and International Development (GIFRID) for the benefit of developing countries and supported Arab and Jewish researchers.
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YARDEN ROMANN
Yarden, 36 years old, is first and foremost mother to
3-year-old Geffen, and then a physical therapist with a Masters degree in gerontology. Yarden is a woman full of empathy and constantly spreads love to those around her, especially following the recent death of her mother, Orly, who passed away from cancer last year.
Yarden and Alon, her partner, lived in Kibbutz Be’eri for the last three years before leaving the kibbutz last month, due in large part to the security concerns in the area. After they left, they went on vacation in South Africa with Yarden’s family.
On Friday, October 6th, they returned to Israel to celebrate the holiday with Alon’s family at the kibbutz.
WHEN TERROR STRUCK
The following morning quickly turned into a living nightmare as terrorists entered the Gat family home and forcibly abducted the family. Alon’s mother, Kinneret (65), was murdered and his sister, Carmel (39), was taken by the terrorists and is still being held hostage in Gaza to this day.
Yarden, Alon and Geffen were taken by terrorists in a stolen vehicle to the Gaza border area. Just before crossing the border, Yarden and Alon, while holding Geffen in their hands — still barefoot and wearing pajamas — jumped out of the vehicle in an attempt to escape. The terrorists then opened fire on them and gave chase. Yarden handed Geffen over to Alon knowing that Alon could run faster with the child and give her a better chance at being saved. After being separated, Yarden eventually stopped to hide, while Alon and Geffen kept running until they also stopped to hide. Alon and Geffen hid for 24 hours in the forest, barefoot, without food and water until they were rescued by IDF forces. No word has been heard from Yarden.
The following day, Yarden’s brother, father (67), and Alon himself joined IDF patrols to help search for Yarden. She was not found and was therefore confirmed to have been abducted and held hostage in Gaza together with her sister-in-law Carmel and many other civilians from the Kibbutz. On November 29th, 2023 - after 54 days of captivity - Yarden returned home as part of a 7-day hostage deal and reunited with her family.
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BRING THEM HOME
We have only been doing two things since that Shabbat.
The first is working to bring Yarden home safe and sound together with Carmel and her friends from the Kibbutz, by activating international opinion to stand by those civilians. The second is taking care of Geffen who was left without her mother for 54 days. When Alon went to look for Yarden, Geffen proudly exclaimed that “Daddy is going to find mommy and bring her back”. Geffen knew perfectly well what happened, and was not asking questions or crying, just waiting quietly for her mother. And she was right, her mother came back to her.
But Geffen's aunt Carmel is still being held hostage in Gaza.
We are asking that you do everything in your power so that Carmel can come back home, just like Yarden did, and reunite with her family. Her mother Kinneret can't be saved anymore but Carmel can. Her time is running out.
Help us bring her & all of the 134 remaining hostages home.