German volunteers bring encouragement and support to descendent of Holocaust survivors in Metula

In a radical act of courage and love, a group of Germans came to help restore the property of a woman whose parents were murdered in the Holocaust. 

They came with courage, knowing those who support Israel are constantly attacked and vilified, and love because they brought tenderness and care to the very people of Israel on whom their ancestors inflicted unspeakable horrors.

“Wars are terrible, but it’s all about people,” said Miriam Hod, owner of Beit Shalom, a guesthouse in the northern town of Metula. “But we are able to fix in our little ways, and you are here to fix. It’s so nice to have you here,” she said earnestly to the German group, some of whom were in tears. “You make a closed circle.”

Hod’s business has been in ruins since October 2023, lying empty as residents of the north were all evacuated en masse while Hezbollah fired rockets day after day. What the rockets didn’t destroy, the passage of time that has eroded as the buildings lay desolate and unattended for almost two years.

Now that Israel has largely overcome the threat from the north, it has become possible for people to return to what is left of their communities, and put the pieces back together again. It was in order to help with this gargantuan task that a group of volunteers came, after learning about the need.

The group of several dozen volunteers, aged from 16-70, worked tirelessly to get the guesthouse shipshape once again, determined not to be slowed down by the hot sun. As they worked, KAN News interviewed some of the group to find out what motivated them to come.

“Why I’m doing this? Because I love the people of Israel, I love Israel, and we want to come and stand with you,” said Claudia Schaal, one of the volunteers. “Israel, you are not alone,” she affirmed.

Another volunteer, Fritz Wolf, spoke about the criticism and pushback he has received for supporting Israel. He was undeterred, saying he was prepared to support Israel “at any price, if I’m losing friends,” he declared resolutely.

Some of the group have been part of a regular show of public support for Israel and the hostages in Germany, and have faced attacks for the stand they have taken. However, they have not been dissuaded. 

“Sometimes they got attacked,” said Schaal. “They know they might get attacked again, but that’s not their focus. Their focus is that it’s important to stand with Israel and they want to do it, so they do it!” 

German journalist and influencer, Sarah Maria Sander, has been doggedly highlighting the suffering of Israel which has been largely ignored by much of the media. “Nobody was talking about the north, nobody was talking about Hezbollah,” she said in an interview, and it was thanks to her visit to Metula that Schaal saw the great need there.

“I saw her, and I thought, I want to come to these people, to those who suffered so much,” Schaal explained.

Meanwhile Fritz Wolf, who said he came to help “build up and clean up,” set about preparing a barbeque for tired and hungry Israeli soldiers – something his own grandfather had done for SS soldiers who had tried to exterminate the people of Israel just a few generations ago.

The owner of Beit Shalom, meaning “House of Peace,” had created a display inside the guesthouse using pictures she had found in a box belonging to her mother. The exhibition was to honor the memory of all her relatives lost in the Holocaust, with explanations about each one.

Hod gathered the group and showed them the display, knowing their backgrounds. “You make a closed circle,” she told them with appreciation.