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Former intel agent discovers Jews in mass ‘Christian’ graves
Guide Yaki Gantz is using his secret service past to help piece together the identities of Holocaust victims in unmarked graves in small cemeteries across Poland
BY NISSAN TZUR December 1, 2013, 4:20 pm 21 Share 226
MIEDZNA, Poland — In a small cemetery in the Polish village of Kszonzenice in 2004, fledgling guide and former secret service agent Yaki Gantz’s two worlds collided when he found a mass grave with 45 anonymous numbers written on a gravestone.
After a short investigation he discovered that following a nearby mass murder in 1945, the local priest had gathered the 45 unidentified bodies and copied the numbers he found on their arms, which were carved on the gravestone.
Gantz turned to Yad Vashem and in a joint effort they were able to identity 19 of the Jewish victims buried in the mass grave.
Since then, Gantz has taken on the mission of uncovering more mass graves of Jews, mostly those who did not survive the death marches in the final days of the Holocaust, and were buried by local citizens in Christian cemeteries.
After more than a hundred trips to Poland, Gantz admits each journey becomes more difficult for him.
“In every journey you discover more and more new details and the question of how it all happened only intensifies,†he says.
Gantz, 64, was born in Rehovot, Israel. Most of his adult life was spent working for the Israeli secret service, but shortly after his retirement, he decided to become a certified travel guide.
Gantz specializes in groups travelling to Poland, initially youth groups, but currently retirees. Pensioners from the IDF and the Mossad, employees of several banks and other companies were part of recent groups Gantz has guided.
Most of these groups are aiding Gantz on his mission to recognize these unidentified Jews and properly memorialize their final resting places.
And beginning with his initial 2004 discovery, the cooperation of the local Polish authorities has eased the bureaucratic hurdles he would otherwise face.
“After short negotiations with the local authorities I convinced them to let me put a new gravestone with the names of the Jewish victims. I told my friends from the Shabak [Shin Bet domestic Israeli intelligence service] about it and they agreed to help me to fund the project,†says Gantz.
Guide Yaki Gantz is using his secret service past to help piece together the identities of Holocaust victims in unmarked graves in small cemeteries across Poland
BY NISSAN TZUR December 1, 2013, 4:20 pm 21 Share 226
MIEDZNA, Poland — In a small cemetery in the Polish village of Kszonzenice in 2004, fledgling guide and former secret service agent Yaki Gantz’s two worlds collided when he found a mass grave with 45 anonymous numbers written on a gravestone.
After a short investigation he discovered that following a nearby mass murder in 1945, the local priest had gathered the 45 unidentified bodies and copied the numbers he found on their arms, which were carved on the gravestone.
Gantz turned to Yad Vashem and in a joint effort they were able to identity 19 of the Jewish victims buried in the mass grave.
Since then, Gantz has taken on the mission of uncovering more mass graves of Jews, mostly those who did not survive the death marches in the final days of the Holocaust, and were buried by local citizens in Christian cemeteries.
After more than a hundred trips to Poland, Gantz admits each journey becomes more difficult for him.
“In every journey you discover more and more new details and the question of how it all happened only intensifies,†he says.
Gantz, 64, was born in Rehovot, Israel. Most of his adult life was spent working for the Israeli secret service, but shortly after his retirement, he decided to become a certified travel guide.
Gantz specializes in groups travelling to Poland, initially youth groups, but currently retirees. Pensioners from the IDF and the Mossad, employees of several banks and other companies were part of recent groups Gantz has guided.
Most of these groups are aiding Gantz on his mission to recognize these unidentified Jews and properly memorialize their final resting places.
And beginning with his initial 2004 discovery, the cooperation of the local Polish authorities has eased the bureaucratic hurdles he would otherwise face.
“After short negotiations with the local authorities I convinced them to let me put a new gravestone with the names of the Jewish victims. I told my friends from the Shabak [Shin Bet domestic Israeli intelligence service] about it and they agreed to help me to fund the project,†says Gantz.
Times of Israel
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