ISRAEL – Son of Italkim among the victims of Hezbollah attack

A reservist soldier was killed on June 8 during a Hezbollah drone attack on Israel’s northern border, near the village Hurfeish. The security breach cost Staff Sgt. Refael Kauders, 39, his life and wounded nine more, including a paramedic who came to provide help. To shed more blood, according to Israel Defense Forces, terrorists first detonated one of the explosive-laden drones on a group of soldiers. Then, as first aid teams arrived at the scene, they struck with the second.
Kauders served as a Military Rabbinate coordinate in the 5030th Battalion of the Alon Brigade. Married to Yehudit and a father of four, he was the son of Vittorio Binyamin and Tirza Kauders. Sgt. Kauders’ father, Vittorio, is part of the Italkim community, the Italians in Israel. He grew up in Milan with sisters Mirella and Bianca, and in November 1942, during WWII, fled antisemitic persecutions seeking refuge with his family in Switzerland. Helping them to cross the border was Father Franco Rimoldi, later tortured by Nazi fascists for his support of persecuted Jews.
When the war ended, after returning to Milan, the Kauders siblings made Aliyah to Israel. There, in 2003 another tragedy hit the family. At the time of the bloody Second Intifadah, on June 11 Bianca Kauders was aboard the bus 14A which was traveling through Jerusalem central streets. Near Davidka square, a Hamas terrorist disguised as an orthodox Jew blew himself up in the vehicle. Seventeen people died in the attack, including Bianca, and over hundred were wounded.
Thirty-one years later, a new tragedy has struck the Kauders family with the killing of Refael. “So much sadness, grief and mourning in these months are shocking,” the Committee of Italians in Israel – COMITES remarked in its condolence message. “Honor and respect for our fallen require us to be strong and united. Better days will come, and although the road is long and uphill we will arrive to peace and serenity.”