Movie star says she had never before seen clip of herself with her grandfather, whose entire family was murdered at Auschwitz
By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service, (www.assistnews.net)
ISRAEL (ANS – April 16, 2018) — Israeli movie star Gal Gadot, who played the lead role in the recent smash hit movie Wonder Woman, said she cried on Holocaust Remembrance Day after seeing a video of herself with her late grandfather, a Holocaust survivor whose family was killed at Auschwitz.
In an Instagram post Thursday including the video, Gadot said she had spent the previous night looking for a photo of her grandfather, when her assistant showed her the video, according to an article in The Times of Israel newspaper.
“She had no idea today is the Holocaust Remembrance Day, and didn’t know I was looking for a photo of him/us all night,” wrote Gadot, who in the video can be seen touching her grandfather’s face.
“I wasn’t surprised… My grandpa is always with me… That’s not the first time he pops out of nowhere… That’s how he used to be… With his special sense of humor and always there for us,” she said of her grandfather Abraham Weiss.
“Even though he went thru hell. Lost his ENTIRE family in Auschwitz. He chose to believe in good,” Gadot added. “I miss you saba. I love you,” she said, using the Hebrew word for grandfather.
Gadot said she was brought to tears by the video, which she had never seen before.
“And as I think of you today, at this very moment of remembrance, which is also a call for all of us to act against discrimination of any kind. Anywhere in the world,” said Gadot.
In her Instagram message, which garnered 4,430,512 views, Gal Gadot said: “I was looking for a photo of you all night on my phone but I couldn’t find one, so I wanted to ask mom to send me one but she didn’t answer…that’s the annoying thing about traveling… There’s always something you need that you left back home. And then I got into the car, going to work out with stunts and meetings with PJ for WW, and Katy, my assistant goes Hi, I found this real sweet video of you and I think your grandpa’… She had no idea today is the Holocaust Remembrance Day, and didn’t know I was looking for a photo of him/us all night… I wasn’t surprised…My grandpa is always with me… That’s not the first time he pops out of nowhere… That’s how he used to be… With his special sense of humor and always there for us. Even though he went thru hell. Lost his ENTIRE family in Auschwitz… He chose to believe in good. I miss you saba. I love you. And thanks for helping out with finding a photo of us. I’ve never seen this video before and it made me cry. And as I think of you today, at this very moment of remembrance, which is also a call for all of us to act against discrimination of any kind. Anywhere in the world.”
Thursday was Israel’s national Holocaust Remembrance Day, known as Yom HaShoah, which marks the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in August, Gadot spoke of the influence her grandfather had on her.
“His entire family was murdered – it’s unthinkable,” Gadot said of Weiss, who was a teenager in Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust.
“He affected me a lot. After all the horrors he’d seen, he was like this damaged bird, but he was always hopeful and positive and full of love. If I was raised in a place where these values were not so strong, things would be different. But it was very easy for me to relate to everything that Wonder Woman stands for,” she said in the interview.
**About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister, and an award-winning local cable-TV program host/producer who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. You may follow Michael on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelIrelandMediaMissionary , and on Twitter at @Michael_ASSIST. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael