Hundreds of people attended the funeral of an Israeli Holocaust survivor in Ashdod on Thursday after his relatives had posted on Facebook, concerned there would not be enough people to form a minyan.
Schlesinger passed away on Wednesday, on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), at the age of 82. He had one son and very few of his family members are still alive.
At 10 o'clock, the funeral in Ashdod was interrupted for the traditional two minutes of silence, the moment Israel came to a halt to pay its respects to the six million murdered Jews.
Olga Ohayon, a relative of Schlesinger, thanked those who attended the funeral. "It proved to us that all of Israel are responsible for one another and we'll stand together in any trouble.
"We mourn Benjamin's loss, but it must have been his time. There isn't a more dignified way to say goodbye to him. Hundreds of people came here, even security forces and policemen, not just from Ashdod, but from the entire country. They came and embraced us and it was emotional and heart-warming," she was quoted by 'YNetnews' as saying.
