Daniel Luz z"l

It is with deep sadness that the March of the Living mourns the passing of Daniel Luz z"l, a Holocaust survivor and survivor of the October 7 massacre, who passed away on April 25, 2026, at the age of 92.

Danny marched with us in 2024 and lit a torch at Birkenau in one of the most powerful moments of that year's ceremony — linking the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust with the memory of those murdered on October 7.

Daniel was born in France in 1934. When Nazi Germany occupied the country, his family was swept into the machinery of persecution. Daniel, his mother, and his sister were held in one internment camp; his father in another. For four years, the family was separated — Daniel just ten years old.

The family survived by what Daniel called a miracle. But ten of his mother's siblings and two of his cousins were not as fortunate. They were murdered at Auschwitz.

In 1949, Daniel immigrated to the young State of Israel. "I began to breathe again," he would later say. He lived first on Kibbutz Nirim in the Negev, and in later years made his home at Kibbutz Be'eri. A man known for his bold spirit and irrepressible optimism, Daniel built a full life on the kibbutz — one that he regarded as the ultimate victory over the forces that had tried to destroy his family and his people.

On October 6, 2023, Daniel and his neighbours celebrated the 78th anniversary of Kibbutz Be'eri. The next morning, he awoke to sirens and gunfire. Together with his partner Edna, he locked himself in their safe room as Hamas terrorists stormed the kibbutz. Of Be'eri's roughly 1,200 residents, 101 were murdered that day and 30 were abducted.

Daniel spoke openly about the enduring trauma of that day. He described himself as a Holocaust survivor twice — once from wartime France, and again from Be'eri. In the months that followed, with the kibbutz destroyed and its residents displaced, Daniel moved to a nursing home at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.

In May 2024, Daniel travelled with the March of the Living to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he lit a torch and delivered testimony that moved all who heard it. Standing at the site where his family members were murdered, he spoke with a steady voice and an unshakable conviction:

Shortly before his passing, Daniel lit a torch once more — this time at the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. Speaking to those gathered, he said he had not recovered from the events of October 7, and expressed his hope for peace — not for himself, but for his grandchildren.