Mumbai, Jan 16 (TOI): Moshe Holtzberg, one of the three survivors of the Chabad House carnage who became the unforgettable face of hope even when confronted with the 26/11 terror attack, arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday, the first time in 10 years since his parents were gunned down by terrorists.
"It's a very special day. Thank God that Moshe could come again. Mumbai is a lot more safe now," Moshe's grandfather Rabbi Holztberg Nachman was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
More than a 100 Israeli and Indian security personnel are deployed alongside Mumbai police for the visit.
On the night of November 26, gunmen had stormed Nariman House, seat of the Jewish Chabad on Hormustji Street, and held six Israelis hostage. Among those who died in the 48-hour siege were Moshe's parents — Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and a pregnant Rivka — who managed the Jewish spiritual centre.
Moshe was two days short of turning two when the attack orphaned him. Sandra Samuel, his Indian nanny had found him next to his parents lying motionless on the ground when she picked him up, dodged the terrorists and dashed out. Moshe survived and so did the bullet-pocked Chabad House which reopened in 2014.
On Thursday, Moshe now 11 will visit the nondescript five-storey grey building in the heavily congested part of Colaba, renovated and rebuilt but with the bullet marks intact as a grim reminder of the destruction and killings. All shops along the stretch will remain shut and the lane will be sealed off during the day.
Moshe's Mumbai trip comes as a reciprocal visit promised by Israeli PM Netanyahu following Modi's meeting with the family in Israel last July, when he invited Moshe to India.