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26/11 files: 8 years later, Baby Moshe remembers his parents

Baby Moshe was one of the survivors of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

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Bengaluru, Nov 26: Eight years ago, the entire nation was glued to their television sets. India had never witnessed a terror attack of this magnitude.

News broke that terrorists had attacked CST Station,Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman Point in Mumbai. Images of gunfight between the terrorists and police officials were all over the news.

26/11: Baby Moshe remembers his parents

166 people were killed in the 26/11 attacks and many were injured. Among the survivors was Baby Moshe, who was saved by his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuels. Moshe Holtzberg, known as Baby Moshe lived with his parents Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, in the Chabad House.

What happened at Chabad House

Moshe lived with his parents at Chabad House in Mumbai. On the fateful night of Nov 26, 2008 terrorists attacked Chabad House and killed Moshe's parents. Samuels, then grabbed a crying Moshe and rushed out of the building. It was later confirmed by the NSG Commandos that Moshe's parents died in the attack.

Following the attack, Moshe alongwith Samuels returned to Israel to live with his grandparents. Even though Samuels didn't have a passport, she was given a special visa so that she could travel to Israel with Moshe to look after him.

Samuels did so without thinking twice, even though she had her own family back in India.

Baby Moshe turns 10

Moshe, who is in the fifth grade, recently celebrated his 10th birthday. Samuels, who stayed with him till he was 8 years old, has now moved to Jerusalem, where she works with children with special needs. However, she visits Moshe every Saturday and talks to him over the phone daily.

[Also Read: 26/11: The files that were never opened]

Moshe's uncle and namesake, Moshe Holtzberg, who stays in Mumbai says that his nephew is doing well. He visits his parents grave every year and knows what happened to them but does not like to talk about it, Holtzberg told a daily.

Moshe's grandparents, in an interview to israelnationalnews.com said that their grandchild wants to be a normal kid, like everyone else. "He told us outright, 'I don't want anyone to treat me like a pity case or an orphan, I don't need pity," they said.

But that does not mean that the family doesn't talk about what happened. They visit the grave every year and pray for Moshe's parents' souls.

Moshe's grandparents hope that he grows up to be a Chabad emissary one day. Moshe's uncle says that Moshe will definitely come to India, though it is uncertain when.

OneIndia News

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