Israeli Emergency Crew in Turkey: ‘Wherever You Go, You See Mourning’

Jerusalem, 9 February, 2023 (TPS) -- A delegation of 150 Israeli emergency workers are in Turkey assisting in search and rescue efforts. The delegation is made up of Israeli Homefront Command soldiers and members of ZAKA, Israel’s volunteer emergency response organization.

Because of difficulties with communication in Turkey, ZAKA’s director of operations Chaim Weingarten, has been briefing reporters from Jerusalem. He discussed the mission with the Tazpit Press Service on Thursday evening.

“Wherever you go, you see mourning. People who see all their loved ones disappear. Fear in the eyes, fear of the future. There is nothing to eat. Whoever went out in pajamas, that’s all he has. He has nowhere to go and no family,” Weingarten said.

“Everyone thinks what they will eat tomorrow, they are without money and without medicine, their future is a pile of dirt. It is impossible to imagine it,” he added.

“In terms of work, the rescuers, when they find someone alive, is an incredible joy,” Weingarten stressed. “After three to four days under the ruins he would have died for sure if you hadn’t come because you came with special tools that they don’t have, and you saved them,” Weingarten said.

However, “On the other hand it is one of thousands, it is indeed a satisfaction that every soul is a flower, every person can have a great future. To experience the disaster of the Turkish people is something that cannot be grasped.”

According to Weingarten, the Israeli rescuers expected to see destroyed houses, but not entire streets and villages in ruins.

“The members of the delegation traveled along a route until they reached their destination, they passed villages that were completely destroyed, hundreds of families that were completely destroyed. They see that next to every such building there are one or two [survivors] who sit and cry and their family is buried under there,” Weingarten said.

“A Turk came to one of the rescuers and told him, ‘I know where my wife’s bedroom is and where the children’s are. Come help get them out, I know they are bodies,’ And he said to them in Hebrew, “Thank you very much.”

According to Weingarten, the tiny Jewish community of Antakya is no more. It was, he said, “a community of 11 really small families,” led by Saul Cenudioglu. The bodies of Saul and his wife, Fortuna, were found in the rubble on Wednesday, becoming the earthquake’s first Jewish casualties.

As for the rest of Antakiya’s Jews, “all of them dispersed in Turkey,” mostly to Istanbul, Weingarten said.

‘Everyone Gives to Save’

Weingarten made a point of emphasizing the cooperation among the aid groups from different countries.

“Each one tries to help the other do the best in order to save one more soul,” he stressed. “If one expedition lacks a tool, it brings another one. We also met Iranians there. There are no barriers, everyone gives to save.”

Asked how the level of destruction compares to other disasters he has responded to, Weingarten said, “The level of disaster here is huge. I’m not sure there was such a disaster, maybe in Haiti.” He was referring to the earthquake that struck the Caribbean country in 2010, killing 100,000-316,000 people and destroying 250,000 homes.

“Unlike Haiti where it’s hot there, here it’s cold. It’s also hard to work in the heat – but the cold breaks you,” Weingarten explained. “People are in the cold for days under and above the ruins. They will die from hypothermia, and here the task is to go against the clock and save as many as possible because we are already almost a week away from their terrible disaster.”

Asked what the world most needs to know about Turkey, Weingarten stressed that people need to aid the survivors, and also take preventive measures such setting aside emergency survival bags and making sure their homes are reinforced to withstand earthquakes.

“We will be there for another week or two, but [the survivors] remain destitute, whole families have been destroyed. Help with blankets, food, clothes and shoes, we must help them in this matter,” Weingarten stressed.

“We in Israel know that we are not ready for the next earth disaster. There are 60,000-80,000 houses that are not reinforced. As the head of the operations department, I am very worried and afraid,” he added.

The official death toll from Turkey and Syria passed 20,000 on Thursday night. Many of the stricken villages are in remote areas of Turkey and Syria with little communication.

“I see that in times of crisis all forces work together. The value of life is a supreme value and it’s a shame that you see it in a time of disaster and not in a normal time,” Weingarten said. “From this sad place I appeal to everyone: take care of a valuable life. Life is above all, not only in disaster but also in routine.”