Lone Holocaust survivor visited by Bar Refaeli on birthday
Ernest Veiner, a blind and disabled Holocaust survivor, invited the public to join him in his birthday celebrations.
By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMANUpdated: JANUARY 25, 2017 23:39Holocaust survivor Ernest (left) celebrated his 92nd birthday with hundreds of guests, including supermodel Bar Refaeli (far right)(photo credit: ASSOCIATION FOR IMMEDIATE HELP FOR HOLOCAUST SURVI)
A Holocaust survivor had a particularly happy 92nd birthday this week.Ahead of his birthday on Tuesday, Ernest Veiner asked the Association for Immediate Help for Holocaust Survivors to help him organize a birthday party and invite the public to come celebrate.The nonprofit posted an invitation on its Facebook page, encouraging members of the public to attend, and Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli was among the many who responded to the open invitation. She was joined by many others, including fellow Holocaust survivors and volunteers from the group, at the Rihot ve-Teamim restaurant in Ramat Hasharon.Volunteers from the group organized the venue, food and decorations for the party.Veiner was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925 and fled to Holland in 1938. Eventually, he was captured by the Nazis and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in northern Germany.He moved to Israel in 1949.A spokeswoman for the group said that Veiner, who has no living family and is blind and disabled, has received assistance from the group for the past four years including paying for his caretaker when he was unable to do so; providing legal assistance; and arranging weekly visits by volunteers.