MH17 crash ended hopes for a family reunion
EARLIER this year Itamar Avnon, a 27-year-old Israeli studying at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, discovered that he had relatives in Australia.
EARLIER this year Itamar Avnon, a 27-year-old Israeli studying at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, discovered that he had relatives in Australia.
Their first big reunion was due to take place in the coming weeks, but Avnon was one of the 298 people killed on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 while returning to Australia after attending his sister’s wedding in Israel.
Sally and Fred Landberg of Elsternwick discovered in April that they were related to Avnon after his father, Dov, had contacted the Australian Jewish Genealogical Society (AJGS) for help in tracking down relatives in Australia. Sally explained that at the end of World War II her father and his five brothers were separated and settled in Israel, South America and Australia, with some changing their surnames.
“My father died in 1965 and we did not hear much from other family members overseas,” she said. “Lionel Sharpe (AJGS secretary) contacted me with news that my long-lost relatives were trying to locate me and Dov made contact with me,” she said.
“Dov told us that his son lived in Melbourne, which was wonderful news. Our daughters Amy and Natalie met him for afternoon tea before he travelled to Israel, and he said he was so happy to meet his cousins. We never got to meet him, but we had planned to see him on his return from Israel to really get to know him. Now it will never happen; we are all very upset.”
Avnon, a Dutch-Israeli citizen, had embarked on a new life in Australia and was in his second year of a business degree at Swinburne University as an international student after having served in the Israeli army.
“He survived his military service in the engineering corps, time in the paratroopers and Operation Cast Lead but he was a victim of a plane crash over a combat zone in Ukraine,” Dov posted on Facebook.
Sally said that when she and Fred visited Israel a few months ago, they did not know that they had relatives living there.
“I didn’t know then that I have a 96-year-old grandfather living in Haifa,” she said. “We now have lots of cousins to catch up with, which gave us a lovely feeling until this horrible news about Itamar.”
Friends in Australia, meanwhile, paid tribute to Itamar. “He was amazing,” Danielle Cohen told The AJN. “He could always make everyone laugh. He was very fun-loving.”
Describing Itamar as “like a little brother to me”, Shmuel Tal said, “He came for dinner on Friday nights where we would enjoy food and just enjoy each other’s company. He was just a really awesome guy.
“We can’t believe we’re not gonna see him walking through the door and making us laugh with funny jokes. We will really miss him.”
DANNY GOCS AND ZOE KRON
“He was amazing”: Israeli Itamar Avnon was one of the 298 people killed on MH17. Photo: Facebook
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