Israʾel: My parents passed away one day after the other. My father in the evening and my mother the next morning. They were sick. All the orphans were taken to Shfeya.

We went to school there. My sisters and my brother were taken there as well. My fifth brother was run over by a car. We all lived together in Shfeya, all my siblings: Yiḥya, Israʾel, Braḥa, Rina – may she live long – and Shlomo Z”L. Shlomo studied in Shfeya.

ʾAviva: After the wedding, I had a daughter. On the sixth day, his brother Shlomo came to us and said he wants to go to a party in Shfeya. I gave him a peach, some quinces, everything I had I gave him. He went to his sister Rina who was married in Ben Yehuda, Tel Aviv. Rina told him: “Stay at my place and leave on Sunday.”

Israʾel: He said he had a party to go to. His friends were in a farm in Shfeya. He called them and said: “Wait till I get there”. The minute he left a car came and hit him. He was taken to a hospital.

ʾAviva: On Friday, my stomach burnt. I was pregnant with my son Shilo. I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Everyone was fine, my husband was fine, what is wrong with me? I got up Saturday morning and saw soldiers in front of the house. I asked “what are you doing here?” We are here for you, they said, and asked for some coffee. One of them said to me: “Listen sister, your brother in law is gone; a car hit him. He is gone now.” They came back Saturday evening, and again on Sunday. They said: “It is finished – he passed away.”

We were in Shfeya, where older Yemenites came to us, teachers came to teach us. We read the parasha (section from the Bible) in Yemenite. There were many Yemenite children there. They read the parasha and prayed in Yemenite.

The Yemenite community gave us money and told us: “Take this boy with you, keep him safe and bring him into ʿAden.” When Israʾel was a little boy of 5, he went to Sanaʽa’s souk and walked around there. Three Arabs came to him and called him “Jew”. Israʾel replied: “What do you want from me?”. They asked him: “do you know Qesar's children?” he said: “no, I don’t” and started shaking out of fear.  They pinched his thigh and said: “run Hebrew”.  He was five years old and took his brother and ran away with him to the cemetery to hide. They got into the cave (the cemetery) and stayed there half a night. During that time, we lived at my grandma and grandpa‘s house; a rich family. We returned at night to my grandma’s house. The Jews in Sanaʽa said: “We are not going to leave these children here. If they are left here they will become goyim (gentile). And we as a family don’t want our children to be goyim. We will give them some food and money to go to ʿAden". Israʾel and his brother went to a hangar that was on the way to ʿAden.

They told us to go with the ‘Olim’, those who walk. We were given money, and they were asked to keep an eye on this child. They said: “we will keep him safe, don’t worry.” Israʾel got up and started walking. They went from village to village, from one place to another. They reached a settlement that all Yemenite Jews went through. Israʾel had five rial. They said: “whomever wants to go to ʿAden – give us five rial.” Israʾel said: “I’ll give you the five rial, I want to get to ʿAden; whatever it takes.”

Two of my sisters, together with my brother Yiḥya, told me: “you’ll be their father now.”  I took them all the way on a donkey. One was heavier than the other. The girls still remember it. When they come visit me, we all reminisce. They don’t speak Arabic though.

They told Israʾel: “let’s go to the girls in Shaikh Outhman.” We arrived there with the Ḥavshush family. He asked the girls: “where did you put the tools?”, meanwhile, their money was stolen from selling their vineyard in Sanaʽa.