Baby Moshe ‘emotional, excited’ about Mumbai visit

Jerusalem: Moshe Holtzberg, the Israeli child who as a toddler survived the 2008 terror attack at a Jewish centre in Mumbai, is feeling “emotional and excited” as he prepares for his “homecoming” during the four day visit to India by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week.

Moshe, 11, was two when his parents were killed in the Mumbai attacks at Nariman House (also known as Chabad House) by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.

The attack on the Nariman House and other locations like the Taj Hotel left 166 people dead.

The boy, standing and crying between his dead parents’ bodies, was saved in a daring move by his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuels, who was hiding in a room downstairs when the attack happened.

“Moshe is very excited and at the same time emotional as he gets ready to leave for Mumbai on January 15. He is returning to his birthplace and is waiting to see many things connected to his late parents that he has heard about from us and his nanny. There are lots of memories,” an overwhelmed Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, Moshe’’s grandfather, said.

In an emotional meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 5 in Jerusalem, the young boy had expressed his wish to visit Mumbai.

“I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House,” Moshe had told the Indian Prime Minister.

Modi had responded by saying, “Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere”.

Netanyahu then promptly asked Moshe to join him when he travels to India, a promise he did not forget and has invited the family to join him in Mumbai during his forthcoming visit to India starting on January 14.