"The memory of our loved ones inspires us to do everything for the sake of [there being] no more killing and no more bereavement."
These were the late Prime Minister Golda Meir's remarks to bereaved families just 24 hours before the State of Israel would embark on what was to be the most difficult war in the country's history, the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
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Thousands of Israeli soldiers would lose their lives in the fighting.
An official letter of condolence sent by Meir to the bereaved families is now up for auction at the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem. Due to the timing of the letter, which was sent on Erev Yom Kippur, Oct. 5, 1973, bidding for the letter is set to start at $8,000.
In the decades following the country's establishment, Israel's leaders would maintain ties with the families of fallen soldiers, sending them condolence letters in the lead-up to state holidays. Meir in particular adhered to this custom, corresponding often with the bereaved.
As part of this correspondence, Meir also sent a letter on the High Holiday in which she wrote, "On Erev Yom Kippur, a day of introspection, we painfully recall the precious memory of Israel's heroes. At holiday time, the beloved figures of our dear fallen soldiers appear before our eyes, those who in their deaths granted us life."
Meir continued by sharing her hope that further killing would be avoided and peace established with Israel's neighbors, a tragic articulation given the historical context.
"Dear families," she wrote, "We owe you a great debt. Your pain is the pain of the entire nation, [it] encourages us to do everything for the achievement of the loftiest goals for which our loved ones gave their lives, and foremost among them – achieving peace for Israel. The memory of our loved ones motivates us to do everything so that there will be no more killing and for us not to know anymore bereavement."
Meron Eren, one of the owners and founders of the Kedem Auction House, called the letter "particularly exciting" as a reflection of the extent of the tragedy that befell the State of Israel 46 years ago.
He noted that "mere hours after the prime minister gave expression to her participation in the national state mourning, the war in which thousands more bereaved families joined the circle of mourning broke out."
