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Gad Fartouk lit one of six torches at the State Opening Ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem in 2025.
Gad Fartouk
Gad Fartouk
Gad (Chmayes) Fartouk was born in 1931 in Nabeul, Tunisia, into an observant family of eleven. His father, Joseph, was a member of the community committee, a synagogue benefactor and a textile merchant. Many of his customers were not Jewish, and he maintained a harmonious relationship with them. The Jewish and Arab families in the city customarily celebrated the holidays together. The sellers at the local market knew the family well and would prepare their purchases ahead of time. “We children would just come, pick up the baskets and go home,” recalls Gad.
In November 1942, Nazi Germany occupied Tunisia: “We returned from synagogue on Friday night and sat down for dinner. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Two policemen ordered Father to come to the station,” relates Gad. Joseph refused to travel on the Sabbath, so he went on foot to the police station, where he was detained for several hours. The next day, the family moved to Hamam-Lif and lived under assumed identities.
“We didn’t go to synagogue anymore, and all our prayers took place at home,” recalls Gad. His mother, Ochaya, became ill and died. Joseph remarried, and his second wife Mary “was our mother for all intents and purposes.”
When the German presence in the city stepped up, Joseph went into hiding. The Germans would enter the houses, looking for Jews to deport to the camps. Mary sent Gad’s two older brothers to hide in the forest. A few days later, Joseph reappeared and took his wife and children to his brother, Basha. Basha lived in Gabès, and was a “protected worker” as he worked for the French navy.
The family’s money ran out, as did their jewelry, which had been proffered as bribes to Germans conducting manhunts. “We were hungry and skinny, and looked everywhere for food,” relates Gad. “Mother sent me to the market dressed as a local in the hope that I would be able to obtain food. We would go to the field next to the house and gather mallow, which became our staple diet. We scavenged for food in the bakery’s garbage bins, and I brought home soiled flour. We sifted it and made a ‘meal.’”
After the German retreat from Tunisia in May 1943, a man with a bushy beard and non-Jewish garb came to the door. At first, Gad didn’t recognize him, but it was his father. Gad took him to his older brothers, who also didn’t recognize their father.
Reunited, the family returned to Nabeul, where they celebrated Gad’s barmitzvah. Afterwards, they moved to Tunis, where Gad joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and became an active member. He sailed to France and learned Hebrew at a hachshara (pioneer training) farm.
In March 1948, Gad immigrated to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) on an Italian fishing boat. He joined Kibbutz Beit Zera and enlisted in the Palmach. Later, he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Karmia, before eventually settling in Ashkelon. An amateur photographer, Gad later turned his hobby into a profession.
Gad and Mona z”l have four children, thirteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. As Gad puts it:
“That is my revenge for the suffering caused by the Nazis.”