Here’s a family story that was recently discovered. I’ve got to scan all the newspaper articles so the whole story may take a while, but by tomorrow I should have all the details for you.
When I asked Ezi if he’d like to go with me to Michmoret last month, he said – great. His father had built the wharf there and he’d never seen it. I had thought I had managed to dig out all the stories in the family history, but it turned out there was a whole new chapter.
Bandi (Andre) Gut was bereft in May of 1948 when his father died, and became unable to work. He had built many edifices in Israel with his father and for long months was totally at a loss. As a kind of antidote a friend from Kfar Vitkin suggested that he helped build a wharf for Michmoret so they could become a prosperous fishing village. They had been offered tenders of 130,000-200,000 lira, and there was no way they could afford this. Bandi stepped in and volunteered. In the end he built the wharf for 15,000 lira in 1948, and it is still in operation today.
And after that Bandi went back to work with his brother Pele.
I’ll tell you more in my next blog, but I have to add that not a day goes by that I don’t think with deep love of Bandi and the many joys and tragedies he experienced as well as the pain he inflicted on others. To me, he was more than a father.