My grandpa saved 800 jews from the Nazis for free. His reward was imprisonment and threats from other Israelis.

My grandpa is 92 and lives in Israel. He is from Macedonia but was born in Israel. He grew up in Israel and was raised in a patriotic family, loving Israel with all of his heart. He always dreamed to join the IDF and protect the holy land. <br><br>So in 1950, he enlisted in the IDF to protect the holy land from surrounding enemies. But he was soon assigned to a secret mission instead of duty. He was given the choice to either do this mission, or go to prison. He obviously chose the mission. During the mission, he found out he would be smuggling 800 jews out of Egypt into Israel through Greece and Yugoslavia. <br><br>He was told he needed to do this because many jews were being prosecuted in Egypt for being jewish. But my grandpa was also told he must never speak of this mission. Over the next 7 years, he successfully smuggled 800 jews into Israel, with the help of 3 Israeli friends. They snuck across 2 countries, and smuggled jews across seas to Israel. <br><br>Over the course of 7 years, my grandpa got arrested 14 times, beat up, and robbed 11 times. He survived 5 attempts on his life. He never gave up. After the 7 years was up, the mission was over and he finally had the right to speak freely about it. But things took a turn for the worst. My grandpa was arrested and put in prison for 8 years for disclosing the mission. <br><br>The government said he was never allowed to talk about it, no matter how long you lived. He spent 8 years in prison for saving 800 jews. When he got out, he was met with death threats and warnings not to talk about it. He never did again until he was on his deathbed. He wrote down his story for me and my siblings and told us to never show this to anyone, but to make sure we understand why he’s proud of Israel. <br><br>I’m breaking his rule today, but I will not disclose his name. I just want people to understand how much Israel loves jews.