The loneliness of the long-distance Holocaust survivor

Elias Feinzilberg, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, stands at the window of his home in Jerusalem as Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day under coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, April 21, 2020. The Hebrew words on the placard read: "Remembering close-by, embracing from afar." REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Elias Feinzilberg, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, had to commemorate Israel's annual memorial day for the six million Jewish dead on Tuesday separated from his family because of the coronavirus lockdown.

From his third-floor Jerusalem home, he blew kisses to his daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who stood in the street below to be with him, at a safe distance, as a siren sounded across Israel to honour those who perished.