Nice massacre: Jewish death toll rises to three

ANT KATZ

A US Jewish father and son and an elderly French Jewish women were killed at the Bastille Day event in Nice in France where an armed driver ploughed his 19-ton truck into the crowds, killing over 80 people.

More French Jews were injured and a group of Chabad camp councillors missed being mowed down by a few seconds.

Sean Copeland, 51, and his son Brodie, 11, were killed while holidaying in Europe with their family. The Copeland family released a statement through Jess Davis, a close friend: “We are heartbroken and in shock over the loss of Brodie, an amazing son and brother who lit up our lives, and Sean, a wonderful husband and father,” said the statement. 

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The French Jewish women, Raymonde Mamane, 77, died Sunday at a local hospital, the French Jewish newspaper Actualite Juive reported Monday.

Her sister, Clara Bensimon, 80, remains unconscious in the same hospital, where both of her legs reportedly were amputated. Bensimon was only identified late Friday after being reported missing following the attack.

At least five more of the wounded in the attack are Jews, according to Rabbi Yossef Yitschok Pinson of Nice’s Chabad House. A defiant Pinson said: “We will not let this affect us, we will not let fear affect or damage the life of our community.” Shul services and community events went on as planned.

Nice is the “capital” of the French Rivera, on France’s Mediterranean coast. The tourist destination draws hundreds of thousands of local French and other tourists in summer, as well as many Jews from Europe and further afield because it has a permanent Jewish population of 25 000 and provides kosher shops and many shuls.

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ABOVE: Sean Copeland, far left, and son Brodie, centre, were killed in the Nice massacre: PIC: COPELAND FAMILY, VIA AUSTIN STATESMAN-HERALD

Luckily, the full summer crowd had not yet arrived, Pinson said. “They usually come in August, then there are far more Jews in town.”

The Copeland family holiday began with the running of the bulls in Pamplona, on to flamenco dancing in Barcelona and finally celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, where Sean and Brodie were killed.

Heather Copeland, Brodie’s cousin, took to Twitter to express grief and post pictures of the father-son duo. “I just please ask for prayers for my family and all of the others [who] were killed in France,” she wrote. “I don’t even know how to put this in words. Today was a very [tragic] day for my family.”

The truck had “left a trail of blood as it tore through the crowd,” said Rabbi Pinson, citing eyewitness testimonies. One witness to the attack was “deeply traumatised by what she saw, he said. “Body parts, people screaming, blood everywhere and very, very difficult sights.”

JNS.org reports that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a humanitarian organisation which helps Jews make aliyah, is receiving thousands of inquiries from French Jews. The Fellowship has had over 5 000 phone calls and hundreds of e-mails from French Jews asking about aliyah in recent months. The organisation took 82 French Jews to Israel in June and will take more than 150 more this month.

French Jews were attending a Fellowship-organised aliyah meeting in Nice just one block away from the site as the attack took place.

Forward.com reported that a group of Chabad madrichim from the Gan Israel day camp narrowly escaped the attack, crossing the street moments before the carnage. “They had to run from the truck. It was just a few feet away from them,” said Rabbi Pinson.