"When the Walls Wept" - The Story of Cyla (Tzila) Yoffan

Cyla (Tzila) Yoffan (Dworezke) was born in 1930 into a Zionist Orthodox family in the city of Iwje. During the years of German occupation many members of her family were murdered in the killing fields of Iwje. She survived along with her parents, her sister and her cousin, who her father saved in the killing fields, and they were transferred to the Lida ghetto. Several months later, in the spring of 1943, Tzila’s family succeeded in escaping from the ghetto and reached the family camps of Tuvia Bielski. The family was liberated with the liberation of the area in the summer of 1944.

After months of wandering through various European countries, Tzila immigrated to Israel. Tzila enlisted in the army in 1948. There she met her future husband, Shaul Yoffan.

They built their home in the city of Givataim, and had two children, 10 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. Over the years Tzila has worked to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, meeting with teenagers and recounting her experiences during the Holocaust.
She is active in Ezra Dagan’s Witness’s Theater.