1. Alexander Dancyg was a Polish-born Israeli historian, Yad Vashem Institute contributor, farmer and an active advocate of Polish-Jewish dialogue.
19 Facts About Alex Dancyg
1. 2.
Alex Dancyg was born in Warsaw, Poland on 21 July 1948, to parents who were survivors of the Holocaust.
3.
Alex Dancyg was born in Warsaw as the second child of Nina and Marcin Dancyg.
4.
Alex Dancyg's father was a lawyer by profession, while his mother was a historian.
5.
Alex Dancyg's parents came from Warsaw, and spent the German occupation of World War II in the so-called Eastern Borderlands hiding under a false name: Danecki.
6.
Alex Dancyg's father, Marcin Dancyg, was a Stalinist military judge in Polish People's Republic.
7.
Alex Dancyg started a family on Kibbutz Nir-Oz, raising three children.
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Alex Dancyg led a program for 120 Israeli and Polish schools to meet together during Israeli school trips to Poland.
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Alex Dancyg was a long-standing associate of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Institute.
10.
On 7 October 2023, at the start of the Gaza war, Alex Dancyg was kidnapped by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Nir-Oz.
11.
Alex Dancyg's son, Mati Dancyg, said Alex Dancyg's last communication was a text he sent to his other son, Yuval Dancyg, at approximately 8:30 am that morning, in which Dancyg told them about the situation in the kibbutz.
12.
Alex Dancyg's ex-wife survived, by holding her missile proof shelter door shut for seven hours, protecting her and her three grandchildren.
13.
Alex Dancyg was said to be regularly given medication and to be in good health.
14.
The released hostage stated that Alex Dancyg was giving history lectures to fellow hostages.
15.
Murals with the hashtag "StandWithAlex Dancyg" were painted in Warsaw as part of a campaign to build pressure for his release.
16.
On 22 July 2024, the IDF reported that Alex Dancyg had been killed earlier in the year while being held by Hamas.
17.
Alex Dancyg was a staunch supporter of kibbutzims, which he regarded as an example of successful socialist communities.
18.
In 1999, a biographical documentary film devoted to Alex Dancyg was made, titled Reading Sienkiewicz in the Negev Desert.
19.
In 2014, the Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre Centre published the second volume in the series Tales from the Gate entitled Dancyg containing a transcript of interviews with Alex Dancyg recorded as part of the Oral History Programme.