Widows of Burgas victims mark 1st anniversary of tragedy

Year after Burgas terror attack, survivors Natalie, Gilat, who lost their husbands in bombing, tell Ynet of difficulties to overcome trauma, will to move on

Noam (Dabul) Dvir

Coworkers and friends Gilat, 29, and Natalie, 27, both lost their husbands in the fatal bombing on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort town of Burgas in July 2012. A year later, the two friends struggle with their losses as they raise children who will never get to meet their fathers.

This week, Gilat and Natalie mark the first anniversary of their husbands’ deaths. Their bodies healed, but the pain persists. The trauma still haunts them, but with it the will to move on.

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Amir and Natalie Menashe left their baby boy Rom at home in the summer of 2012 to take a vacation with their friends, Itzik and Gilat Kolengi, who had also left a baby, Noya, at home. The vacation ended with the tragic death of Itzik and Amir, as well as of three other Israelis and the Bulgarian bus driver. Some 30 people were injured in the blast.

Natalie, Rom, Gilat, Noya (Photo: Yaron Brener)

Ever since the terror attack, Gilat and Natalie have grown closer than ever. They told Ynet that their bond is based on their shared experiences both in the past and in the present.
“It’s not like anything else,” Natalie told Ynet, noting that being a widow “with a child is not like being single or divorced.”