Mumbai, India – A Jewish centre in Mumbai reopened on Tuesday, nearly six years after heavily armed militants stormed the building and killed six people inside during the 2008 attacks on the city.
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One of several high-profile targets assaulted by the gunmen, Chabad House in south Mumbai was left bullet-ridden and bereft of its directors Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his pregnant wife Rivky, who were both slain in the siege.
They were among 166 people killed in the three-day onslaught in November 2008, which also targeted luxury hotels, a popular cafe and a train station.
The refurbished five-storey building includes a synagogue, a cafeteria and a function room for the Jewish community. On the top two floors, due to be turned into a museum, damage from the bullets and grenades has been kept as reminders of the tragedy.
In the synagogue, candles mark the spot where Rabbi Holtzberg was shot dead, and pictures of him, his wife and their surviving young child adorn the stairwells.
The rabbi’s father, Nachman Holtzberg, described the opening as a “very special day” for him and his relatives, who were joined by rabbis from across Asia belonging to their orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
“Everybody remembers the very terrifying day when there was the tragedy and everything stopped,” he told reporters.
“This is the day that we can celebrate their lives and the message of light that they spread.”
Reconstruction had been delayed while Holtzberg’s parents briefly fought the New York-based Jewish group in a Mumbai court over who would control and redesign the property. The property title lies with the Chabad of India Trust, which Gavriel Holtzberg had helped set up in 2005. But the two sides dropped the case in 2011, with the organization assuming stewardship.
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky from the Jewish group’s educational arm said the reopening should be seen as a message to the world.
“You can overcome challenges, even the most horrific of challenges,” he said in a statement, adding that “this project serves as a beacon of light and hope that evil will not prevail.”
Chabad House, tucked away down a narrow lane in the bustling area of Colaba market, was established as an open house for visiting Jews and the local community by the Holtzbergs after they arrived in Mumbai in 2003.
While they were among six people taken hostage in the centre and killed by the gunmen, their son, then aged two, was plucked to safety by his nanny.
Local jeweller Chintan Sakariya, who witnessed the militants “showering bullets everywhere” in bloody scenes in 2008, told AFP he had a “mixed reaction” to the reopening.
“They’re coming back strongly and we support that,” said Sakariya, who lives with his family close to the centre.
“But there’s going to be a lot of inconvenience for local residents, a lot of security, a lot of blockades.”
Sakariya also wondered if the centre might be a target again given recent events in Gaza. “Just pray nothing happens this time around,” he said.
The $2.5 million museum is set to include a reconstruction of the Holtzbergs’ apartment in its original place on the top floor, where people will be able to learn about Jewish ways of life.
The rooftop, which has views of the militants’ other targets in south Mumbai, will be turned into the city’s first memorial for all those killed in the attacks.
Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, new co-director of the centre with his wife, Chaya, said he was “truly humbled” to take up the job, describing the Holtzbergs as “role models for us and an exceptional couple”.
“Although they are not with us physically today I’m sure they are in spirit with us and they are very proud,” he said.
The 10 young gunmen who carried out the attacks, blamed on Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, came to the shore of south Mumbai after hijacking an Indian trawler at sea.
In 2012, India executed the sole surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.
The luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel, the most high-profile target, reopened in 2010 after a 1.75-billion rupee ($37.3 million) restoration.
The seafront heritage building was badly damaged by fire, smoke and explosions in the 60-hour siege.
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