Anola Retnianka
Anola was born in Kurunegala, a major city in Sri Lanka. She had two sisters and a younger brother. Her mother struggled with poverty and her grandparents stepped in to help raise Anola and her siblings. Anola was a quiet and considerate child, who loved animals and always helped others. Even as a child, Anola was deeply religious.
She married at the age of 19 and had two children, a girl and a boy. When they grew older, Anola left Sri Lanka to work in Israel so she could pay for her children’s schooling. Today her son is a chef in New Zealand, and her daughter, Suno, is a student in London.
Anola was 39 when she arrived in Israel. She worked in Ashkelon for about three years before moving to kibbutz Be'eri. At Be'eri, Anola cared for Aliza Goral for several years, and after Aliza passed away, she began working for Etty Mordo. Anola lived in Israel for nearly a decade, but she only allowed herself one extended vacation, a forty-five-day visit to Sri Lanka.
Anola’s life on the kibbutz was good and peaceful. She was Etty’s eyes and ears, and they became fast friends. Etty describes a bond that went beyond language: “Anola spoke broken Hebrew, I spoke broken English, and we were very good friends.” Anola cared for Etty with sensitivity and a gentle smile. She became part of the family.
Anola was a devout Buddhist. She set up a small shrine with a statue of the Buddha, which had jasmine flowers floating in a bowl of water that she kept fresh. She would pray there every morning and evening, and then pray several times more as she went about her daily activities.
Anola collected donations for her Buddhist temple. She sent boxes of clothing and other items from the kibbutz’s second-hand shop to Sri Lanka. She would repair stuffed animals, washing and mending them before mailing them. She always added new toys and chocolate to those care packages. Once a month Anola sent money home to her children and family members. She also supported other members of her community, whether they were ill, unemployed, hungry, or needed school supplies for their children.
Anola enjoyed cooking traditional Sri Lankan dishes, which she would share with friends and with Sujit, Chaim Zohar’s caregiver, who was a fellow Sri Lankan. Anola knew every jasmine tree on the kibbutz, and was familiar with all the different flowers and leaves: crepe jasmine at Gil and Camelia’s, moringa in Noah Hershkowitz’s garden. She planted a magnificent garden with the plants that she received from her friends on the kibbutz. Anola would tend to the plants while speaking on the phone with her children. Everything was green, vibrant and blooming. Anola had a strong connection to nature and animals. She regularly fed cats, dogs and birds. To her they were all equal souls in the world who needed tending to. She even cared for the neighbor’s elderly dog: changing its bandages, bathing and giving it haircuts. Her neighbor Ariel says, “The tiniest creature, the smallest plant, everything came to life around Anola; she had an inexplicable harmony with the world and the universe.”
Anola eventually even got used to the missile attack sirens. Whenever the red alert would sound on the kibbutz, she urged Etty to go to the safe room, but Etty would always say, “My couch is my safe room.” On the morning of Saturday, October 7th, Anola sensed that the situation was unusual, and she insisted that Etty go into the safe room. They both did. Anola lay curled up on the bed; she must’ve known more about what was happening because she received information from her friends on the kibbutz. Etty sat on the other edge of the bed.
The terrorists shot at the door handle and forced their way inside. They shot Anola twice. Etty fell and rolled underneath the bed. She would stay there for two and a half days. Terrorists entered and left the house several times. Etty could hear gunshots, motorcycles, and screaming. On Monday morning IDF soldiers came into the home, they found Etty and saw that Anola had been killed.
Anola was forty-nine years old when she was murdered. She was a kind, generous, and modest woman, with a unique and inspiring capacity for unconditional generosity. She had deep love and compassion for the world and all living things in it. Suno, her daughter, says, “My mother Anola always thought of others before she thought of herself. She was the most amazing, loving, caring, beautiful, and most of all, the bravest woman I ever met.”
May her memory be a blessing.
