...that a man should lay down his life for his friends.
The Teacher Chose Death:
Elderly Teacher Insisted on Remaining with
His Students
Hebrew Press
Yanis Kanidis -- A Hero
The Teacher Chose Death
Code: Select all
In an act of unlimited devotion and dedication to the bitter end, an elderly teacher insisted on remaining with his students. He protected
them, bandaged their wounds, and with his death, saved their lives.
Code: Select all
Children who escaped from the school told of how they owed their lives to elderly Yanis (Ivan) Kanidis, age 74, a man of Greek origin,
who worked as a gym teacher at the school. He was among the hundreds of
teachers, students and parents taken hostage last week when Chechen
rebels invaded the large school.
Code: Select all
On Thursday, in what was an unusual humanitarian move in the midst of the horror, the terrorists agreed to allow a group of women and
babies to leave the building. The commander of the terrorist squad, saw
Kanidis -- a sickly elderly man -- and offered to allow him to walk
free as well.
Code: Select all
But Kanidis refused. "I will stay with my students till the end," the teacher insisted.
Code: Select all
"Whatever you say," said the terrorist, dismissing him with a wave of the hand.
Code: Select all
"He was just like Janus Korzchak, who accompanied his pupils to Auschwitz," said one of the students who was saved.
Code: Select all
Like Korzchak, Kanidis didn't just accompany his students, he guarded their lives. On Friday, when the children began to lose
consciousness from the blistering heat and their thirst, Yanis went to
the terrorists. "You have to give them something to drink, at least to
the smallest children," he insisted angrily. One of the terrorists hit
him with the butt of his rifle, but the teacher continued to yell: "How
dare you!? You claim you are people of the Kafkaz region, but here in
the Kafkaz even a dog wouldn't turn down the request of an old man!"
Code: Select all
His efforts bore fruit. The terrorist allowed the teacher to wet one of the bibs of the children and pass it around to dampen the mouths
of the little ones who were choking from thirst. The hostages who
escaped told how the teacher repeatedly risked his own life in order to
save the children. He moved explosive devices that the terrorists had
placed near the young students, and tried to prevent them from
detonating others.
When the first bomb exploded next to the windows of the school, parents
and children began to run out. The terrorists, trying to prevent their
escape, threw a grenade at them. The elderly teacher ran to the grenade
to prevent it from exploding on the children. One of the terrorists shot
at the teacher to try to stop him and Yanis was wounded in the shoulder,
but didn't give up. With the last of his strength, he continued to run,
jumped on the grenade, covering it with his body. The grenade exploded,
and the body of the teacher absorbed the explosion, protecting the
children around him from injury.