{"id":187789,"date":"2026-03-29T17:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T14:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=187789"},"modified":"2026-03-29T17:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T14:22:21","slug":"shaul_ladany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/","title":{"rendered":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany’s Long Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When air-raid sirens sounded in the previous days and weeks to indicate incoming ballistic missiles launched against Israel by Iran, Shaul Ladany didn\u2019t get flustered. He just walked into the safe room of his house in Omer, near Beer Sheva, and closed the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladany, who celebrates his 90th birthday on April 2, 2026, has experienced worse in his long life. Far worse.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"User
Shaul Ladany in 2019, photo by Ehud Amir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

He lived through the Shoah as a boy in Yugoslavia. He had close calls as an Israel Defense Forces soldier. As an athlete competing at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany, he escaped harm as Palestinian terrorists raided Israel\u2019s dormitories and murdered 11 of his teammates. He survived a serious car accident and a stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get excited by all this,\u201d Ladany said by phone of the latest Israel-Iran war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt reminds me of 85 years ago, in 1941, when the Germans bombed our home in Belgrade. Of course, there were no air-raid sirens [then]. Our villa had a big basement, a laundry room and a garage. We went into the laundry room, and suddenly there was a big BOOM. The door was blown off. My grandmother lay atop me to save me. The door fell onto her and didn\u2019t harm her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeighbors entered our basement because they thought it would be safer than their own basement. All of them were killed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladany\u2019s father, an officer in the engineering corps, then was on reserve duty along the border with Albania, so Ladany\u2019s grandfather took control of the situation. Their car wouldn\u2019t start, so the family \u2014 which included Ladany\u2019s mother and his cousin, an orphan whom he always considered a sister \u2014 walked to the home of friends, who paid a farmer to house the Jews in his horse stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladany survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and reached Israel in 1948. After serving in the IDF, he studied industrial engineering and became a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a master\u2019s student at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ladany was drawn to race walking, an obscure specialty within track and field (also known as athletics) in which a competitor always must have one foot remain in contact with the ground. He became very good at it \u2014 world-class, in fact. He competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Flickr
Shaul Ladany standing atop the podium after winning the 10,000 meter walk at the 8th Maccabiah Games held in Ramat Gan, Israel, August, 1969, photo: GPO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 1972, in New Jersey, he set a world record in the 50-mile (81 km.) distance, a mark that still stands: 7 hours, 23 minutes, 50 seconds. That same year, in Switzerland, he won the 100-kilometer (60-mile) world championship in 9:31:00. He won gold medals in five Maccabiah competitions and took 28 Israeli titles.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
From the May 26, 1972, edition of The Australian Jewish News (Melbourne)<\/em><\/a>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As an older man, Ladany continued competing and racking up championship medals in his age groups in race walking, walking marathons and swimming in Israel and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He authored an autobiography published in Hebrew in 1997 and in English in 2008, King of the Road: From Bergen-Belsen to the Olympics Games \u2014 The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker<\/a>. <\/em>He was inducted in 2012 to the Ramat Gan, Israel-based International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"61mm1fwgvwl.
King of the Road: From Bergen-Belsen to the Olympics Games \u2014 The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker,<\/a> Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House<\/em>, 2008, the National Library of Israel collections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cHis spirit is contagious and his accomplishments are unmatched, not just in Israel but [amongst] athletes around the globe,\u201d said Jed Margolis, the hall\u2019s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uri Afek, an administrative member of Israel\u2019s 1972 Munich delegation and Ladany\u2019s longtime friend, called him \u201can important and successful athlete\u201d in Israeli history.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
Ladany had some outspoken views about the aftermath of the terror attack at the 1972 Olympics, from the February 16, 1973, edition of the San Francisco Jewish Bulletin<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That is especially so, Afek pointed out, when considering both the hours a race walker competes when compared to, say, a soccer match of 90 minutes and Ladany\u2019s combination of athletic and professional success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s someone special, no doubt about it,\u201d Afek said.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
This report was published six days before the massacre at the Munich Olympics began, in the August 31, 1972, edition of The Jewish Week<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

About a decade ago, en route to Germany for a commemorative event at Bergen-Belsen, he was felled by a stroke, which had previously taken the life of his wife, Shoshana. That slowed Ladany, but only somewhat. Last year, he competed in a 5K walk race. These days, he exercises up to two hours daily, including walking in ovals at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no physical ailments,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m vegetarian, don\u2019t smoke or drink coffee, don\u2019t eat bad food. I didn\u2019t gain weight. I probably weigh 70 kilos [154 pounds].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladany\u2019s strong, animated voice and his whimsy have weakened noticeably in the 11 years since we last met. He\u2019s sold off some of his multiple collections, such as his postcards of the Zionist visionary, Theodor Herzl, and decorative pins from the World Zionist Congress. He has a caregiver. Understandably for a widower of 90, he is lonely. A physician living in Paris, a native of Novi Sad, was his last remaining first cousin, and now she\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have friends I speak with on the phone, who also are very old,\u201d he said. \u201cSo many have died: those I served with in the army, studied with in high school and at the Technion, friends in Omer. There are not that many people my age anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladany chuckled.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\u05e9\u05d0\u05d5\u05dc
Shaul Ladany, still walking. Photo by Ofer Berger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For his big birthday, Ladany\u2019s daughter, Danit, wanted to throw a party. He declined. He\u2019s heard through the grapevine that the university\u2019s engineering department is planning a bash of sorts. That would be okay by him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A friend already provided a birthday gift: a volume of stories Ladany has told, some involving his own life. When he retired, Ladany\u2019s university colleagues presented him with a two-volume set of his scientific and academic articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked how turning 90 strikes him, Ladany returned to where the conversation began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get excited by anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my refrigerator, I have chestnut spread, which my daughter bought when she was abroad,\u201d he said. \u201cI will wait until my birthday to eat some.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer-editor Hillel Kuttler can be reached at <\/em>hk@HillelTheScribeCommunications.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He survived the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, broke world records, published books and still walks daily at 90.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":187790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[1232,5077],"tags2":[3067,2656,5078],"class_list":["post-187789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land-of-israel","tag-history-of-israel","tag-jews-in-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSurvivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He survived the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, broke world records, published books and still walks daily at 90.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Librarians | The National Library of Israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Librarians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NationalLibraryIsrael\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200-628_facebook-6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hillel Kuttler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NLIsrael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NLIsrael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hillel Kuttler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hillel Kuttler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c435d36c0feb9b322e6bd803e68430ef\"},\"headline\":\"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany’s Long Walk\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1121,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/832-629_blog-6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"History of Israel\",\"Jews in Sports\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Land of Israel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/\",\"name\":\"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/832-629_blog-6.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"He survived the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, broke world records, published books and still walks daily at 90.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/832-629_blog-6.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/832-629_blog-6.jpg\",\"width\":832,\"height\":629,\"caption\":\"832 629 Blog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/shaul_ladany\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany’s Long Walk\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Librarians\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd - \u05d1\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d4\u05dc\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05ea\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Logo.png\",\"width\":103,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd - \u05d1\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d4\u05dc\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05ea\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NationalLibraryIsrael\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NLIsrael\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/nli_israel\",\"http:\\\/\\\/pinterest.com\\\/nliisrael\\\/\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/NLI2010\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c435d36c0feb9b322e6bd803e68430ef\",\"name\":\"Hillel Kuttler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hillel Kuttler\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.nli.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/hillelk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk","description":"He survived the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, broke world records, published books and still walks daily at 90.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk","og_description":"The Librarians | The National Library of Israel","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/","og_site_name":"The Librarians","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NationalLibraryIsrael","article_published_time":"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200-628_facebook-6.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hillel Kuttler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NLIsrael","twitter_site":"@NLIsrael","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hillel Kuttler","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/"},"author":{"name":"Hillel Kuttler","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c435d36c0feb9b322e6bd803e68430ef"},"headline":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany’s Long Walk","datePublished":"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/"},"wordCount":1121,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/832-629_blog-6.jpg","keywords":["History of Israel","Jews in Sports"],"articleSection":["Land of Israel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/","name":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany's Long Walk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/832-629_blog-6.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-29T14:20:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T14:22:21+00:00","description":"He survived the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, broke world records, published books and still walks daily at 90.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/832-629_blog-6.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/832-629_blog-6.jpg","width":832,"height":629,"caption":"832 629 Blog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/shaul_ladany\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Survivor, Olympian, Scientist: Shaul Ladany’s Long Walk"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/","name":"The Librarians","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd - \u05d1\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d4\u05dc\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05ea","url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Logo.png","width":103,"height":64,"caption":"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd - \u05d1\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d4\u05dc\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05ea"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NationalLibraryIsrael","https:\/\/x.com\/NLIsrael","https:\/\/instagram.com\/nli_israel","http:\/\/pinterest.com\/nliisrael\/","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/NLI2010\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c435d36c0feb9b322e6bd803e68430ef","name":"Hillel Kuttler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ac6c69f3a7ef6db256e3a61e8ee64a271d0aa0124105d88e0c13cc9c9384d77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hillel Kuttler"},"url":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/author\/hillelk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/450"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187789"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187939,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187789\/revisions\/187939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187789"},{"taxonomy":"tags2","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags2?post=187789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}