David Gritz

July 31, 2002 - David Gritz, 24, of Peru, Massachusetts, was one of nine people killed when a bomb exploded in the Frank Sinatra cafeteria on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus.

Shortly after 13:30, while about 100 people were eating lunch, a bomb exploded in the Frank Sinatra cafeteria on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. The explosive device was apparently planted inside the cafeteria, which was gutted by the explosion. Nine people were killed and 85 were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

David Gritz, the son of a Croatian mother and an American father, held dual American and French citizenship. David grew up in Paris, but spent his summers at his parents' house in the small town of Peru in the Berkshires. He had arrived in Jerusalem to begin a graduate course in Jewish thought at the Hebrew University.

David held a masters degree in political science and philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris. He came to Israel with the help of a $12,000 scholarship from the Hartman Institute to study philosophy and Judaism. He was one of two students to win the scholarship. David landed in Israel for the first time two weeks ago, despite his parents' fears that it wasn't safe. Wednesday their worst nightmare became a reality, when their only son was killed by the bomb on the Hebrew University's Mt. Scopus campus.

David Gritz was buried in Paris. He is survived by his parents.