Major General Jacques Suissa suffered severe abuse and took years of silence: "The first word I uttered was 'Dad' • Today he assists soldiers who have difficulty in the IDF

Jacques Suissa was a total of about 8.5 when he was abused terribly. Following that incident, he had a long-standing silence, which ended only when his first order came. About three months ago, he was first interviewed by Israel Today about what he had been through, and is now revealing his story in a shaky video and video posted on the IDF website.

Photo: From the IDF website

"I've been silent for almost seven years," he tells Lior Regev and his Maya Barr. Nowadays, Suissa serves as a personnel officer in the training of armored fighters in the 195th Battalion, under the rank of Major General. "Around grade 3, a boy aged 8.5-9. During one of the classes, three friends from the class attacked me, pulled my pants down and inserted a pencil into my genitalia. After a good few hours, I was taken to a hospital because I was in pain. The test was very invasive - that all doctors look at you and check what happened and how it happened. And you are all as a bare child, and everyone is staring at you, it was a very difficult event for me. From there, a silent torment was already derived.

For many years he was treated by psychologists and psychiatrists, as well as by dolphins. "It's something you can't explain - once you get into the water, you seem to be disconnected from everything that happens to you. You're all there, just you and him."

Then came the first order, which made a material change in his life. "It was some kind of cat. You got a slap in the face that tells you to get up and do something with yourself. This is your chance. I remember the moment I started talking. The first word I got out was 'Dad.'

Today, he assists soldiers who have difficulty dealing with the military system. "I use the base I have accumulated for myself over the years and the way I climbed up to help those whose difficulty lies primarily within the military system, whether it's my commanders, whether it's soldiers I've worked with over the years, to keep them within frame, not let them deteriorate "I don't want to come. Despite all the potholes, all the difficulties I had in the military way, it really developed me and created the mental and emotional capacity to overcome everything."