Testimony Excerpt
“Everything was out, the bedroom, the kitchen. I looked at the living room and saw that they had broken the window there and came through it. I “flew” back to the safe room”. - Laura Lotem Chezes
The Full Testimony
Testimony of
Laura Lotem Chezes
Leora, who lives in Kibbutz Holit, came to Nirim for the weekend to take care of her friends’ dog while they were away. Just before 7 a.m., she heard gunfire and understood something was wrong. Leora locked herself inside the safe room, hiding under the bed and holding the dog. From her hideout, she could hear shots fired, explosions, and shouts in Arabic outside. At some point, the power was cut off, and Leora lost contact with the outside world. Many hours later, the kibbutz’s security coordinator and an army escort came to evacuate her with the other residents. She sees things differently now. She feels that she was left to her own devices by those she was so proud of and put so much trust in. She can’t imagine going back to the region.
Place of the event:
Nirim
Name:
Laura Lotem Chezes
Organization:
None
Language:
Hebrew
Credit:
Date: 04.11.2023
Interview: Anat Tzom Ayalon
Video Editing: Anat Tzom Ayalon
Content Editing: Shahar Cohen
Translation: Talya Tibbon
Other media
Channa Perri
Channa, age 71, was abducted from her home in Nirim early that morning, along with her son Nadav, both were in a medically complex condition.
Tamar Metzger
Tamar was in the shower on Shabat morning when she heard voices in the living room and Yoram, her husband, responding in Arabic. The bathroom door was yanked open, and she was grabbed and then dragged out from her house.
Eyal Dvori
Eyal Dvori, a member of Kibbutz Be'eri, headed the 12th grade cohort at Nofey HaBsor High School. On October 7, he and his family were abroad, following the events from afar, in horror and helplessness. A student from the cohort was murdered, and a teacher was kidnapped.
Maor Ben Yair
A group of friends went to Nova Festival to celebrate Maor's birthday. They had an extraordinarily fun time. At the 6:20, with the sunrise, there was a Red Alert.
Deborah Mintz
“Another couple of hours we would have been dead anyways”- Deborah Mintz on 7.10 in Nirim
Tamar Livyatan
From Tamar Livyatan's testimony: "I have a daughter and granddaughter here, and I am not leaving without them."
Judith Bdolach
From Judith Bdolach's testimony: "What should have been a calm and quiet work-out, turned into a nightmare"
