Testimony Excerpt
From Simon Baum's testimony: "Part of me died that day."
The Full Testimony
Testimony of
Simon Baum
Simon Baum, a gardener, lived with his wife Vicky and their two teenage sons in Kibbutz Nir Oz. On Saturday morning, when the alarms started, the family members and the dog entered the safe room. For many hours, they heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions outside their home, and learned from the kibbutz's WhatsApp messages that terrorists were breaking into the houses and burning them down. At the request of the boys, they turned off the light and the air conditioner and waited, while Simon and his eldest son were holding the door of the safe room the whole the time. When after 11 hours the door of the house was broken in, the family members feared that these were terrorists and Simon came out of the safe room with a baseball bat in his hand - and met the soldiers who came to rescue them. Later Simon learned that some of his closest friends in the kibbutz had been murdered or kidnapped. Simon feels that his life and he himself has changed beyond recognition since that Sabbath, which he defines as the worst day of his life.
Place of the event:
Nir Oz
Name:
Simon Baum
Organization:
None
Language:
Hebrew
Credit:
Date: 15.11.2023
Interview: Talya Avishai
Photography: Kfir Smiley Amir
Video Editing: Attar Keren
Content Editing: Einat Gal
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"
