Survivors of Hamas attacks in Israel share their painful experiences
Wynnewood, P.a. - The stories of the October 7 attacks on Israel have now been told from a different perspective.
Four survivors who have since been evacuated to the United States tell the stories of their journey to survival.
"The Israeli summers are quite hot and when it’s hot you leave early," said Shani Teshuva, survivor. "I was like it’s not as hot, I'm going to give myself an extra ten minutes and I’m going to leave at 6:40…at 6:29 there was a sudden rainfall of rockets."
The ten minute delay in Teshuva’s bike ride saved her life that day.
"If I would have left my house and gone on my bike ride like I planned I would have gotten a bullet between my eyes. I would have opened the gates to terrorists coming into my kabutz. There are a lot of what ifs," said Teshuva.
It’s because of these powerful survival stories that Kaiserman JCC CEO, Alan Scher, invited survivors to share their stories in a safe space surrounded by dignitaries and members of the Jewish community.
Local Holocaust survivor reflects on Hamas attack, rise in antisemitism
Behrend fled Germany in 1939 when he was only 12-years-old. He describes the horrors he witnessed during Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in his memoir and documentary "Rebuilt from Broken Glass: A German Jewish Life Remade in America."
"I think about my own family, " said Scher. "I think about my connection to my friends and family in Israel and I think about how these stories need to be told."
Though the stories are painful to share, survivors like Teshuva say it’s important to do so.
"We have to tell the story again and again, we’ll always remember I can’t ever erase it, I lost friends, I have friends whose families were kidnapped, murdered, and worse, and we have to continue telling this story, never forgetting anything." said Teshuva.
All the survivors say they plan to head back to Israel, but the question is, when?